This is fascinating and I found some more big articles on the matter. The Outline has made allegations that Mashable, Business Insider, Forbes, and Entrepreneur have journalists who admit to accepting bribes:
article title: HOW BRANDS SECRETLY BUY THEIR WAY INTO FORBES, FAST COMPANY, AND HUFFPOST STORIES
byline: An Outline investigation found that contributors to prominent publications have taken payments in exchange for positive coverage.
article link:
https://theoutline.com/post/2563/how-br ... i=xenbmzj2QUOTE:
“... quietly pay off journalists to promote their clients in articles that make no mention of the financial arrangement. People involved with the payoffs are extremely reluctant to discuss them, but four contributing writers to prominent publications including Mashable, Inc, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur told me they have personally accepted payments in exchange for weaving promotional references to brands into their work on those sites.”
WOW… I honestly feel cheated. The article even goes on to describe that this practice may be the new normal:
“... a brand paying a journalist — or hiring a PR firm which then pays journalists on its behalf — represents a total breakdown of journalistic independence. It abuses the trust the public holds in the media. It violates the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics. It’s a bribe, and it’s mortifying to talk with contributors who see it as the new normal.”
We now live in a world where all ads are blocked by adblockers, and all media coverage must be paid for in cash? Media coverage is the new Advertisement then, which means that the media is now dead (just ads everywhere).