Hello! If you’ve subscribed to this newsletter, then you know that the media industry is rapidly changing. So, Now You’re A Journalist is a once a month publication for marketers, creators, and PR specialists who want to understand what’s happening and how to tell better stories.

In this issue: We investigate the rise of the “shadow newsroom” — brand-funded operations stepping into the space left open by collapsing traditional press and how to spot one before your company accidentally becomes one. Also, one of the biggest PR organizations in the world just changed the definition of public relations, which means there are some new metrics to manage. And we explore the idea of incorporating “slow media” into the mix as a strategic way to combat attention fatigue. Lastly, for our 3 Questions section, we’re talking with a tech journalist who has real knack for weeding out corporate “fake news”.

Here we go!

Eight Wyoming towns lost their newspapers overnight in August 2025 when News Media Corp. abruptly shuttered operations, including the 121-year-old Pinedale Roundup and the Uinta County Herald in Evanston.

The closures lasted just six days before local executives repurchased and reopened the papers. But the incident exposed how fragile local news has become nationwide. More than 3,000 newspapers have closed since 2005 and two-thirds of U.S. counties now have one or zero local news outlets, according to a 2025 Northwestern University study.

In these information gaps, commonly called “news deserts,” brand-run news operations are taking over as the trusted sources of information. Sanford Health News serves rural Upper Midwest communities where the Sioux Falls-based nonprofit represents the largest employer and often the only hospital. On the west coast of the U.S., Lookout Santa Cruz won a 2024 Pulitzer Prize while disclosing corporate sponsors like the University of Oregon.

Both use bylines and periodical news formatting to provide valuable content to a specific audience. They are not operating as “shadow newsrooms,” which media analysts describe as a news-like operation hiding sponsor control behind neutral branding and selective coverage. The distinction is important as marketers and communications leaders work to fill information voids.

Sanford Health News operates across South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wyoming and Wisconsin's Upper Peninsula. The header on every page reads: "Sanford Health News is your site for health news from the experts at Sanford Health."

The nonprofit health system employs Emmy Award-winning former journalists to cover health and wellness topics. Recent headlines include stories such as a pair of nurses who invented a new device for heart patients, a local breast cancer survivor encouraging yearly mammograms, and a story about how people in the community can help researchers better understand the health effects of ticks.

Sanford Health serves 1.5 million patients annually across 83 hospitals and 978 clinics. In many rural counties, it represents both largest employer and sole hospital. The “Health News” page provides a valuable resource, but doesn’t completely replace traditional newspapers. It publishes no city council coverage, crime reports or election stories. And Sanford Health News carried no reporting on a 2025 lawsuit filed by Mayo Clinic alleging $739,956 in unpaid medical bills from Sanford.

Lookout Santa Cruz launched in 2020 as a for-profit public benefit corporation founded by veteran media analyst Ken Doctor. The operation expanded to Oregon in April 2025.

Corporate sponsors including the University of Oregon and Fifth Street Public Market help fund the paper, which editors are transparent about. The site won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting on floods that destroyed more than 1,000 Santa Cruz County homes and prompted widespread evacuations.

Lookout Santa Cruz subscribes to Society of Professional Journalists ethics guidelines. Its editorial independence policy separates newsroom decisions from business development. Coverage spans local government, schools, housing, environment and public safety. And the public benefit corporation structure includes restrictions on political endorsements.

Doctor said in a 2024 interview with the Local Media Association, “In too many communities, people, even the more civically involved, have become inured to the lack of substantial, trusted local news. And the impact on local democracy is deepening, but unmeasured. That’s what worries me the most.”

His Lookout Santa Cruz site states on its ethics policy page: “Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public. It also includes the disclosure: On occasion, organizations or individuals provide financial support to amplify our journalism, enabling us to offer free public access to previously published stories. While sponsors may wish to expand access on certain topics, these articles are produced by Lookout’s newsroom, with no involvement from any outside supporter, and are held to strict journalistic standards of editorial independence.”

“Shadow newsrooms” operate differently from branded newsrooms. This is a term used by media analysts to describe a branded or sponsored content operation that adopts the appearance and style of traditional journalism while being funded or directed by an organization with a specific mission or interest. These operations often use local-sounding domain names, bylined articles, newsletters, and civic-focused coverage. A key distinction between shadow newsrooms and legitimate brand-led community newsrooms sits with how clearly ownership and funding are disclosed to readers.

When political operatives and watchdogs talk about “shadow newsrooms,” they often point to partisan local‑news networks. Metric Media is one such group that faces such criticism. It owns a network of 1,200 news wesbites across the United States. Investigations by Columbia Journalism Review, Axios, and others have tied the network to conservative activist Brian Timpone and major right‑wing donors. Critics say the content heavily skews toward partisan messaging rather than conventional reporting, with Axios going as far as calling it “fake news.”

The Henrico Times is among the 27 different banners Metric Media operates in Virginia, according to Axios. The “about” page of the Henrico Times websites describes it as “Founded with the mission to connect, inform, and engage, we provide daily updates, in-depth reporting, and human-interest features that shine a spotlight on the voices of our neighborhoods.” It does not clearly state the owner or investors in the publication.

