Branding (Health) Journalism

Abstract

Observational studies of journalists on social media platforms suggest that journalists are beginning to develop personal brands using social media. Similar studies suggest that journalists covering specialty areas such as health are more likely to experiment with and adopt new forms of practice that break with the traditional tenets of journalism. Through interviews with such journalists, this study explores the perceptions, practices, and drivers of personal branding among journalists. Findings indicate journalists are squarely focused on branding at the individual level (rather than branding the organizations they work for). Journalists cite technological and cultural changes in the profession as giving rise to personal branding. They also describe the tension they feel between their obligation to uphold the traditional tenets of journalism and their perceived need to incorporate more branding into their practice, especially on social media platforms. The findings indicate that journalists may be changing the fundamental elements of branding in at least one way, exchanging the differentiation between themselves and their content for the mutual sharing and co-creation of content with their colleagues and audience.

KEYWORDS:

• branding
• journalism norms
• journalism practice
• social media
• twitter

Notes

1. The Association of Health Care Journalists offers the largest collective of US journalists covering health with more than 1100 members. The Association agreed to send the initial request for interviews out to all members, who were invited to contact the secondary researcher for participation.

2. More than 50 journalists and editors were interviewed as part of a larger body of research. This study focused solely on journalists with employment at news organizations, thus excluding freelance journalists and editors, to arrive at 21 respondents.