As the hardreading staff noted several months ago, the Boston Herald is not exactly covert in its catering to the few advertisers it manages to attract.
The Herald Runs on Dunkin’
As our Walt Whitman desk attests on a regular basis, the Boston Herald is a past master at using its newshole to promote . . . that’s right – the Herald. And now apparently, the fuzzy local tabloid is offering the same sort of ad-itorial package to its advertisers.
Witness the latest installment of the paper’s daily plug for Boston Herald Radio, the webcast that up to several people a day listen to.
Nice bit of venial synergy for Dunkin’ Donuts, eh? Lede of the “interview” at left:
Todd Wallace, field marketing manager for Dunkin’ Donuts, joined Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” with Hillary Chabot and Joe Battenfeld to talk about the iconic coffee chain’s new products.
Now comes this piece from the Nieman Journalism Lab’s Joseph Lichterman about local newspapers that hope online radio can become significant revenue generators. Along the way, Lichterman nails the coffin shut on the thirsty local tabloid’s unabashed willingness to pimp out any part of its editorial content to advertisers.
Advertising has also been slow for Boston Herald Radio, but the station has been able to introduce new forms of advertising by integrating advertisers into segments of its shows. Last fall, a marketing manager for Dunkin’ Donuts appeared on the Herald’s morning show to promote Dunkin’s new dark roast coffee.
“Sales love it, we love it in programming, and the clients love it,” said Herald Radio executive producer Tom Shattuck.
The first and third of those make perfect sense. But . . . we love it in programming?
That’s just sad.
Posted by Campaign Outsider 
It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 