The website of the Jerusalem Post is doing an obvious and important thing as part of the coverage of Ariel Sharon‘s health crisis: It’s inviting readers to send in their prayers for the stricken prime minister’s recovery. So far, hundreds of people have sent in prayers or comments.
While that’s a great thing, I did a double-take when clicking through
to read some of the prayers, which opens up a new browser window. Above
the user prayers/comments is a banner-ad space, which is set to rotate.
Some of the ads seem innocuous enough, but others made me feel
uncomfortable — like the very first one I saw which was one of those
banners that jiggles around in order to draw your eye.
(“Congratulations. You have won our hourly prize. …”)
On something as sensitive as people sending in their “prayers,” this
strikes me as questionable. Should ads be removed from something like
this? Or perhaps better screening so that ads don’t clash with the
intent of the content? What do you think? (You can use the comments
feature on this blog item.)
And one other thought: Since these are prayers, it might be interesting
to also support phone-in audio or uploaded MP3 files from website
users, along with the usual text. (Screening before publishing, of course, would be advised.)
