It's meant to be clear what's advertising and what isn't, but 'sponsored content' and 'native advertising' blurred that line a long time ago. Now some outlets form 'partnerships' with clients to get messages across in exchange for big bucks - and even get their own journalists to help out.

It's meant to be clear what's advertising and what isn't, but 'sponsored content' and 'native advertising' blurred that line a long time ago. Now some outlets form 'partnerships' with clients to get messages across in exchange for big bucks - and even get their own journalists to help out.

"What's New Zealand's favorite dinner routine? We've got our go-to food guru Nadia Lim to shed some light on it," Jeremy Wells told viewers in TVNZ's Seven Sharp earlier this month.

A round up of dinner-time favourites with a media-friendly food guru was fairly standard lifestyle-type fare for this show. Nadia Lim has been on it plenty of times over the years and the meal kit company she co-founded usually gets a mention.

But this time Hilary Barry told viewers: "We've partnered with My Food Bag to reveal some of their insights" and sharp-eyed Seven Sharp viewers would have seen a 'brought to you by My Food Bag' message on the screen.

After Lim cooked some chicken, rice and salad on Seven Sharp, she drove home the commercial message in a chit-chat with the co-hosts.

"Lovely to see you. What is it about these meals that makes them so popular?" Jeremy Wells asked Lim.

"I think it's the fact that now we've literally got something to suit everyone," she added, describing the expanded now range now available.

Sponsored content, advertorials, paid promotions and partnerships

There's nothing new about TV shows brought to you by sponsors.

Five years ago, TVNZ ran an entire series called Mind Over Money commissioned by Kiwibank.

Shortly after, TVNZ aired an entire prime time series about Qantas which was billed as fly-on-the-wall documentary but was actually made for and paid for by Qantas in Australia.

There's also nothing new about news and current affairs shows being a vehicle for commercial sponsors.

For years Seven Sharp's forerunner Close Up was 'Brought to you by Toyota' while the rival show on TV3, Campbell Live, was 'Driven by Mazda'.

Ten years ago, the Herald on Sunday's editor Bryce Johns was made the Herald's 'head of content partnerships' and a former Sunday Star Times editor Lauren Quaintance founded an agency in Australia creating native advertising. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details