ABSTRACT
Readers of all ages are more accepting of the hybridization of news and sponsored content, such as multi-media “branded content” that brings in millions of dollars in revenue for the Washington Post and Times. As future journalists and strategic communicators, it is important to understand the rapid changes that are happening as both the established “legacy” media companies and digital start-ups create new opportunities for our generation and beyond. The explosion of social media sites and other digital platforms forced the Post and others do a lot of experimenting on where to place news and ads. Meanwhile, the opioid epidemic was covered in “branded content” multimedia presentation created by a separate team of writers, videographers and designers at the Post’s Brand Studio. Increased multi-media story telling has brought in a lot of readers. The Times’ audience on YouTube has tripled in the past two years, said Nancy Donaldson Gauss, the Times executive editor of video.
