The Contra Costa Times has joined the ranks of newspapers, including the Chron, with ads on the front page. In this commentary, Executive Editor Kevin Keane explains why the MediaNews-owned paper did it.

“In e-mails and phone calls, we received dozens of comments over the next few days about the ad. Some readers accused us of selling our collective news souls to the highest bidder, while others thought we were “cheapening” the day’s headlines by running them alongside a paid promotion.”

As Keene points out, papers including the Wall Street Journal and USA Today have started running page one ads. All of the free dailies in the Bay Area have had front page ads for years. And it looks like the LA Times will join in as well, according to this story on the LA Observed web site.