Magazines and newspapers have been disguising advertisements as articles for as longs as they have existed. Why is this one restaurant, album, book reviewed and not the other? How are the list of cool and hot fashion articles curated?
Just because codes of ethics are sometimes violated doesn't make them not useful. Consider the outcry that happens whenever a serious publication has even a minor failure to disclose (Stephanopoulous, Olbermann, etc). Now consider what kind of deterrent that must have on journalists for taking cash for favorable news coverage.
