Media owners and agencies are among more than a dozen UK organisations that have joined forces to form The News Alliance, a cross-industry coalition to encourage advertisers to support trusted news and journalism.
The alliance is calling on advertisers to invest in trusted news sources and reconsider brand safety, at a time when the media landscape faces a rising tide of misinformation and fake news and some leading tech platforms have been scrapping third-party fact-checking.
Bountiful Cow, the British Society of Magazine Editors, DAIVID, Electric Glue, Havas Media Network, Newsworks, Ozone, Radiocentre, Sky Media, the7stars, Thinkbox and World Media Group are among the founding members of the alliance. ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 and stablemate Haymarket Automotive, which runs Autocar and What Car?, are also founding members.
The launch follows research, including Stagwell’s Future of News study, which has shown advertising alongside trusted regulated and professionally crafted journalism is highly effective and brand safe, regardless of topic.
The coalition has a four-point manifesto:
- Champion trusted journalism – critical to the advertising ecosystem and society as a whole
- Actively invest in news environments – all the evidence shows it works
- Reconsider what brand safety means – especially in the context of news
- Review advertising block lists – ensure news isn’t being unintentionally penalised
Sarah Jones, director of planning at Sky Media and spokesperson for The News Alliance, said the ad industry's support for trusted news has been gathering pace but more action is needed.
Jones said: “With the abandonment of fact-checking by some organisations, fake news and toxic content is only set to spread further and faster than before. Even with ‘brand safety’ measures, it seems social media platforms struggle to protect audiences and advertisers from dangerous or misleading content as there are no ‘publisher’ controls in place to regulate content before it is posted. The antidote to misinformation is trusted, regulated and professionally crafted journalism – where editorial control protects audiences and advertisers.”
She added: “Our role as The News Alliance is to collectively champion the benefits of advertising in regulated and professionally produced news environments. We need to land the valuable role trusted journalism plays in the media ecosystem as well as driving home how important it is to society.”
Jones also urged other media organisations to become members of the pro bono group.
The News Alliance will be present at a variety of industry events during 2025 to promote trusted news and the importance of truth in the wider media ecosystem.
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