The American Journalism Review has an good article by Donna Shaw about ore advertising getting onto the front pages of newspapers.
Page-one ads may net premium prices, but they’re distasteful to many journalists who believe they violate the purity of page one and the sacred wall between news and business. From a design standpoint, they can detract from the flow and order of a page. They also eat up space that otherwise could be devoted to stories, particularly in an era of dwindling newsholes.
I wonder what Shaw would make of the post-it type ads which Fairfax sticks on their mastheads here in Australia. These stuck on ads are more intrusive than front page ads.