Vivek Rana, Managing Partner of Gnothi Seauton.
A tectonic shift is underway in the worlds of media and marketing—one that has gone largely unnoticed by mainstream observers. Brands are no longer content to advertise in traditional media outlets; instead, they are becoming the media themselves. By building their own newsrooms, hiring top-tier journalists and producing high-quality, data-driven content, brands are stepping into the void left by the decline of legacy niche publishers. This trend is quietly reshaping the media landscape, creating a new paradigm for how information is created, distributed and consumed.
Yet, despite its massive implications, this revolution remains underreported. Why? Perhaps it’s because acknowledging this shift forces uncomfortable questions about the future of journalism and media ethics. Or maybe it’s because the very publications that should be covering this trend find themselves on the losing end of this transformation.
Whatever the reason for the silence, I believe one thing is clear: Brands are not just competing with traditional publishers—they’re replacing them. And they’re doing it better.
Brands As Media Powerhouses
Over the past decade, traditional niche media has been in steady decline. Magazines on topics ranging from business to health, once considered essential reading for their respective audiences, have struggled to adapt to changing consumer habits and dwindling ad revenues. Into this vacuum have stepped companies that recognize the value of owning their own narrative and building direct relationships with their audiences.
Global Examples Of Brand-Driven Newsrooms
• Carta: Carta’s startup trend reports, spearheaded by Peter Walker, have become important reading for entrepreneurs and investors alike. By leveraging proprietary data on startup equity, Carta has positioned itself as an authority in a space once dominated by publications like Fast Company or Inc.
• GoodRx And Hone Health: These healthcare companies have built editorial teams led by experienced journalists like Stacy Lawrence and Tracy Middleton. Their research and news content now rival the offerings of legacy health outlets like WebMD or Men’s Health.
• Robinhood’s Sherwood News: Robinhood has quietly built a newsroom that functions as a Millennial-friendly alternative to Bloomberg or CNBC. By hiring a number of experienced journalists, Robinhood is creating financial content tailored to younger investors who increasingly distrust traditional financial media.
India’s Parallel Evolution
In India, where digital adoption is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, brands are following a similar trajectory.
• Zerodha: The fintech giant has become a trusted voice in financial literacy through its blogs and newsletters. Its content educates millions of retail investors—a role once filled primarily by financial dailies like The Economic Times.
• Reliance Jio: With platforms like Jio News, Reliance Industries is leveraging its massive digital ecosystem to deliver curated news and content to millions of users.
• Tata Group: Through thought leadership platforms like Tata Review, this conglomerate has long been a pioneer in using content to build trust and authority.
The Why: Superior Economics Drive The Shift
At its core, this trend is driven by economics. Traditional publishers rely on ad revenue—a business model that has become increasingly unsustainable in the face of ad-blocking technologies, fragmented audiences and declining print circulation. In contrast, brands have far more robust unit economics when it comes to content creation.
For companies like Carta or Robinhood, producing high-quality journalism allows them to build trust and authority in their respective industries. In my experience, this type of trust can translate directly into customer acquisition, retention and loyalty. In other words, while traditional publishers struggle to monetize their content through ads or subscriptions, brands can justify significant investments in journalism because it drives measurable business outcomes.
Brands also have access to proprietary data that traditional publishers typically can’t match, such as internal analytics and user behavior. For example, Carta’s reports on startup equity trends are based on its own platform data. This data-driven approach allows brand newsrooms to produce hyper-relevant content that resonates deeply with their target audiences—a level of personalization that legacy media often struggles to achieve.
The How: Journalists Crossing Over
One of the most striking aspects of this trend is the migration of journalists from traditional media to brand-driven newsrooms. Once considered a career taboo, this shift has become increasingly common as opportunities in legacy publishing dwindle. Stacy Lawrence (GoodRx) and Tracy Middleton (Hone Health) are just two examples of experienced journalists who have transitioned into brand roles. Robinhood has aggressively recruited journalists for Sherwood News, offering them resources and creative freedom that many traditional outlets can no longer provide.
For journalists, these roles can offer stability and the chance to work on impactful stories without being shackled by shrinking budgets or click-driven editorial mandates. However, they also raise ethical questions about editorial independence and objectivity—questions that I believe will only grow more pressing as this trend accelerates.
India’s Unique Opportunity
From my observations, India presents a particularly fertile ground for brand-driven newsrooms due to its young population (a median age of 28), rapid digital adoption (over 700 million internet users), and growing appetite for niche content. Brands here have an opportunity not just to emulate global trends but to innovate further:
• Startups can use content marketing to build trust in emerging sectors like fintech or edtech.
• Established conglomerates can leverage their scale to create platforms that rival traditional media outlets.
• Regional brands can produce vernacular content tailored to India’s diverse linguistic landscape.
Conclusion
This transformation is happening faster than anyone anticipated. As brands continue to outspend traditional publishers on content creation and leverage superior unit economics, they may very well dominate niche markets across industries. But while brand-driven newsrooms offer highly relevant content, they can also blur the line between journalism and marketing—raising questions about transparency and bias.
In 2025 and beyond, I believe we’ll be witnessing nothing less than the reinvention of media itself. The question to ask ourselves isn’t whether brand-driven newsrooms will replace traditional publishers—it’s whether (and how soon) they may do so completely.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
