Ad people with dodgy practices

It isn't often that we read of dodgy practices related to medical journals. But that seems to be the story behind a recent press release from the Insolvency Service, Medical Recruitment Publisher Closed Down Following Investigation .

The essence of the release is that a medical recruitment journal, called the 'MRJ', "generated income from the sale of advertising space for medical personnel recruitment advertisements". The company behind the thing is Fast Track Media Limited. The Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) of the Insolvency Service looked into the business and "found the company operated by cold-calling employers, who had already placed recruitment advertisements in established third party publications. The investigation found that in many cases the employer believed they were being contacted by the reputable publication, rather than by Fast Track and that the employer did not understand that they were agreeing to a new order being placed."

There is a tendency among journalists to pour scorn on the ad departments that help to keep their salaries rolling in. Much of the derision is snobbery. In this case, though, it does seem that the ad guys were playing fast and loose. Let's just hope that the operation didn't ply its trade on the back of a bunch of writers and editors who are now furiously trying to find gainful employment.