Translation question clarification: about ZAKAZNAIA STAT'IA

[Timothy D. Sergay]

Dear Sarah and colleagues,

    I've been working on how to translate this sense of "zakaznoi" in fits and starts for years for a dictionary I've been compiling (R-E Dictionary of Russian Media Language). The term "puff piece" is tempting, but it just doesn't do what it needs to do, which is indicate the paid or "for-hire" nature of the article. Moreover, the English term "puffery" refers to the insubstantiality, the contentlessness of claims, and/or the favorability of claims ("a puff piece on Guliani"). "Puffery" is opposed to "hard-hitting" or "hard" journalism. "Zakaznye" pieces can be positive or negative, whatever the client desires. In electoral politics, for instance, you can puff up your own candidate or tear down an opponent. The distinguishing feature of "zakaznoi" of news media pieces is "written/produced for hire but not represented as paid advertising." I incline to treat "zakaznaia stat'ia" as "'commissioned' article" and then gloss it more or less as follows:

"an article written strictly for hire by a journalist, paid for by an interested party, and presented in a news media outlet in a format indistinguishable from standard editorial content, a practice sometimes referred to as 'disguised advertising.' Unfortunately for the integrity and reputation of the Russian news media, since the early 1990s this practice has helped substantially to keep Russian media outlets financially viable."

Here is some related information I've gathered for my draft entry for "chernyi piar":

"Chorny piar": Literally, "black PR," this Russian term is commonly used of defamatory hardball against political figures in the media; in this sense it parallels the English terms "black PR" and "black propaganda" coined by L. Ron Hubbard and used in Scientology since the 1960s to refer to attacks on the reputations of designated "enemies." But among Russian media and PR professionals it refers primarily to the outright sale of press coverage, whether positive or negative, for off-the-books cash, a practice also known as "zakazukha" (from the Russian for "order, commission"), "kosukha" or "skrytaya reklama" ("disguised advertising").
Best wishes to all,

Tim Sergay

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