Disruption in media is in vogue again. Seasoned broadcast journalists are leaving to start their own Substacks and Youtube channels. TikTok is threatening everyone. And podcasters’ role in the 2024 election feels like “the story” of last year.
But there’s one major trend that’s flying completely under the radar - how brand journalism (or brand publishing) is quietly stepping in to fill the void left by niche legacy media. While traditional media outlets face budget cuts and ongoing layoffs, brand publishing teams are growing—producing insightful, data-backed content that often rivals, and sometimes surpasses, the work produced by their legacy media counterparts - often the very publications said brands’ used to advertise on.
The collapse of niche media opened the door for brands to build something new—and the savviest of brands are capitalizing in a big way.
The rise of brand-driven editorial
The concept of brands publishing editorial content isn’t new. More than a decade ago, forward-thinking companies began creating valuable, non-promotional stories that built trust—and ultimately, drove growth. Many top-performing brands today were built on that foundation. A few examples worth watching:
Carta is the new TechCrunch
Carta, for example, carved out its corner of the internet by publishing high-quality blogs on private equity and ERP. Within six months, they doubled their organic traffic and built a strong SEO presence. With that momentum, they expanded into topics usually reserved for traditional media—like crypto legislation and fundraising trends. Today, Carta leverages proprietary data to publish stories on par with The New York Times’ DealBook, or 2010’s era TechCrunch - accelerating brand credibility and trust in the eyes of startup fanatics (and potential customers).
Square’s “The Bottom Line” is now a go-to source for restaurant news
Square has published The Bottom Line for nearly a decade, helping restaurant owners grow and manage their businesses. Over time, it became a key destination for restaurant news—thanks to Square’s transaction data, which uncovered unique industry insights. That content didn’t just build trust; it positioned Square as a voice of authority far beyond its role as a payment processor.
The brand newsroom goes mainstream
With traditional newsrooms shrinking, more brands are following the lead of Carta and Square—building in-house editorial teams, hiring journalists, and publishing original, story-driven content. They’re producing the kind of reporting that used to come from niche trade publications.
But great content alone isn’t enough anymore. As more brands embrace brand journalism, the competition for distribution is growing. Traditional channels are saturated, forcing brands to explore new ways to get their content in front of the right audiences.
Editorial Power Shift: Brands Take the Mic
To stand out, some brands are creating entire content ecosystems. HubSpot launched a full podcast network to increase reach and deepen engagement. Robinhood launched a full standalone media property in Sherwood.
These are big bets, of which most up and coming brands can’t make. And if you're not building your own media channel, relying on traditional tactics likely won’t get you far:
- Owned media is fading. Audiences don’t visit brand websites the way they used to.
- Social media is unreliable. Algorithms now favor paid content, and trust in platforms is low.
- Paid media is less effective. Consumers are tuning out ads in a noisy, misinformation-heavy landscape.
One channel, however, still holds attention and trust: the media itself. Readers still turn to reputable news publishers—especially to escape the filter bubble of algorithm-driven content. This is where smart brands are placing their editorial content—directly on the homepages of the publications their audiences already read. Robinhood and HubSpot have effectively become their own media companies, controlling the distribution of their content. It’s powerful—but also very expensive. Most brands can’t own their publication, but can earn placements in the media.
Which brings us to the real question: How can brands tap into the credibility and reach of earned media without spending millions?
A Smarter Way to Earn Reach: Earned Syndication
Content syndication has been around for decades. Traditionally, it was used by newsrooms to share reporting across partner publications and reach wider audiences—mainly to drive more ad revenue.
But the media landscape has changed.
As newsroom budgets continue to shrink, publishers are finding it harder to deliver the diverse, high-quality content their audiences expect. To keep ad dollars flowing, many have resorted to clickbait—articles that boost pageviews but do little to earn reader trust or foster real engagement. When ad revenue was strong, this tradeoff didn’t matter much. But now, with ad dollars drying up, the lack of meaningful reader connection is becoming a liability.
As a result, many publishers are now shifting from ad-supported models to subscription-based ones. That means they need content that keeps readers coming back—stories that inform, resonate, and provide real value. But even with this shift in business model, most newsrooms still lack the resources to create that kind of content at scale.
That’s where earned syndication comes in.
In this new model, brands act as content creators—publishing well-researched, editorial-quality stories that news outlets can republish. But unlike traditional publishers, brands don’t care about ad revenue from the content itself. Their goal is different: building trust, demonstrating thought leadership, and increasing brand awareness.
This creates a powerful alignment of incentives. Publishers get access to engaging, high-quality stories—without the overhead of producing them in-house. Brands get credibility and visibility by appearing in trusted news environments.
Pioneers like NerdWallet and Zillow have quietly been doing this for themselves for years. What’s new is that hundreds of up and coming brands are now executing on this strategy as well. And that shift is redefining what it means to earn media attention.
Stacker brings the model NerdWallet and Zillow developed to every brand that understands the importance of creating content people actually want to read to build authority. We’re the first content distribution platform built for earned reach that bridges the gap between brands and publishers, where investment in engaging stories is rewarded with earned placements and visibility. You can read more about that model here.
Noah Greenberg is the CEO of Stacker, the first content distribution platform built for earned reach. He’s led the company in redefining how brands and publishers collaborate, with over 4,000 news outlets using Stacker to enhance coverage. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Noah previously helped scale Graphiq, later acquired by Amazon.
Featured Image Credit: Photo Illustration by Stacker // Canva