I used to be a frequent magazine buyer and remember the disenfranchised feeling that there was an awful lot of ad-get in the editorial pages.
This. I did work experience on a magazine in the beauty team, and essentially it was the easiest job in the world. You get sent a load of press releases and free products, and then in matey language (the instruction I was given was 'write as if you're chatting to your mates'), you write how life changing product X was, based on rehashing the press release. You didn't do more than dip your finger in this crap or give it a sniff, and that was it. There is no way it could be called journalism. It's like comparing someone who works in Mcdonalds, where there are detailed instructions on doing everything the McWay, with a chef whose job is to create the recipes from scratch.
The advertisers did two things to try and get you to pick their product - they paid for the majority of the ads so they essentially bankrolled the entire magazine, and they laid on the most lavish press junkets, so you'd feel obligated to mention their cream because you'd got a free meal, treatment, weekend break etc.
What was different was that salaries were paid by the magazine, so there was at least the appearance of journalistic independence (although not really - that scene 'where are the advertisers?' in the Devil Wears Prada was spot on).
Now 'beauty journalists' are paid directly by the brands to write about the product. They might be paid in freebies, or gifts, or cash, but the brands pay their mortgage. That's why it's all an ad. Every single mention.