Is Zakazuka Alive and Well in North America?
Zakazuka:  A Russian term meaning ‘cash for editorial’

Peter Turkington
Feature Article
ImPRessions Newsletter
May 2004

With the recent scandals that have hit the global business community, it is even more important for the media to maintain its integrity and commitment to accurate reporting.  The public expects independent opinion from media outlets, accurate facts, a sense of ethical conduct and disclosure of what has been paid for and what has not.  Both reporters and public relations practitioners must strive to ensure transparency.  Public relations practitioners play an important role in ensuring that the media accurately and honestly reflects the society in which they report.

“Public relations has a vital check and balance relationship with journalism,” says Dr. Melvin Sharpe, a professor at Ball State University.

“It is our responsibility as a profession to help keep the media ethical, transparent, responsible and accurate,” he continues.

Transparency means that there must be a prevailing attitude of ‘what you see is what you get.’  The public must be assured that editorial content is free from undue influence.  Interests must be explicitly declared, and advertisements must be clearly marked, not disguised as editorials.

In Russia, it is common practice for newspapers and other media outlets to contact public relations agencies and ask them to pay in order to have stories placed.

In the UK, magazines choose the make-up brand to be used on their cover models by the company that spends the most advertising dollars with the publication.

Studies have shown similar evidence in other countries around the world.  Consumers in France and Italy have expressed concern at the number of industrial companies that own, or have ties to, media conglomerates.  Some industrial companies own newspapers, magazines, TV stations and radio stations.  This has caused the public to raise serious concerns about editorial independence and credibility.

We are not immune to these problems in North America either.  Just last year, a New York Times reporter named Jamie Blair was sacked for fabricating his stories.  Mr. Blair was exposed as a fraud after complaints that some of his stories appeared to be copied from other newspapers.  When asked to comment on this recently, Mr. Blair blamed his actions on a “cut-throat culture that leaves no rivals standing.”

It is clear that this is a global problem.  Therefore, we must strive for global solution, global media transparency.  The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) is currently conducting a campaign to eliminate unethical ‘cash for editorial.’  The IPRA has also announced a partnership with the Institute for Public Relations, in the USA, to establish a worldwide index of the incidence and levels of media corruption.

“We hope to establish a worldwide standard in media relations transparency,” explains Alasdair Sutherland, the IPRA’s president.

“The credibility of any publication can only be based on its independent objectivity. As long as the practice of illicit paid-for editorial continues in any marketplace, the local public can never have confidence in what they read," concludes Sutherland.