While newspapers are seeking to halt the decline of sales with free Lego, obscure movie DVDs and wall charts, many of their key advertisers are tempting consumers with their own delicious media brands.

John Lewis Partnership, the UK retailer widely regarded as a paragon of marketing excellence, are perhaps one of the most exciting protagonists in this new trend. Waitrose, the food division of JLP, have recently launched a slim but elegant newspaper entitled Waitrose Weekend.

They had already raised the bar for customer publishing with the brilliant Waitrose Food Illustrated, created for them by John Brown Publishing.

Unsurprisingly, the latest edition of the fledgling newspaper features iconic TV cook, Delia Smith who, along with experimental chef Heston Blumenthal, was signed up by Waitrose to front a cross-media campaign.

Notably, the campaign also includes a series of TV commercials which take the form of mini cookery programmes. The commercials are so credible and well-produced that critics have suggested that they might be in breach of the UK's stringent TV advertising standards guidelines. Supposedly, these adverts are blurring the boundaries between editorial and commercial output in a manner that might confuse the public.

I wonder if  the main ingredient of these complaints is 'sour grapes'? Could it be that old school executives are disgruntled? It must be disconcerting to watch advertisers who were once forced to prostrate themselves at the feet of media owners creating their own editorial and gaining greater autonomy. The evolution of consumer content publishing sector is significant in many ways; not least of all because it is becoming increasingly sophisticated. UK industry figures claim an increase over over 300% in revenues for print media alone over the last 10 years. If you factor in web video and audio, it is clear that advertiser-owned content offers real opportunities for marketers and creatives.

So, which of the major 'conventional' media owners will be the first to make a serious investment in this exciting sector?