So what is the future of journalism?
Ahead of a session at tomorrow’s Publish conference on whether native advertising will be the saviour of publishing Newsmodo founder Rakhal Ebeli sets out where how he sees the relationship between brands and editorial playing out..
There are so many question marks hanging over the future of the industry. Will print be extinct? Will journalists be endangered? Will publishers have evolved into a new, unrecognisable species? Here’s how I see it developing.
Brands and journalists will be enemies no longer
Oh gosh, publishing paradigms and online lexicons…
Are you saying it hasn’t been important to produce quality content that “cuts-through” in the past?
as soon as i saw the title of this piece i knew it would be another article pushing “brand journalism” by someone who depends on it for a living, as if it has any relationship to real journalism.
how dismissive these new copywriters are about “ye olde world principles” like not accepting money from the people and organisations you’re writing about… yet so very keen to appropriate the title of journalist…
branded content is a joke, it’s just advertising, the exact same as your TV spot or your DM flyer. and none of the many articles on mumbrella and elsewhere have come close to convincing me otherwise.
feel free to talk about new advertising strategies by all means, but for god’s sake just own up to it. the minute you start writing for a brand, you’re not a journalist any more.
Dexter Morgan is now a journalist?
“Adolf Toffler”?? LOL. Is that Alvin’s nasty younger brother you’re referring to?
Point 1: Brands and Journalist will be enemies no longer…..
….depressingly probably correct but a more accurate framing of that trend would be to write the journalism as a profession will cease to exist.
“Brand-Journalism” is really a deceptive term. If you are pracitising “journalism” on behalf of a brand – you are not practicing journalism at all. Again I’ll quote the MEAA code of ethics:
“6. Do not allow advertising or other commercial considerations to undermine accuracy, fairness or independence.”
If you are practising “Brand-Journalism” for the sake of jounralisms (tattered) reputation – stop lying. Don’t call yourself a brand journalist. You are a PR proferssional *not* a journalist. There is nothing wrong with being a PR professional – its a needed service. Just stop calling yourself a journalist.
Just when did the term ‘copywriter’ morph into the word ‘journalist’?
couldn’t agree more, ‘1294’. True that quality remains timeless, but transparency is another wa key work
Couldn’t agree more, ‘1294’. True, as the writer says, that quality remains timeless. But transparency is another word missing from this piece.
As a journalist I work on both types of content – clearly branded “native” content and impartial, objective journalistic pieces for magazines and websites. If I relied solely on the latter I wouldn’t make a living! I do worry about how real journalism – the stuff we need as a society to shine a light on corruption, mistreatment and abuse – will survive in the new age of commercial media?
Content marketing is the new Social Media which was the new SEO … all are very powerful channels if used correctly but all three are dominated by know-all experts who do much more op-ed writing than they do helping businesses build revenue.
Journalism will be funded by vested interest groups (government, philanthropists, bored billionaires), like it always has been. The best, most accessible journalism will find an audience, like it always has been.
Advertising’s just a peripheral player in news media, one that tarnishes the content/product if ever given the upperhand.