Michael Mechanic of Mother Jones says KRON is blurring the line between advertising and news. He says the station contacted a lawyer friend of his and offered to sell her air time. She was told she would appear as legal expert on what looks like a news program. The segment would have only a brief disclosure that it was advertising. Mechanic writes, “When the old media turns to obvious desperation measures, I just can’t help pondering the future of my profession and concluding, well, that we should be expecting even more fog in the future.”

UPDATE, July 10:KRON Acting General Manager Brian Greif e-mailed a response to the SFWeekly: “The material referred to in the article are COMMERCIALS. … These efforts have been in place at KRON for years. They are not new elements and meet all ethical and legal broadcast standards.”