As of this writing, the MetricMedia.org site, which several watchdog and media rating websites point to as the parent site for Metric Media outlets, appears to be offline and I was unable to confirm its ownership of Henrico Times or other news publications.

Another news network, Courier Newsroom, has faced similar criticism. Critics accuse the organization of blending community coverage with pro‑Democratic advocacy funded by dark‑money groups. Americans for Public Trust claimed in a 2019 article that Courier Newsroom is, “anything but the local news outlet it purports to be.” Watchdog groups such as this one have linked Courier Newsroom to ACRONYM and Arabella‑aligned funding networks that raise large sums from undisclosed donors.

However, Courier’s “about” page clearly names its ownership as Good Information Inc. and includes a list of investors. It also states, “Editorial independence is a core tenet of our work and we maintain an editorial firewall between our funding sources and newsrooms that ensures the integrity of our journalism.”

Supporters say these networks expand news access in underserved markets. Analysts argue that transparency is the main factor that distinguishes neutral coverage from more closely affiliated operations, and transparency is a spectrum.

The Wyoming newspaper closures are prime examples of how quickly news deserts form. News Media Corp. shuttered operations despite local reporting that the papers remained profitable. Across the U.S., hedge funds and other investor groups continue consolidating ownership, cutting local staff and centralizing operations.

Brand newsrooms fill recognized gaps without claiming full journalistic independence. Sanford Health News avoids civic beats. Lookout Santa Cruz discloses its sponsors. Both can pass transparency tests and offer a couple of brand newsroom models that earn credibility and trust. It all comes down to clear ownership and defined editorial guidelines distinguishing legitimate newsroom efforts from shadow newsroom territory.

Learn more about brand newsrooms from InYourVoice MediaWorks

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) just rolled out a new definition of public relations that highlights the role of PR in building trust, reputation, and long-term value for stakeholders.

The update reflects how PR now touches many parts of an organization, from internal communications and crisis management to brand purpose and societal impact. PR practitioners are expected to anticipate stakeholder concerns while staying transparent, ethical, and accountable.

“Reputation is built over time,” the PRCA said in a statement. “Metrics should focus on influence, trust, and long-term engagement, not just short-term media coverage.”

The guidance encourages companies to include PR in senior leadership decisions and to measure success beyond traditional outputs like press mentions, capturing the bigger picture of PR’s impact.

Read the full new definition

I love sitting down with a good book, sipping a cup of tea, with a warm fuzzy blanket on my lap. I bet many other marketers love a good book, too. It’s nice to be able to turn off the digital noise and really dig into something that expands the mind. A good book can foster creativity.

So, why then, as marketers, do we assume that all communications with our customers and community should take place digitally?

Nothing signals focus like a piece of paper someone intentionally sits down to read.

There’s research to back this up.

Studies in cognitive psychology consistently show readers understand and remember print better than digital text. A landmark University of Valencia meta-analysis of 25 studies with more than 450-thousand participants found print leisure reading builds comprehension 6-8 times stronger than screens do. Other large studies came to similar conclusions.

Print also holds trust.

Recent industry data from the News/Media Alliance, a journalism advocacy group, shows that among magazine readers, a meaningful portion still choose print and that most engage or take action after consuming that content. This aligns with long-standing research suggesting that physical media evokes more credibility than its digital counterparts (you can read more analysis of this data without downloading it HERE).

In a media environment where algorithms determine how most of us consume content, the deliberate act of opening a printed piece has psychological weight. This is something luxury brands know well.

Take Ferrari, for instance. The luxury car manufacturer launched its first magazine issue in 2008 with three annual print issues plus an exclusive end-of-season Yearbook. Ferrari describes its publication as, "Dedicated to fans of the Prancing Horse. It uses incredible images, technical insights, in-depth interviews and fascinating infographics, together with fantastic writing, to explore the entire Prancing Horse universe: from road cars to competition models, via technology and design, to customer events and classic cars."

Ferrari is a great example of how luxury brands are using editorial print for storytelling prestige beyond ads, by building emotional loyalty through luxury they can see and feel.

But this caliber of storytelling isn’t reserved for luxury heritage brands.

Mountain Rose Herbs, for instance, is a mid-size retailer in Eugene, Oregon that sells organically grown herbs, spices, teas, essential oils, and botanical goods. The company has a strong core belief that “people, plants, and planet are more important than profit,” which it relays to its community via storytelling in a free journal that doubles as a product catalog.

A recent issue included full length editorial features on “Exploring Herbalism in New Orleans,” and “Herbal Accessibility” along with branded articles such as “Measuring Sustainability” and recipes like “Moon Phase Aromatherapy” that allow their mission and products to shine.

Mountain Rose Herbs uses this mix of quality print publication mailed alongside ecommerce to build trust and loyalty in wellness niches where real product experience and industry insights matter.

Even the publishers of neighborhood advertising mailers are taking notice of the benefits of a well-rounded media operation. Bruce Imhoff purchased Exclusive Home Guide in South Florida in October 2025. Imhoff also owns a construction business, Home Restoration Exchange, which advertised in the Exclusive Home Guide and others like it for many years. Advertising with that publication was so successful for Imhoff’s business that when an opportunity to purchase the publication came his way, he couldn’t pass it up.

