Content Creation Spans All Aspects of J-Programs

Abstract

Today, rules as king, regardless of who creates it.Brand journalism, corporate journalism, branded content, and native advertising all are synonyms for storytelling about a company and/or its products. Increasingly, this form of storytelling and the public relations or advertising positions that accompany it are growing while traditional news reporting positions are declining.Students recognize that.They are enrolling in greater numbers than ever in advertising, public relations, and strategic communications courses and programs. Enrollment survey findings by Dr. Lee Becker and his colleagues have testified to that. Tenured and tenure-track faculty lines, however, often are nonaligned with the growth spiral. Often, the majority of these positions are aligned with the traditional news side.But employment growth opportunities are not in traditional news. Over the last ten years, the number of reporters decreased from 52,550 to 43,630, a 17 percent loss, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reported in MondayNote. In contrast, the number of public relations specialists during this timeframe grew by 22 percent, from 166,210 to 202,530. Please see http://www.mondaynote.com/.An emphasis on storytelling, however, means employment opportunities will abound for all our students-particularly for journalists whose writing skills and abilities to tell stories make them the top picks for creation, regardless of what the job title is.Take Coca-Cola's digital magazine, Journey, as an example of branded and nonbranded content. Launched in late 2012, the e-zine published 1,200 articles in 2013, and it attracted 13.1 million visitors who spent an average of four minutes forty seconds on each article. The e-publication focuses on lifestyle and culture as well as branded and appeals to the millennial audience. It will expand to more than thirty countries in twelve languages in the next few years. We're a business, and if this wasn't successful would pull the plug, Ashley Brown, the company's 35-yearold director of digital communications and social media has said. For more on this topic, please go to http://contently.com/strategist/2014/05/01/a-deep-look-inside-thecoca- cola-newsroom-if-this-wasn't-successful-we-would-pull-the-plug/.This shifttoward storytelling and creation should not be regarded as just another blip on the continuum of change but as further evidence of the need for integration and convergence, as something organic that aligns with an emphasis on news AND advertising AND public relations AND strategic communications. We should see the shiftfrom the perspective of us and we and get rid of historic divides between news, advertising, and public relations. If want to rally around a unifying theme, may have to focus on content and determine how best to create and foster cultures in journalism programs that help students to excel and have successful careers regardless of their ultimate job titles or the brand for which they create content. …