As the hardtracking staff has previously noted, journalists have been two-time losers in the native advertising dodge. They’re either 1) bypassed by their publications (a good thing in our estimation, a bad thing in their bank accounts), or 2) hired to compromise themselves for pennies on the dollar.

Now comes the real-life story of one such compromiser.

From Digiday (via FishbowlNY):

Confessions of a journalist moonlighting as a native ad writer: ‘I’m not proud’

At a time when good-paying freelance assignments are harder to come by, many journalists are heeding the call of native advertising, where the pay is decent and the work is steady. But there’s a cost. Many worry about the impact on their credibility as a journalist. Some are even finding they aren’t so welcome back in newsrooms once they work for the business side.

In the latest in Digiday’s “Confessions” series, we talked to a veteran freelance writer who has written for top women’s magazines and other national publications about the dark side of native. In this case, the journalist was working for a publisher’s content studio, which assigned stories a given client wanted written.

Turns out, in some cases the pay’s not so bad after all . . .

Read the rest at Sneak Adtack.