Advertiser Gets Double Coverage

In a time where the lines between advertising and editorial seem more blurred than ever, it’s nice to see a media organization where the two sides are separated by an impregnable wall.

The Croydon Advertiser’s front page last week splashed on the results of “an undercover investigation” that revealed the existence of “a seedy brothel.”

The article, Sinister brothel uncovered next to charity office, was written in the style of a News of the World investigation, with the obligatory use of a hidden camera.

[…]

Evidently, the Advertiser journalist was prompted to track down this den of iniquity after a complaint from an unnamed businessman.

But he could have found evidence much closer to home because page 52 of his own newspaper carried an advert for the very same “fantasy massage” establishment he went to such trouble to “reveal”.