The addition of a digital footprint became one of the first major changes Imhoff made to the magazine. Prior to his ownership, the publication didn’t even have a website. Imhoff built the site and included a digital flipbook so online consumers could also access the diverse companies advertising in the publication.

Imhoff's second change may seem more subtle, but it could potentially have an even bigger impact on the magazine’s future. He opted to add editorial content as a way to attract long-term engagement. “Editorial has a longer shelf life,” he told me. “I want people to say, ‘I can’t wait to get this book that comes to my house.’”

So, if print publications are so useful for brands, why don’t more companies create them?

Cost is the usual answer.

Paper, ink, and energy costs have climbed sharply. Postage rates keep going up. For many publishers, the cost of printing large runs is now higher than the revenue that comes back, so they cut print even though audiences didn’t necessarily abandon it.

Then, there’s the matter of calculating ROI. Digital is easier to attribute: you get clicks, open rates, dashboards. CMOs, understandably, tend to favor channels they can “prove” in a quarterly report, even if the deeper impact of print is stronger over the long term.

Plus, producing a good magazine is logistically complicated. There’s editorial planning, design, print buying, postal strategy, warehousing… the list goes on and on. Most in-house marketing teams don’t have that playbook anymore, so they default to blogs and social.

These combined challenges make print feel impractical. But that may be changing as more people recognize how the psychological benefits of flipping through pages can benefit public perception of their business — adding trust, credibility, and a sense of community to their brand.

"AI slop" (2025's Merriam-Webster Word of the Year) floods feeds with generic bot content. Users crave human imperfection and authenticity in response. That’s why analog escapes like vinyl, film, and indie mags are doing so well right now with the younger crowd, and why topics like "granny hobbies” and “maximalism” are trending on Tiktok. GenZ sees analog and “retro” as rebellion against notification fatigue and sameness.

Is print expensive and logistically tricky to tie to immediate sales metrics? Absolutely. But look at it from the public relations perspective rather than marketing. Print is a credibility superpower. The way it fuels deeper comprehension and trust is priceless in today’s content overload world.

Now, I’m not saying print should replace digital. Digital can be fast and agile. It’s an essential tool for reach and real-time updates and measuring attribution.

But print’s slower cadence invites longer attention. It invites focus. Perhaps it is time to think about how print can extend your narrative beyond the screen.

We checked with the pros to see what they think about analog:

Share Your Thoughts on the InYourVoice MediaWorks LinkedIn Page

1.) As someone who works across formats (reviews, writing, podcasting), how do you adjust your reporting or storytelling approach depending on the medium?

At the end of the day, the theme to my reporting comes down to knowledge of the subject matter and the expected life span of the content. I'm always keenly aware of how long what I'm producing will be around. Theoretically, it's forever, because it's on the Internet, but written articles have a tendency to stick around longer than a podcast, for example.

A close friend of mine describes podcasts (and to an extent, short-term video) as "disposable media" so while I will try to represent myself and what I'm talking about fully on a podcast, if I don't have my A-game, that's probably ok. Reviews I will spend a lot more time on to make sure I'm properly communicating the experience. My mantra is "Words matter" so I always try to be explicitly clear as much as possible.

2.) How do you decide what the real story is when a press release or pitch is trying very hard to tell you what it should be?

I have the extreme fortune to be a hands-on product writer, so I'm rarely swayed by a press release. I'm experiencing what I'm experiencing, and no amount of press releases can affect that outcome. I'm also lucky in that I rarely go to press conferences and device announcements. Having said that, I am often briefed on a product before I get it in hand and a product brief is basically the verbal equivalent of a press release.

The PR folks are telling us the story they want the product to convey, but that's where institutional knowledge kicks in. If a pitch is telling me a product can do something that is unheard of in the industry, my ears will perk up and you can bet that will be one of the first things I test. So, in that way a briefing or press release can affect how I tell the story, but it's on me to verify that the thing actually does what it's supposed to do.

3.) When you’re covering or reviewing something new, what questions do you ask yourself to make sure you’re serving the reader and not just feeding into hype?

Ask ten different reviewers this question and you'll get ten different answers. When I sit down with a product, I do my best to integrate that product into my life as much as possible. With a phone or a laptop, that simply means moving into it and making it my primary device for a time. That's a good and bad approach. I have tailored my entire workflow into the idea of hopping from device to device throughout the year which is not a thing most people do. So I need to be extremely cognizant of that during testing.

Most of my product reporting lives on the extremes. If something is extremely good or extremely bad, I'll write it down, but if it's on par with whatever everyone else does, then it rarely gets mentioned. Again, if a thing does something in an extraordinary way, that's getting tested, so that can change the equation a bit. But for the most part, when I'm testing something, I'm relying on my institutional knowledge of the product category, and my expectations as a user to dictate what stands out in a product review.

Follow Adam Doud for hands‑on tech insights and reviews from someone who’s spent a decade testing gadgets: Youtube, LinkedIn, Threads.