Gizmodo Ads Target Potential Trump Leakers
16 February 2017 - 8:14AM
Dow Jones News
By Lukas I. Alpert
With the Trump administration proving to be a leaky ship in its
early days, one news outlet is launching an ad blitz to find the
next Deep Throat.
The Gizmodo Media Group's investigative team has taken to buying
highly-targeted Facebook ads to steer potential leakers to a new
website, TellOnTrump.com, which lays out a variety of secure
methods to pass on sensitive information.
"One thing we know about Donald Trump is that there are a lot of
things Donald Trump doesn't want people to know about. If you've
reached this page, you might have information about the conduct of
Donald Trump or his administration that you'd like people to know
about. Here's how you can tell us," the site explains.
The Univision Communications Inc.-owned media group, which
operates sites like Fusion and the former Gawker Media sites like
Gizmodo, Deadspin and Jezebel, started running ads on the social
media platform within the last week that specifically target people
who list certain government agencies as their employers. The ads
don't specify which news outlet is running the campaign, but the
site which the ads point to clearly identifies the Gizmodo special
projects desk.
"We are targeting people who are employed by federal agencies
because we want them to know that if they see or know about
something they think is newsworthy, we are here for them," said
John Cook, Gizmodo's head of investigations.
Mr. Cook said Gizmodo is also working to purchase bus shelter
ads near certain government agencies in Washington, D.C.,
encouraging people to contact them with information about the Trump
administration.
The ads encouraging people to securely and anonymously send tips
and documents come as Mr. Trump continues to lash out at the news
media and the intelligence community. At a news conference
Wednesday, Mr. Trump blasted intelligence agencies, saying: "papers
are being leaked, things are being leaked, it's criminal action,
criminal act, and it's been going on for a long time."
Gizmodo's efforts certainly aren't the first time that the
increasingly granular targeting ability of Facebook's advertising
has been used in such a specific way. Hyper-targeted political ads
were abundant in the run up to the elections. And marketers, public
relations companies and advertising agencies have increasingly used
social media to place messages in front of journalists and media
professionals in an effort to gain coverage for their clients.
Write to Lukas I. Alpert at lukas.alpert@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 15, 2017 15:59 ET (20:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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