Once upon a time, I was a traveling journalist for the railroad. News Link contracts BNSF Railway, Union Pacific, Amtrak and smaller regional rail companies as well as leading organizations in the agriculture and food production industries. Each account is designated a corporate journalist to build connections with front-line staff and leadership, gather news, and take photos.
Because of our relationship with each company, what we provided wasn’t quite journalism. It was more accurately, I liked to say, “investigative PR” – a term the CEO still uses to onboard new hires.
Client: BNSF Railway Twin Cities Division (spanning Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas). Northern Light, a 12-page bi-monthly full-color newsletter, was in print from 2000 through 2016.
Role: Corporate journalist
Strategy: Northern Light increased communication, built rapport, and highlighted the work of employees across the division. Safety was a consistent topic focus for these publications, as was featuring as many individuals as possible.
Delivery: Print copies distributed in breakrooms within the division, and truncated stories were displayed on digital signage.
