Will e-commerce deals in digital magazines kill editorial integrity?

Flipping Pages Poll | Vote on Quipol

Reporting on a  deal between Hearst and Amazon this week, Adweek asked, “Is it a magazine—or catalog?”

What’s the difference? Well there are a few, but the biggest is editorial independence. Catalogues are put out there with the sole purpose of selling product; magazines, traditionally at least, try to tell a story. Link magazine content directly to e-commerce facilites, especially where the publisher can look forward to a revenue share, and the lines all of a sudden get blurry.

Is this about giving magazine readers what they want? 70 percent of tablet owners say they would like to be able to buy items by clicking on the ads in a digital magazine, according to a survey by GfK MRI. Or is it more insidious, risking the very independence of magazine content as publishers push product to gain affiliat revenue? Hearst says shopping links are added after editors are done so there is no interference with the editorial process. Other see it as the thin end of the wedge.

What do you think? Will e-commerce deals in digital magazines kill editorial integrity? Yes or no? Vote on Quipol.

Read Adweek’s report on Hearst Linking its Digital Editions With Amazon.