Greenhushing and a Softer Ad Market Spur Shifts in Publishers Monetizing Climate Reporting

News publishers with extensive coverage of climate change have shifted how they monetize that reporting, according to interviews with revenue executives at The Guardian U.S., Heatmap News, Bloomberg Green and Axios. Various factors have prompted these changes, including ongoing economic uncertainty and shifting brand attitudes toward advocacy marketing following the fallout Bud Light and Target experienced last year, the executives said. The sluggishness, however, has affected consumer-facing publishers more than business-oriented outlets. Publishers, in response, are rolling out new subscription products, emphasizing the objectivity and expertise of their reporting, and highlighting the commercial upside of supporting climate reporting to win client budgets. “The overarching trend is that brands want to get back to business and focus on how potential initiatives will impact their bottom line,” said Jacquelyn Cameron, chief revenue officer at Axios. “When clients are planning to message around their sustainability efforts or energy policy beliefs, they are focusing on impact.” The shift comes after several years of publisher investment in their climate change reporting, an editorial decision motivated partly by the growing green energy industry and a desire from brands to communicate their sustainability plaudits. As the sector has matured, publishers’ efforts to generate revenue from advertisers and readers have grown more sophisticated. Green budgets grow competitive Brands’ interest in advertising alongside climate reporting has decreased in the last year, according to Alexis Schwartz, head of purpose partnerships at The Guardian U.S., partly due to general economic uncertainty, which has challenged publishers’ advertising businesses since their heights in 2021. But brands have also grown more cautious of advocacy messaging after Bud Light and Target suffered commercial blowback in 2023 for supporting the LGBTQ+ community. These factors have not stymied green advertising efforts, but they have shifted the dynamic: Where brands once rushed to communicate their sustainability bona fides, they now take more convincing and emphasize audience data and performance. “The one change that I’ve seen is a bit of a green hush,” Schwartz said. “Especially after the Bud Light and Target incidents, any publisher has to be prepared to provide justification that this is the right thing to do.” The Guardian U.S. has used consumer data to assuage brands’ concerns about advertising alongside climate reporting. In one survey, readers were asked what effect it would have on their opinion of a brand if it ran an ad alongside climate-related reporting. Thirty-six percent of respondents said it would have no effect, while 55% said the effect would be positive, according to Schwartz. New commercial and editorial products To accommodate shifting advertiser interest, publishers are also rolling out a variety of new editorial and commercial products. While Bloomberg Green has launched its own festival—Bloomberg Green Festival taking place this July in Seattle, sponsored by Amazon—Axios plans to build out its presence and coverage at climate mainstays like COP29 and Climate Week. Heatmap News, which already paywalls its reporting, is planning to roll out an expensive data and intelligence product this summer, according to co-founder and editor in chief Nico Lauricella. As for editorial, Bloomberg Green recently unveiled a six-part video series called An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. And The Guardian U.S. is planning a dedicated vertical for its climate reporting. The publisher first established a climate desk in 1989 and produces around 130 articles on the subject weekly, but this would give the coverage a dedicated space that could heighten advertiser interest. “If a brand is going to message about sustainability, we want to be the partner they do it with because of our platform and our audience,” Schwartz said. Business-focused publishers are more insulated Unlike general interest news outlets, publishers catering to business professionals have experienced no downturn in demand for their climate coverage inventory. At Bloomberg Green and Axios, advertiser interest in sponsoring environmental coverage, including newsletters and events, has been consistent. And at Axios, which reaches climate professionals through its tiered Axios Generate newsletter and Policy Pro newsletter, advertiser interest has been steady, according to Cameron. Demand from energy companies, in particular, helped Axios achieve its most profitable quarter ever in Q4. Heatmap News, which launched last April, was pleasantly surprised to find that its audience makeup—roughly 70% professionals, 30% consumers—has led to eager interest from advertisers, particularly in the climate technology space. “We’ve built an effective bridge between the climate community and clean energy world in ways that are both unique and substantive,” said chief executive, co-founder and president Randy Siegel.

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Greenhushing and a Softer Ad Market Spur Shifts in Publishers Monetizing Climate Reporting

Changing brand attitudes have led to more emphasis on data, performance and events

Mark Stenberg

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Mark Stenberg