Earlier this month, the New York Times admitted that its popular technology columnist David Pogue occupied a certain gray area of ethics due to his sidelines as a writer of software manuals. As Public Editor Clark Hoyt observed in a piece for the op-ed section: “His multiple interests and loyalties raise interesting ethical issues in this new age when individual journalists can become brands of their own, stars who seem to transcend the old rules that sharply limited outside activity and demanded an overriding obligation to The Times and its readers.”

This is a trend that’s spilled over into online video, as the Times and other old-school publications have begun incorporating new media elements into their coverage. While a growing number of web series are being created under the watch of traditional newspapers, it’s worth noting that those series are fronted not by a faceless editorial entity, but a dynamic and pre-established personality.