The ad placement demon

Last week, I gave the LAT a hard time for placing the jump to a feature about the retailer H&M opposite a full-page ad for H&M. Well, it's the WSJ's turn. This morning's front page has a below-the-fold story about Kirk Kerkorian wanting to buy another $400 million worth of GM shares and put pressure on the automaker to explore an alliance with Renault and Nissan. Right below the piece, on the bottom right, is a two-column ad for GM, with the headline "A New Level of Confidence." "Maybe they should send it to Kerkorian and tell him to keep his money," writes Douglas A. McIntyre at 24/7 Wall St. It's a dilemma for our times. The Journal doesn't want to give up the mucho bucks that the GM ad will bring in, but the paper's editors don't want to push an important story inside because an advertiser wants placement on P1. Thing is, the Kerkorian disclosure had been on the wires all day Thursday, and the Journal piece doesn't advance the news very much. Why not just throw it on A3 and avoid the unfortunate juxtaposition?