Everyone’s all a twitter about PBS’s addition of sponsored links to its website. While PBS does plan to more clearly explain sponsored links, use of cookies and data collected from the site’s visitors, others feel the site, since it’s a federally funded public entity, should have no advertising at all. Writing on Digital Destiny, Jeff Chester says, “PBS must not be allowed to become an digital ad-addicted junkie. It should offer the public a totally commercial-free environment as it enters the broadband communications era.” A laudable notion but, apparently, even government-funded entities are strapped for cash.
