April 27, 2004 —ASBPE is the exclusive publisher of new research on journalistic ethics in business-to-business publications.
Conducted by Laura Watilo Blake in 2003 as part of her work toward her masters degree in journalism at Kent State University, the research focuses on the influences of advertisers on editorial in business-to-business publications. Blake, currently a freelance writer, photographer, and designer based in Cleveland, has worked in the B2B publishing field for seven years.
ASBPE assisted Blake with the questionnaire development and the sample list, and published some of the results in two articles in the ASBPE member newsletter last year.
Now, her complete graduate thesis on the topic is posted on the ASBPE Web site, available exclusively to members of ASBPE.
Among the issues addressed in the two newsletter articles and thesis are:

• the number of editors who have faced ad-related pressure and the number who have succumbed to that pressure.
• the consequences of increased advertiser pressure on editorial.
• the form those pressures take.
• whether greater editorial integrity helps or harms a publication financially
• what editors can do about advertiser pressure.

The material also contains a scenario based on a real-life example.
An examination as to whether the research supports the importance of editorial integrity to the audience, and Blake’s completed thesis on ethics are available via this web site to members only.