As the hardworking staff noted several weeks ago, The Weekly Standard has taken to renting its writers out to ad clients.

Last month it was Joseph Bottum who was auctioned off to Xanterra Parks & Resorts for a promotional piece about Mount Rushmore that masqueraded as editorial content, when its real purpose was to market Xanterra’s offerings.

This time it’s the estimable Geoffrey Norman (who wrote the first piece in the Xanterra aditorial series, Death Valley Days) laboring once again in the fields of the lowered with this piece about Zion National Park.

Note especially the discreet banner at the top of the page:

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF THE NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE: A SPECIAL SECTION SPONSORED BY XANTERRA AND PRODUCED BY THE WEEKLY STANDARD

Of course, “produced by The Weekly Standard” doesn’t necessarily require the services of Weekly Standard editorial writers, but why get technical about it.

As a charter subscriber to the Standard, the hardworking staff has long dismissed the agitprop stylings of Bill Kristol and the Kristolettes, while long admiring the arts, culture, and history coverage provide by writers such as Bottum and Norman.

It’s a shame to see them dragged into the magazine’s cheap money grabs.

Hey, Weekly (Lowered) Standard: Hire some freelancers, yeah?