Early in her career, Bria Bell worked as a local TV reporter earning so little that she qualified for food assistance. As Astra Content reported in Inside the Great Migration from Newsrooms to Brands, her role “paid so little that she qualified for food stamps.” Today, she is a communications vice president at J.P. Morgan, where she reflected that her last bonus “matched what she once earned as a reporter in an entire year.”

That delta, from financial precarity to corporate stability, is driving one of the most consequential talent shifts in modern media. Journalists are not simply leaving newsrooms. They are being pulled into a different system that values the same skills more highly.

A Talent Migration Hiding in Plain Sight

The scale of the shift is already visible in the data.

According to research cited in Astra Content, 66% of editors surveyed have left traditional media for roles in content, communications, and marketing. At the same time, the industry they are leaving continues to contract, with U.S. media job losses rising 15% year over year and nearly 40% of local newspapers disappearing since 2005.

Traditional media is losing both its economic foundation and its monopoly on distribution. Advertising has fragmented, audiences have splintered, and trust has eroded. A 2025 Gallup poll found that just 28% of Americans trust mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly, a historic low.

At the same time, the Edelman Trust Barometer reports that 80% of people trust the brands they use more than they trust institutions like media or government. As trust in traditional media declines, trust in brands has held comparatively stronger. That creates an opportunity for organizations to build direct relationships with audiences through content.

Examples of this model are already visible. Brands are investing in editorial teams, producing long-form journalism, and operating with standards that increasingly resemble traditional media.

The Rise of the Storytelling and the Blurring Line Between Media and Brands

If you want to understand where journalism talent is going, look at how companies are hiring. The media distinction is no longer between editorial and advertising. It is between organizations that function like media companies and those that do not.

This shift is already visible across industries. Brands are building audiences, publishing original reporting, and investing in editorial talent. At the same time, traditional media organizations are competing for shrinking revenue streams.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of LinkedIn data found that the percentage of job postings referencing the term “storyteller” doubled year over year. This is not semantic drift. It is a signal that organizations are redefining communications roles around narrative, not messaging. At the same time, companies building the future of AI, including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, are actively recruiting journalists and editors.

That is not ironic, it is inevitable.

As AI increases the volume of content, it simultaneously reduces its value. The more text that exists, the less any single piece matters unless it carries authority, clarity, and perspective. Those are not technical outputs. They are editorial ones. The result is a paradox that is already reshaping hiring: the more content machines produce, the more valuable human storytellers (and editors) become.

Why Journalists Are Leaving, and Why They Are Not Coming Back

The reasons journalists are leaving are straightforward based on conversations and data across many journalists.

Many have been laid off due to the incredible shrinkage of newsrooms. But those who have landed are sharing that compensation is higher while work-life balance is significantly improved (although as a PR person who was an agency owner, I might not totally agree with this one as I think it’s highly dependent on what type of journalism you’re coming from and what type of company culture you are going to, but that’s for the journalist to decide.)

But the more important factor is not what they are leaving. It is what they are leaving for.

Journalists are not abandoning storytelling. They are moving to environments where it is better funded, better resourced, and more directly tied to business outcomes.

Despite the practical benefits, the transition is not clean. Many media miss the purpose, urgency, and cultural relevance of newsroom work. Research has cited that 36% of former journalists still identify as journalists, even after moving into entirely different roles.

That is because journalism is not just a job function. It is a way of seeing the world. The question is not whether journalists can adapt to brand roles. It is whether brands are prepared to absorb that mindset.

Brands Are Not Becoming Publishers. They Already Are.

For years, the idea that “every company is a media company” was treated as a slogan. It is now an operating reality.

With fewer journalists and less newsroom capacity, brands are no longer waiting to be covered. They are building the infrastructure to tell their own stories. This is not about content marketing in the traditional sense. It is about control over narrative, distribution, and trust.

The most sophisticated brands are not producing content just for SEO or social engagement. Brands are increasingly building in-house editorial and production teams to ensure their stories are told. Patagonia’s storytelling operation, Red Bull’s media arm, and emerging brand-led publications in finance, healthcare, and technology are all examples of this shift.

The line is no longer between editorial and advertising. It is between organizations that understand how to build audiences and those that do not.

Where the Model Is Breaking Down

Despite the opportunity, most organizations are getting this wrong.

They are investing in content without committing to editorial standards. They are scaling output without building distribution. They are using AI to accelerate production while stripping out the very elements that create differentiation.

As we all know and live (especially as a former agency owner and founder for 28 years), every time there’s a downturn companies go for marketing first. Content teams are often built quickly and dismantled just as fast, undermining long-term impact.

There is also a growing pipeline issue. As AI replaces entry-level roles, the next generation of editorial talent is not being developed. Journalism is experiencing this already.

What This Means for PR

For PR, this shift is not theoretical. It is operational.

The first implication is that the press is no longer the sole arbiter of visibility. Shrinking newsrooms mean fewer opportunities for earned coverage, and more competition for attention.

The second is that storytelling quality now outweighs distribution tactics. As AI reshapes search and discovery, original, credible content is outperforming syndicated material.

The third is that the definition of “media” has expanded. PR strategies must now engage with brand-owned editorial platforms alongside traditional outlets.

Finally, and most importantly, PR must evolve from pitching stories to building them. The skill set required is no longer adjacent to journalism. It is converging with it.

This Is Not the End of Journalism.

There is a tendency to frame this moment as decline. Journalist are being laid off and beats are being eliminated. Newsrooms are shrinking, local coverage is disappearing, and trust in traditional media is under relentless pressure. But that is only part of the story.

What is also happening is a redistribution of journalistic talent into new systems that value reporting and storytelling differently. Brand media is not journalism’s replacement. It is where journalism talent is going to survive. We will always need the role of the free press, so the implication is not that journalism is disappearing. But right now, it is where journalism skills are being valued.

For PR, communications, and marketing leaders, the takeaway is clear. The future of influence will not belong solely to traditional media. It will belong to the organizations that understand how to operate like it.