MAKING ROOM FOR QUALITY JOURNALISM. NEWSROOM BRAND.

Problem : Increasing distrust of media as a result of a number of issues including increased sources and digital landscape - focus on speed, clicks and traffic. (2023, Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report shows trust in news media declining - only 42% of New Zealanders trust the news)

Solution : Create a platform from which to share reasons why newsroom (and independent, intelligent journalism) is worth making room for, demonstrating its importance in today’s age.

We have the utmost respect for journalism and “the news” - and have led a number of brand projects for news brands over the years, including the original creation of the Newshub brand for TV3 (shifting from 3NEWS) - and many strategic projects navigating the news consumption shift from racing home to watch the “6pm News” to a digital led, 24/7, always on environment. (More about that to come).

In 2023 we created “Make Room for Newsroom” as a strong and simple strategic brand platform for the independent news website, Newsroom. In an era marked by declining trust in news media and a proliferation of diverse and often unreliable news sources (including well meaning, though often ill informed, friends and family online) we designed the brand platform “Make Room for Newsroom” to emphasize the sites Unique Selling Points (USPs) and underscore the critical importance of quality journalism.

Newsroom was founded by and is run by journalists - (Tim Murphy and Mark Jennings) - they put their personal name and editorial reputation to the site - prioritizing journalistic integrity. We think that’s compelling, we think that’s worth making room for. As part of this project we considered Newsroom’s approach and articulated a set of values - ‘Independence, Intelligence and Integrity’ to provide clarity and focus moving forward, aligning Newsroom with values that, in a landscape of increasing distrust of media, are worth making room for.

As the world becomes more noisy, and the media landscape changes - we demonstrated how Newsroom has held on to the things that matter. Rather than simply “chasing clicks” and traffic, they have retained focus on key principles of journalism - choosing substance over speed and placing journalistic integrity above all e

Election 23 provided an opportunity to leverage this platform. We shifted focus to the voters - recognising what they were making room for at this time, presenting Newsroom as a place they could turn to as a trustworthy source of information, whilst they made room to gather their facts, form their opinions and ultimately - decide.

As votes were tallied in NZ, Newsroom asked the question on everybody's lips “Now What?”, assuring readers and subscribers that they would seek to answer this question, provide much needed context and clarity - and, ultimately, coverage worth making room for.

Thanks for making room for ‘These Guys I Know’ Newsroom. It has been a pleasure.

If you would like a fresh perspective on your brand, media or other - we would love to chat.