Newspaper of the year or sell out of the year?

I was shocked to see The Sydney Morning Herald in the photo for sale in Sydney this afternoon.  Above the masthead, the publisher proudly proclaims NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR yet they have sold an ad to cover the word Sydney in the masthead.  Shame.

This is one of the worst acts of desecration of a newspaper masthead I have seen.

I wonder what the editorial team thinks?  I wonder, too, what brand experts think.

My uneducated opinion is that selling masthead space demonstrates a profound lack of respect for the brand and a belief that cash for the ad is important than the brand and all it stands for.