Family Features Content Development Team
When I was in journalism school, I learned about advertorials, articles that looked like editorial content but were paid for by companies to promote their products or services. In the world of pure journalism, this was a no-no. A “never-cross-the line” for a journalist.
Fast-forward a few years and now I work with newspaper, magazine and website editors offering free, quality editorial content.
Because Family Features works with national brands, associations and government agencies that pay us to create attractive, solutions-oriented content, we are able to offer it to publications at no cost.
However, there are key differences between the content Family Features provides and advertorials. Every article is written to Associated Press standards by our in-house content development team, including editors who went to journalism school and have experience working in the media. Our team works closely with brands and associations to create quality pieces of content that both educate and enlighten readers. As opposed to advertorials, the number of references to the brand and its products or services is downplayed. Because Family Features is paid by the brand to write quality articles and distribute to our editorial network via our editor website, our pledge is to have at least one mention of it within the article. For example, “Recipes courtesy of ABC Cooking Company” or “Visit ABCCookingCo.com for more recipes.” Including this light branding can also aid readers in finding additional credible information about a specific topic or help them know what products work best in certain recipes.
As a good journalist, I was taught to give attribution to my source. Providing the brand's name is crediting your source. Isn’t that what a good journalist is supposed to do?
To learn more about our content development team and the production process, click here.
Cindy Long
Cindy Long is Family Features’ Media Relations Manager. She works with a network of more than 10,000 editors to help fill the food, lifestyle and home and garden sections of their newspapers, magazines and websites.