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After it was revealed Buzzfeed had deleted a post criticizing one of Dove’s ad campaigns there was speculation they had bowed to pressure from Unilever. All publications that make money from ad revenue have to face this question. What makes BuzzFeed different is how closely their own editorial resembles sponsored content. Take for instance, this video where two BuzzFeed Motion Pictures staff give glowing reviews of the Apple Watch. In a tweet, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith explained the post was taken down because it was a “hot take” and not because he was trying to appease an advertiser. But not everyone is buying Smith’s reasoning. Jeremy Stahl, Slate’s senior editor, wrote, “BuzzFeed runs a ton of takes that by the site’s own definition might be considered hot” and then proceeds to list 14 examples. The Atlantic’s Adrienne LaFrance pointed out deleting the post ran counter to BuzzFeed’s own editorial guidelines. While we don't know to what extent BuzzFeed credibility has been damaged, the resignation of Arabelle Sicaradi, the author of the deleted post, looks bad. Given the aforementioned inconsistencies, the question still remains: How much influence do advertisers hold over editorial decisions? We’ll be joined this week by Benjamin Mullin, staff writer at Poynter; Michael Sebastian, media reporter for Ad Age; and Alex Leo, head of audience development at Yahoo. Mediatwits regular Andrew Lih of American University will guest host and Jefferson Yen will be producing.