said readers would not be confused by the fake front , several journalists in CNN 's Los Angeles bureau did not immediately realize that the real front page was inside . A Times reader who works for a movie marketing company in Hollywood said he felt deceived by the ad . He asked not to be identified because his company , which was not involved in the Disney campaign , deals with the newspaper . `` We propose these kinds of ads all the time but have never gotten them approved , '' he said . `` I do n't always agree with what we do . '' He estimated that the ad would cost `` well over $ 100,000 . '' Conroy would not disclose the price , but he said , `` Our front page section is our most valued real estate . The ad was priced accordingly . '' The use of real newspaper stories , published previously in the newspaper , to make the ad appear to be a real front page is another issue , Clark said . `` I 'm particularly nervous about them running fake stories that are really real stories , ''
Los Angeles , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- At first glance of Friday 's Los Angeles Times , you might think the Mad Hatter has taken over the newspaper . Johnny Depp 's colorful character in Disney 's new film `` Alice in Wonderland '' dominates a faked front page , which includes the paper 's traditional flag and two stories that appeared in the paper last month . Los Angeles Times spokesman John Conroy said the `` cover-wrap '' was an `` unusual opportunity to stretch the usual boundaries and design an innovative ad designed to create buzz . '' Roy Peter Clark , a senior journalism scholar at the Poynter Institute , said tough economic times and lower ads sales have forced newspapers to tear down the ethics wall that separated a paper 's front page from advertisers . `` The wall became in recent years a fence , but the Los Angeles Times has created a swinging gate , '' Clark said . `` What offends my traditional sensibilities is the notion that you would be willing to deceive the reader into thinking that this was the actual front page , '' Clark said . Although Conroy