As the technology, news, media, marketing and
general information becomes more and more readily available a new trend has
begun to emerge. This new trend is
brand journalism. Brand journalism is corporate paid for report or article as a
journalistic form of marketing. In
other words journalist or content developers are contracted to investigate and sometimes provided with
content to investigate and report about a company or brand to the general public.
Brand journalism is born from more and
more companies realizing that consumers are not as interested in traditional
forms of advertising any longer. Now
they want to research and discover if what companies are selling is actually
all that they are saying it is. (Friedman, 2013) Companies of large and small scales have discovered creating
content that reports facts and information about their product is what their
consumers are looking for. They have
now turned to hiring traditional journalist as the people to create that
content. (Friedman, 2013)
There are many who disagree with the idea
that brand journalism is good for the consumer.
Some believe that if it is the company that is producing the product and
then supplying reports and facts on said product that they can manipulate the
information to be more positive than truly fact based information and tests.
(Glaser,2011)
In many ways this is a strong argument.
For example when the film, Outfoxed:Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, was released it was discovered that Fox
News had not been the unbiased and fair reporting agency that it claimed to
be. As described in the USFCA
article, Media as the "FourthEstate" when there are people involved they are still people so
opinions and biased viewpoints will be present.
On the other hand there are some who defend brand
journalism by stating that even though they may provide information to their
hired journalist the facts have to be
supported. Andy Bull states in his
article, “Of course, brand journalists will seek to influence your purchasing
decisions. They’ll make claims about their own products. In the modern media
world those claims are tested by the crowd. “ Some even believe that the best people to
produce branded journalistic type information are the companies. In the era of readily available information
it is argued that consumers are much more savvy when it comes to
information that has been
provided. (Sassen, 2011)
Another side entirely is how journalists feel
about this matter. Some journalists
view branded journalism as true journalism just with directed path and
information while others frown upon this form of journalism calling it a
rebrand of PR. (Foremski, 2012) These journalists argue that journalism is
ethically bound to be unbiased and transparent in reporting just the facts but
that branded journalism is strictly one-‐sided to the product or information that
is being supplied. (Gombita,2013)
These journalists believe that if a corporation or brand is providing information that it is tainted with opinions or
all positive information instead of being completely forth coming with information.
(Glaser, 2011)
But on the other hand if a company wants
to make sure their intended audience feels they can trust the information would
they not also want to provide some negative to truly give the consumer the
sense of true informative reports? Forbes staff member Lewis DVorkin shared an
email exchange with Annalisa Camarillo, NetApp’s senior manager of executive engagement programs, which stated, “We’re learning that we have to let go a
little. Loosen up our collar a bit to
reach our audience at their place and in a more conversational style that’s conducive to dialogue and engagement.”
Taking that argument into consideration is
branded journalism truly open and honest with it’s reporting? Traditional journalism has a set of
ethical rules and standards. Journalism
should be unbiased and transparent with reporting. In todays media driven society the public demands such
transparency and if they feel that it is not present they turn to their own
research to find the facts surrounding the presented topic or information. In
his Tedx speech Tom Rosenstiel stated that no longer does our society just
follow what we are told we are a “show me” society. (Tedx, 2013) Utilizing this information as well as the
previous argument that consumers are more inclined to do their own research
most general public would say that branded journalism is in fact in line with
traditional journalistic standards. Another positive for branded journalism is
the journalists themselves. More and
more companies are employing actual journalist to do their reporting. Jessica Bennett, former journalist for
several publications, stated, “There is a lot of crap journalism out there, so
sometimes it bothers me when people get all high and mighty about branded content. I really think it’s
the story, not where it comes from.”
There are many sides to the brand journalism
subject. To truly make a decision as
to whether or not this is a true and
just form of marketing or journalism all sides have to be presented. For many journalists the sides are a bit
blurry once you have all of the facts and information in front of you. The opinions and banter between
journalist as well as corporate conglomerates can and is quite divided. In many articles it is stated this form
of brand journalism is still “young” and its future sustainability is unclear
at this juncture. Our society as well as journalism, journalistic marketing,
and branding are evolving with each new development of shared information.
References:
Bull, Andy. (unknown) The companion website to the brand journalism text book.
Retrieved from: http://www.brand-‐journalism.co.uk/introduction-‐to-‐the-‐
subject/in-‐defence-‐of-‐brand-‐journalism/
Foremski, Tom. (2012). Can pr people become journalist? What is it?
Retrieved from:
Friedman, Ann. (2013). Branded but independent media.
Retrieved from:
