Blogs, Insights
The Rise of the Corporate Newsroom
Journalism is not necessarily renowned as a lucrative career option. The media industry has been beset by closures and redundancies, as monetising news becomes increasingly difficult — a challenge that existed even before AI began mass-generating content and changing the way we search for news.
The figures make stark reading. September saw Reach, the publisher of the Daily Mirror and Daily Express as well as a number of local outlets, announce 321 redundancies. Unfortunately, such announcements have become so common that the Press Gazette tracks them in real time – finding that over 8,000 news media jobs were lost in the UK and US in 2023 and another 4,000 last year.
But does this mean that we are witnessing the death of the media industry? Far from it – but it is undergoing a radical transformation. Indeed, amidst the doom and gloom, there are stories of triumph and new opportunities. Big business recognises the critical importance that media has in building and protecting reputations and is investing heavily to ensure that continues.
City AM triumphantly announced increased revenues and a return to print profitability last year after its acquisition by London-Listed online retailer, THG in 2023. Meanwhile, streaming services are increasingly exploring the news as a form of content with Netflix acquiring a pilot from The Daily Beast in June, while Amazon Prime Video is exploring opportunities after a successful US election broadcast attracted four million views.
Elsewhere, journalists are finding lucrative job opportunities in enterprises building out their own newsrooms. These companies are merging owned and earned content channels to reap new rewards. Eschewing self-promotion, they are hiring journalists and giving them the freedom to create engaging, media-style content to build audiences whilst retaining greater control over their messaging.
This trend has been led by Software as a Service (SaaS) companies, which were among the first to start putting content at the heart of their marketing strategies and increasingly adopted a media-style approach to drive engagement. Companies like Pitchbook, Shopify and Salesforce have built their own editorial teams to constantly publish novel and informative content, successfully building engaged, large readerships with their target audiences.
Acquisitions have also played a key role with HubSpot buying business and technology newsletter, The Hustle for $27mn. Such a purchase sounds like a significant investment, but in the context of global company marketing budgets, it represents extreme value for money.
What does this mean for your communications and PR strategy?
This trend has several implications for business communications strategies, but two are particularly important:
1. A new, rewarding channel to engage with
This trend has effectively created a new communications channel that offers significant opportunity. Enterprises with newsrooms are just as hungry for content and insights as journalists, making them ideal targets to place your spokespeople. Many of these businesses will be your customers and prospects, or their content will be read by them, creating new opportunities for engagement with your key audiences – often directly.
2. Blurring boundaries between owned and earned channels
As businesses invest in existing media outlets and adopt their tactics in forming their owned content, there is a growing convergence between owned and earned channels. As such, it’s essential to take an integrated approach to both. Owned content should emulate a media style, avoiding overt self-promotion and offering unique insights to build large, engaged audiences.
Meanwhile your earned-channel efforts should be work in tandem, both feeding your content machine and using its outputs to develop media opportunities that amplify its reach and maximise its impact.
