The Guardian Media Group recently made an announcement stating their decision to prohibit all types of gambling–related advertisements across their publications.
However, lottery promotion will be an exception to this new policy. Effective immediately from June 15th, the company’s websites, applications, video, audio, and mailings will all be subject to this prohibition. It will also include print adverts that appear in the Guardian Weekly, and the Observer.
According to Anna Bateson, CEO of the Guardian Media Group, deciding to implement this ban stems from the extensive coverage by Guardian journalists on the harmful effects of this market in both Australia and the UK.
Bateson explained that several factors influenced the group’s decision. These factors encompassed the Guardian’s findings, which revealed a staggering annual loss of about $25 billion to gambling. Recent announcement of the Premier League to eliminate any sort of gambling sponsorship from the matchday t–shirts as well as Australia’s impending ban on credit card usage for online wagering were also taken into consideration. Bateson emphasized that the unique characteristics of lotteries exempt them from the ban.
Bateson further stated:
We acknowledge and value our readers, along with our team members, who are ardent sports enthusiasts and who may decide to partake in such activities as a component of their sports passion. We recognize this as individual liberty and hold no objections towards it. Our team strongly supports the love of sports and people’s choices to occasionally bet on football, basketball, or any other sport.
The CEO also emphasized the Guardian’s dedication to safer advertisement:
We wholeheartedly greet good quality PM on our platforms, as it plays a vital role in supporting the Guardian’s journalism. This is a sentiment echoed by numerous companies during our discussions. Businesses try to place their advertisements in reputable media spaces that reflect the ideals of their target markets.
The Media Group also emphasized its prior choice to stop publishing adverts for oil and gas firms in 2020.
