It's Time for Brands to Rethink Brand Safety and News Media

Running an ad next to a story about some negative incident involving your industry is unlikely to hurt your sales.

That was one of the key takeaways from a webinar sponsored by eMarketing, "Reframing Brand Safety in New Environments: Why Advertisers Should Rethink News Media."

The media is struggling to work out how to make news profitable, how to get people to pay for something they've always gotten for free.

"The initial proposition of the Internet was, 'Here's all this content you can have for free'," said Stephanie Paternik, vp-insights, eMarketer. The thought by news publishers was that the same advertisers who supported the print newspapers would continue to pay as much to support online + print. It didn't take long for media to discover that was a serious mistake. Advertisers kept their budgets flat but moved to social media.

"Now, Netflix and similar platforms will pay news media to use their content," she said.

The panel opened with a brief presentation by Jody Ginsberg, CEO,

. "The reason people threaten journalists is that people know what they do has value and is trusted," she said. During the wildfires in California, the listenership of one radio station went up 300% in one day because people realized it was the only place people could get trust information."

She also cited a UNESCO Evidence Brief that found "journalism is an economic enabler. It can reduce corruption, lower the cost of doing business, encourage the fair and transparent distribution of resources, and support economic growth and development. Every US$1 spent on journalism can result in more than $100 in savings to the public through reclaimed funds, improved public services and reduced corruption."

The UNESCO study also found journalism supports national security by making societies more resilient to disinformation and the interference of malicious actors and reduces the risk of conflict and war.

"Media freedom supports economic growth, the study also found. "A study of 97 countries has shown a 1-2% reduction in real GDP growth associated with declining press freedom.

The same study found journalism improves the response to crises: it provides information that saves lives, and improves preparation and response to disasters and crises.

Stephanie Pasternik, vp-insights, for eMarketer, noted that most people choose to go to the news. A recent study found 25% of Americans and 25% of the residents of the UK describe themselve as news junkies.

But– can brands trust publishers with their brands? To answr this she looked to a study that showed hard news performing on par with sports news. The precise numbers are 63% v. 62%. respectively.

Some brands use blocklists, which are simply a list of words. An ad next to a story with one of the words in it. When "feminist" appeared in an 8,000 word Time magazine story about Taylor Swift.

What do CEOs and board members think about brans running next to news? 83% approve, Pasternik said. A Wall Street Journal survey found that when readers trust the publisher, 60% said an in a trusted publication turns discovery into purchase decision. But when an ad appeared in news generated by uncited AI, discovery turns into a purchase decision only 12% of the time.

Michael Weaver, chief revenue officer for Al Jazeera, noted media has to think about their own brands, too, and whether it is safe to accept advertorials, sponsored content, etc.

Josh Stinchcomb, chief revenue officer, Dow Jones, said he thinks the idea of trust is beginning to break through. "Brands are asking, 'Who are we protecting," because the consumer is obviously consuming the content. Often hard news is about where the stakes are high.

You can't be sure "low-stakes environments," such as many social media platforms, are safe. "Your ad might go up against white supremacist content," he observed.

Kristin Heitmann, senior vp/chief revenue officer, The Associated Press, said news organizations employ rigorous editorial standards.

Phil Bohn, senior vp-demand, Freestar, said when you ask people why they block adverting on news platforms, "they don't know why."

Asked what people need to know about brands in the AI era, Heitmann replied, "Trusted content has never been harder." Stinchcomb said AI is creating a new brand safety issue, and added he hopes AI will help advertisers create "a more nuanced blocklist." (The Journal has developed a tool to help advertisers, the wsjadjusted blocklist.)

A member of the audiennce observed that what news organizations are trying to do is to bring to light stories of the moment."

The discussion turned to local news. "The local news enfironments are incredibly important. Trust in local newspapers has always been higher that trust in national newspapers.

"A lot of the big social platforms don't have this issue," Sinchcomb said. "We're sitting here talking about trust and they are talking about performance.|