Julia Campbell To Lead Facebook-Funded Journalism Project

The Local Media Association and the Local Media Consortium, today announced that they have hired Julia Campbell as branded content project lead. This newly created position is possible thanks to a $1 million investment from the Facebook Journalism Project to help more than 2,000 local newsrooms across both the LMA and LMC membership better understand, develop and implement revenue streams through branded content both on and off Facebook.

“Thanks to this generous investment from and collaboration with the Facebook Journalism Project, we are pleased to appoint Julia, tapping her extensive background and experience in branded content,” said Fran Wills, CEO of the LMC. “She will lead our efforts to craft a branded content program that will provide a valuable benefit to advertisers while increasing audience engagement and revenue for local media publishers. This partnership between the LMA, LMC and the Facebook Journalism Project offers exciting possibilities for new revenue in every market.”

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to explore new branded content opportunities for our members and the industry, and believe Julia’s extensive branded content experience lends itself well to this project,” said Nancy Lane, president of the LMA and Local Media Foundation. “Julia will collaborate with broadcasters, newspapers and digital-only sites to create a comprehensive branded content strategy including content development, packaging, sales collateral, training and best practices to help publishers generate more revenue in their local markets. We are grateful to the Facebook Journalism Project for investing in this unique industry wide pilot program for local journalism.”

A former Gray Television executive with extensive branded content experience, Campbell will start with an alpha group of publishers to test out promising business models. From there, the project will expand to a beta group and beyond with the ultimate goal of reporting back to the industry, and providing sales collateral and playbooks that publishers can use to sell in their local markets.

The goal is to pilot the program this year, measure success and document best practices for program expansion in 2020.

“Branded content utilizes two areas that local media does best: storytelling and helping businesses grow,” said Campbell. “Bringing these two tools together is a powerful and effective combination and a perfect growth area for all media outlets in our communities. I look forward to being a part of this partnership to help discover and share the best real-life, sustainable strategies that are working for organizations across the country and across all platforms.”

Campbell spent nearly a decade as vice president of media systems for Gray Television where she created MomsEveryday, an award-winning television, digital, social and OTT branded content initiative focused on helping local businesses connect with families across the country while creating profitability for the TV stations.

In addition to extensive branding experience, Campbell is familiar with the challenges and opportunities of local news, having served in director and editor positions at a number of local and national TV stations, including CNN. Her media career has crossed through some of the smallest of markets, like Casper, Wyoming, to some of the largest such as Atlanta.

Campbell earned her bachelor of science in journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder.