When I read the declaration "B2B marketers are the new publishers" I both cheer and cringe. I cheer because publisher are empowered--"publishing" means taking charge of an entire platform of content. I cringe because with power comes responsibility, and publishing is a big commitment to the readership (i.e., market). The mantle of a "publisher" feels to me like a solemn duty that goes beyond lead gen. What's that about?

So I read with interest this post by Rob Leavitt, "Can Corporate Journalism Work?" and the post he was editorializing by Ike Piggott, "Dear Journalist:".

Here I was, figuring out how to change from a marketer to a journalist. Meanwhile, Ike recommends to his jobless journalist friends that they become marketers--even as "embedded journalists" like the ones who go to war. Perfect. As print trade pubs dwindle and vanish, and custom publishing is getting a larger share of B2B marketing budgets, it makes perfect sense for journalism and marketing to blur somewhere in between and cut out the publication as middleman. Ideally, marketers get the quality content they need, and journalists find their new place. The blending won't be ideal, of course: journalists will defend objective truths while marketers defend the company line.

Over time, will these blend? Will the company line be held to a higher standard? After the corporate debacles of the last decade, this is already happening. As we marketers take on the mantle of "publisher," it will behoove us to uphold the standards of the journalist.