Positive News are the “pioneers of constructive journalism,” with a website and magazine dedicated to telling the stories of progress, possibility and solutions in an increasingly chaotic world. It is a co-operative owned by readers and journalists worldwide, with more than 1,500 people investing in the publication through their 2015 #OwnTheMedia crowdfunding campaign.

As you’d expect from a magazine which aims to change the news for good, they have a rather innovative approach to advertising. Here, we take a look inside Positive News’ ‘Brands of Inspiration’, and how organisations work in partnership with the publisher to have a more positive impact.

A different way of doing advertising

When Positive News was relaunched as a magazine in 2016, the team drew up a new business model that was centred on a community of support. When designing the revenue mix, Positive News Publisher Seán Dagan Wood knew that traditional advertising just wouldn’t work for the brand.

“It was a declining market in print; we didn’t yet have the scale to compete or make an effective return; we didn’t want to disrupt the reader experience in print or online and it didn’t match our focus on putting our journalism and community of support first,” he told WNIP.

“Yet I know there were companies, social enterprises and charities that had positive stories to tell and wanted to communicate to our audience…and these kinds of organisations were ones that our audience would actually like to hear about, so there was an opportunity.”

The partnership scheme therefore serves a dual purpose of protecting the high levels of trust Positive News has with its readers, but also presents a premium marketing opportunity for companies with purpose. The Brands of Inspiration partners are seen as a key part of the Positive News community according to Wood.

Read the rest of this article by Esther Kezia Thorpe on What’s New in Publishing…

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