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The conundrum of the ethics of marketing newspapers has been discussed at an international press forum.

UK Society of Editors director Bob Satchwell told the Commonwealth Press Union conference in Barbados how editorial ethics and the marketing of newspapers are inescapably linked.

He used feedback from his work at conferences and meetings across the UK to share the findings with a wider audience.

He told the conference: “There was a time when journalists – most of whom were financially dyslexic – tolerated ads as an unfortunate necessity at best.

“I can remember a high selling national newspaper thinking nothing of throwing out an ad to make room for a late-breaking story.

“Equally I can recall an advertising manager pontificating that there was no correlation between ad volumes or revenue and editorial quality and the circulation figures that followed it.

“Editorial, he implied, was merely expensive window dressing or even a self-indulgent luxury.

“Thank goodness times have changed. The fact is, of course, that content and revenues are inexorably linked.

“Any media organisation, newspapers, radio, TV and the internet – and I include the publicly financed BBC in this – must create a virtuous circle if they are to succeed.

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