New Research on Fossil Fuel Sponsored Content and Media Misleading Practices

The fossil fuel industry has long shaped public perception through advertorials and sponsored content created by the media outlets themselves. These op-eds, slide shows and videos, and podcasts are produced by media outlets' internal brand studios, not their editorial staffs. But these services are explicitly marketed as a way to make corporate content mirror the editorial content in style and approach, and when it comes to fossil fuel advertisers it often directly contradicts what the editorial staff is reporting. In late 2023, we published a report detailing the many examples of this and delving into the peer-reviewed research that shows how misleading this practice is to readers. One of the researchers who has most contributed to this body of research is Boston University's Dr. Michelle Amazeen, who has published a new study looking at why this practice is particularly misleading on social media, and what media outlets might be able to do to make it less so.

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