Controversy and Conflict Surrounding Brand Journalism

Over the past several years, the way our news has been brought to us has changed tremendously with the rapid growth of technology. The art of storytelling has become more popular. With this happening it has given people increased access to digitally publish their stories to the web (i.e. websites, blogs, email, mobile, social media, etc.) without having to worry about the traditional journalistic publication process. With the widespread use of social media networks, mobile devices and other content creation tools by the public and media creation agencies, there has been a dramatic decline in traditional journalism today.

 In a report by Alex T. Williams (2014) on Pew Research Center he states, “Over this 10-year stretch, the number of reporters decreased from 52,550 to 43,630, a 17% loss according to the BLS data. In contrast, the number of public relations specialists during this time frame grew by 22%, from 166,210 to 202,530.” (Para. 6)

Journalists positions are slowly fading away causing some to seek new employment opportunities within the media industry.

Brand Journalism vs. Traditional Journalism

The job of a brand journalist is to persuade the audience to make a decision that benefits the company. Brand journalism is used by any organization that has contact with the public that could include restaurants, school, government agency, etc. These stories can be told in video, audio, text to print or post online, and photographs and be distributed over social media networks, blogs, websites, etc.

Journalists’ goals are to satisfy the reader, but being a brand journalist you must satisfy the reader, editor, and brand organization (i.e. non-profit, government agency, charity, etc.) you’re working for.

“Brand journalism is journalism produced on behalf of a brand, but it’s not used just by brand. It can be used by any kind of organization, or for any cause.” (Bull,2013, para. 1)

Traditional journalism has a variety of jobs from reporters, sub-editors, photojournalists, the editor, news editor, feature writers, and specialist writers. Their jobs consist of gathering information and reporting it in written or spoken form, finding stories that fits the needs of their company, and writing columns for their newspaper or magazine to name a few. Journalists must tell the truth in their writings and keep the opinion making to their readers.

Traditional journalists are people you see on the news channels or that you read a story from online or in a newspaper. Their stories can vary from breaking news, politics, or agriculture. The traditional journalist has a very important job in the eyes of many because with out them we wouldn’t hear about stories that don’t make it around the world.

The Media Industry

The change in online media has presented challenges for the traditional style of marketing techniques by organizations still using old age media techniques. (i.e. magazines, journals, banner ads, and print newspapers) Information sharing will never be the same for “old school” journalists. Some of the changes being sought include the shutting down and consolidation of print media outlets throughout the country.

Are traditional journalists doomed? The drop in subscribers means lost revenue for companies, which causes layoffs and reductions in the quality and quantity of news reporting, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center report. (2013, Pew Research Center) These changes in how we receive our news today is winning over the people by millions.

Content Marketing

“Not only is the adoption of content marketing on the rise (93 percent of marketers use content marketing this year compared to 91 percent last year), but 42 percent of B2B marketers consider themselves effective at content marketing, up from 36 percent last year.”(2013, Pulizzi, para. 5)

The use of social media has increased enormously over the years. Businesses today are spreading their content widely over at least 6 social media platforms, making their content to be widely spread throughout the Internet. The purpose of content marketing is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant content with the intentions of enhancing consumer behavior.

Content marketing is communication with your customers and prospects without selling. Instead of pitching the product or service you’re delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent.

Journalism and Marketing

The two terms journalism (e.g. editorial work) and brand journalism (e.g. content marketing) have provoked controversy within the media industry. “Journalists focus on storytelling, fact checking, and style; marketers care far less about Oxford commas than reaching their business goals. Journalists tend to be realists; marketers tend to be aspirational.” (2014, Burg)

Marketers typically have a direct point they want to make to deliver within their audience. Whereas when it comes from a journalist the delivery of that message changes. As a journalist working with marketers it’s important that the two are on the same page when it comes to the big picture. Ken Kaplan states, “The reporter would take his pencil out and add arrows and start moving things,” Kaplan says. “As much as he ripped what I wrote apart, he took a few minutes, and we’d get on the same page.That’s the kind of stuff we want to help our marketers do.” (2014, Burg)

Digital Tools for Content Marketing Initiatives

Concerns have raised debate throughout the media industry; companies have now developed and implemented digital solutions to mitigate such concerns of brand journalisms’ transparency issues, brand credibility and integrity. Brief lists of some of the content marketing digital tools out there are; BrandVoice, OutBrain, Skyword, and Curata to name a few of the well-known digital tools available. Tools like these enable marketers and brand journalists to curate relevant and the highest quality content as part of a successful content marketing strategy.

Although, these tools are all created by various companies and designed with different features they’re all content marketing solutions meant for storytelling and marketing.