Brand Journalism: Ethical Aspect

At the present stage, there are a large number of processes (digitalization, informatization, globalization of communications) that have significantly changed the segment of journalism, advertising and PR. All transformations taking place in the presented areas have a significant impact on society. They have new requirements for the produced content - the audience does not respond to the usual brand advertising, as the degree of trust in it is constantly decreasing, but trusts the expert articles written and disseminated by journalists. Thus, the presented aspect was one of the first prerequisites for the creation of such technology as brand journalism. The development of this direction was also affected by the high level of competition existing both on the international market and on the Russian one. Under these conditions, it is hard for new enterprises and brands to stand out from the rest, so they are looking for new opportunities that would allow not only attracting consumers in a short time, but also increasing their loyalty and keeping their attention. Such conditions and development trends have become the second prerequisite for the emergence of brand journalism. The author determined that the destruction of the traditional model of journalism and the main factor that contributed to the development of the direction of brand journalism was the intensive use by consumers of social networks and online media, which make it possible to disseminate information about the brand in a short time. But at the same time, professional standards are often violated in the online space, which affects the quality of the content distributed. The relevance of this topic is determined by the fact that the majority of specialists working in traditional journalism are gradually moving to brand journalism, where there are still no professional standards, including ethical ones, which are most often violated. That is why it is necessary to study the features of brand journalism: interpretation of this concept; main characteristics of the direction; ethical standards operating in the segment and related areas (traditional journalism, advertising and PR). It is important to analyze the business cases where the technology of brand journalism was used to promote the activities of the company.