…then listen up. Because it’s probably going to keep coming up. This article from Contently.com is a neat breakdown of the process that “branded journalism” outlets use (and increasingly, “conventional” news operations must use) to manage the content they create and how they promote and develop it.

This doesn’t have to be heretical. You can create advocacy content, branded content or so called “Big-J” journalism using these techniques.

“The space is so dynamic that we need to build, essentially, a learning machine where we’re constantly trying out different ideas and learning how to make things that work for the way the constantly changing media landscape is shifting,” says Buzzfeed’s Jonah Peretti.

And this telling excerpt from Contently: “You need the right combination of people and technology to quickly and efficiently accomplish each task within each step. That means a team of great storytellers to create fantastic content, and the software to manage all of them.”

That, often, is the rub: Who is managing and analyzing the data? In my experience, too few “conventional” newsrooms have the tools or expertise to analyze the data they get from their digital platforms, and make adjustments to how they identify stories and promote them.

I fear that is one of the reasons (only one) that upstart publishers (and branded publishers) are grabbing so much attention and readership.