Washington Post Opens Online Opinion Pages to Sponsored Content

The Washington Post will let special-interest groups and others buy space on online opinion pages to respond to the paper's editorials, in the latest example of a mainstream publisher offering so-called sponsored content.

The Post's launch of "Sponsored Views" comes as marketers are increasingly turning to self-created articles and videos, rather than traditional advertising spots, in order to pitch their products and viewpoints. While the television industry has relied on such branded content since the era when on-air stars pitched cleaning products in the first "soap operas," newspapers and magazines have been much slower to embrace the business. But after several years of declines in print advertising, many news outlets are looking to alternative ways of generating revenue. Washington Post's "Sponsored Views" is intended for trade groups, lobbying firms and advocacy organizations to post a branded response to editorial content appearing on Washingtonpost.com. However, traditional marketers are also able to use the service, a spokeswoman said. The response items are colored in yellow and carry a label to distinguish them from the paper's editorial content or readers' responses.