Can corporate journalism work?

Read an interesting post by Ike Pigott today (thanks Amber) suggesting that as mainstream journalism continues to shrink, struggling journalists should consider jumping to the dark side and plying their trade as corporate journalists. 

Ike distinguishes his notion of the corporate "embedded journalist" from the age-old tradition of reporters simply leaving the newsroom to go work in corporate communications. What's new, he says, is that the decline of mainstream journalism means that companies increasingly are going to forgo pitching stories in hopes of coverage and just start publishing themselves.

To some extent, this isn't that new. Even before social media, smart companies have worked to bring  their message directly to customers and others through thought leadership and other publications without the filter of earned media. And for journalists, it may simply be a matter of survival. A job is a job, after all. As traditional journalism jobs and news outlets decline, companies will step in even more to tell their own stories and take up the slack.

Can this really work on a large scale?

Well, maybe. I have little doubt that some companies will make the effort -- and I think it's important to try. I agree with Ike that if companies do indeed hire real journalists and (this is crucial) give them the support and leeway to tell real stories instead of marketing puffery, then people will respond positively. 

Even more, I believe that companies, customers, and other stakeholders could all benefit if companies shifted substantial marketing resources away from their minimally effective promotion efforts toward more thoughtful and independent coverage of the industries and issues their customers really care about.

But will they? I assume Ike chose the term "embedded journalist" deliberately in reference to the Pentagon's similarly named and quite controversial program to "embed" journalists with military units during the Iraq War. That program did lead to some interesting inside reporting but whether the program overall actually served the public interest in terms of independent coverage is far from clear. 

For now, B2B companies are mostly still struggling with how much to allow their own employees to go beyond strictures of message control and engage freely in social media and networks. If they can't even do this, it's hard to believe they'll turn trained professional journalists loose in an even more ambitious effort to provide "accurate and fair" reporting with all the risks this may entail to their own reputation.

For companies willing to try, and I hope there are many, here are a few suggestions:

• Good journalism is, first and foremost, about reporting, not making product pitches or solutions delivery examples sound better. Focus on the issues your customers, partners, and employees care about and then go do some digging to cover and analyze what's really happening. Talk to the experts, interview customers and your own employees, crunch some data...be a real resource for news you can use.
• Good journalism has (or should have) real standards for accuracy, quality, and fairness. Notwithstanding the endless blather that fills so much of both corporate marketing and social media, most people can still tell the difference. Take standards seriously and don't skimp on quality.
• Good journalism takes time and is ongoing. If you're going to do it, have patience and keep at it. Like social media, positive results will not come overnight. But becoming a trusted source for customers and others will pay dividends for years to come.

B2B marketers know that the demand for content is growing every day, and that thinking like a publisher is increasingly central to making marketing work. Corporate journalism can make a huge contribution as we move in this direction. And if we can save the jobs of some worthy journalists along the way, so much the better.

What's your take? Can corporate journalism work?

Photo credit: Valeriana Solaris

Comments

[Rerto Jordans]

I love any comment that can help me to improve my blog.

[Rob Leavitt]

Thanks Taariq, and great to hear from you. Amid our agreement, I think youve put your finger on the key question, which is the readiness of firms to evolve toward the marketing as media idea. A great many marketing consultants and pundits have been talking about this for years, but far fewer firms have yet taken it seriously. Embracing the power of social media and encouraging all employees to get engaged is a big step in this direction, but there remain larger issues of funding, organization, skill sets, and metrics to address in moving even further toward a more professional journalism orientation. Lets hope our optimism is warranted!

[Taariq Lewis]

Thank you for a great piece, Rob and long time we haven’t chatted.
I absolutely agree with your trends and the limits to journalistic freedom in the corporate organization. I also believe that corporate journalism is the future. The power of the press is now freely available for B2B organizations to embrace. I wrote an article on this at http://blog.hivefire.com today. News research is already pointing to your conclusion.

I also believe that journalists have survived in corporate, media organizations before. I think they can adapt to the limits/strictures of the corporate marketing department.

I think the question may be more to the issue of the firm. Is it ready to evolve to own the power of creating news for their customers with the talent of the journalist, together with the professional approach of the marketing organization.