When news organizations become opinion agents and corporations get free-speech rights like citizens and “reality shows” become our lens on life, we must be exceedingly diligent not to be duped.

Case in point: the June 28 Tribune. Below the B1 news story “Residents say oil spill left them ill,” a banner headline proclaims, “The Nuclear Renaissance: A Tour of Calvert Cliffs on the Chesapeake Bay” over a news-like article by LaVarr Webb, “public affairs consultant & Utah Policy Daily publisher.” Although the word “Advertisement” appears in small type above the headline and text, the intended reader manipulation is blatant.

Please, Tribune, better distinguish news from paid advertising. Why make it hard to separate plain facts from paid “facts”? Increase the size of disclaimers, and refuse ads that look like news stories.

What is this ad for? Nuclear power? Storing nuclear waste in Utah? UtahPolicy.com? EnergySolutions? What authority declares a “nuclear renaissance”? Citizen Webb? A client from the nuclear industry? EnergySolutions? How about some transparency? Let’s keep this the age of information, not disinformation.

I’ll be transparent: I am on the board of HEAL Utah, a leader in making Utah’s environment healthy and safe.

Jeff Clay

Salt Lake City