Growing Advertising Model Puts Reporters and Lawmakers at the Center of the Corporate Pitch

[Franklin Pierce]

Axios and other news outlets are cashing in on corporate-sponsored events featuring their own journalists alongside company spokesmen

The news site Axios in July hosted an event with Rep. Kurt Schrader (D., Ore.), a member of a House subcommittee on health and the sponsor of legislation that would provide federal funding that allows companies to sell knockoff drugs virtually identical to those that originated with their competitors.

The event was sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Viatris, which spent $3.6 million lobbying in favor of the drugs, known as biosimilars, and has contributed to Schrader's campaigns.

The Axios event—"A Conversation on biosimilars and drug development"—featured the organization's reporters, who touted biosimilars as an innovative approach to "lowering the cost of treatment in the U.S.," alongside Schrader, who lauded pharmaceutical companies for their willingness to "be part of the solution." The event was followed by a tweet from Axios‘s account, which boasts nearly 600,000 followers, that broadcast Schrader's support for biosimilars and noted the Viatris sponsorship.

Growing Advertising Model Puts Reporters and Lawmakers at the Center of the Corporate Pitch - Washington Free Beacon

 

[volinbham]

information consumer beware - the lines are more blurred than ever

 

[Gandalf]

The informed should have already known that all "news channels" are already bought and paid for but this makes it at least more transparent.

Many channels and print do this infomercial type format, what is unusual is for a sitting member of congress or some other active official to be the spokesperson for the company point of view.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Depressing.