There are many things that divide earned and paid media, and one thing that unites them: misconceptions.
"If it's not earned, it's not worth it."
"Paid is easy."
"They'll take anything if the price is right."
None of those are true. So how do you know if paid is worth the investment – and when it’s not? And how does its value hold up against the holy grail of earned? Let’s get into it. 

I don't know if you've noticed, but storytelling has suddenly become one of those words everyone uses. According to LinkedIn, U.S. job postings mentioning "storytelling" have doubled in the past year. But if you don't know how to find your story, it doesn't matter how well you tell it. That's because, as so many journalists know, finding the story is the hard (sometimes excruciating) part.

I used to be a news producer. My job entailed a lot of small tasks all day, and that day was broken into multiple deadlines. When I came in, I started hunting. Looking for stories. My email was bombarded with press releases, announcements and interview proposals.

Here are three things — from a former journalist's perspective — that you probably could and should be doing better.

As any newsroom chase producer will tell you, it is crazy time-consuming to find people with interesting insights, lived experience, and anecdotes to share who also happen to sound human. So we are launching Chase-Worthy: a monthly curation of experts ready and willing to talk on the stories that are in the news – and not going away.

As Senior Story Producer and Creative Partner at That Tracks Content, Melanie will work directly with clients to bring their stories to life. Brands will gain access to an incredible depth of experience and walk away with content that feels human, accessible, and built to create momentum.

There’s a reason “deepfake” has become a dirty word. It’s synonymous with deception, with digitally altered images used to mislead or manipulate. So when CTV’s W5 used AI-generated visuals to help tell a story of sexual violence, I didn’t know how to feel.

ChatGPT writing is often a collection of well-chosen words, well-structured sentences, a couple of cliches, and about six dozen em dashes – all packaged together with a pleasing cadence and rhythm.

But after reading it, I often have little to no understanding of what the core message is. So, I read it again. A third time. And still, I am left asking, 'What is this even saying?'

Building a business is part intention, part opportunity, part luck, and a whole lot of serendipity. Where you start is rarely where you end up. Discovering your niche—that special thing of value that makes you unique, sets you apart and taps into the most authentic part of you—is so important. And sometimes, so hard.

We reached out to founders we admire to talk about their own start-up stories—how they found their niche, how they navigated the messiness, and what they’ve learned along the way.