MediaPost reports that the New York Times will inch ever closer to the line seperating the advertising and editorial sides of the business.  The step will be taken by the Times watermarking a corporate brand under/over a page of the paper's stock listings. A spokesperson for the Times said this will be used on a sporadic basis for major initiatives such as product launches or other events that are of particular interest to the financial community.

I hope the Times realizes that this slope they've just stepped on is more slippery than the roof at the Ice Hotel. Granted, the agate stock listings aren't exactly editorial copy but it's still not space devoted to advertising and that's the crucial difference. In the old days (about two months ago) in order for marketers to break into editorial space your message had to be compelling enough that the gatekeepers decided to pass it onto the world entire. Now you just have to flash enough cash.