Junkee Media recently underwent a facelift and new brand identity, Telum Media spoke with Editor-in-Chief, Alice Griffin, on the decision behind the move, its editorial process, and their best advice for PRs pitching. 

Junkee has recently undergone a face-lift and a new brand identity. Can you walk us through the process and decision-making behind this?
Junkee is an iconic brand with an incredible legacy, and it’s had a real chokehold on Millennials for more than a decade - they’ve grown up with the publication. When I first started at Junkee almost two years ago, I was tasked with welcoming the next generation of people who would grow up with us and love Junkee just as much as those before them. I knew that to do that, we had to shake things up a bit: tell our stories in different ways (and on different platforms) and introduce more voices with fun vibes and lots to say.

All of this is my roundabout way of saying: content-wise, we’ve been in our Junkee 2.0 era for a while, and making the outside look hot to match just made sense. Our rebrand is the essential final step in us making it official with our community (who already know that brown is the new black) as well as a great way to reintroduce ourselves to those outside of our community who might not have been following along with what we’ve been up to as closely. 

It definitely could’ve been something that intimidated us, but we were up for the challenge of forging Junkee’s new brand identity, to make a conscious effort to show up for a new audience of people in 2024. 

Our team is reflective of our core demo, so it was important for me that they could see themselves in the look and feel of Junkee 2.0. Insights from the team ranged from "CUTE’ to ‘chocolate brown is way c*ntier than corporate black". Gathering feedback was one of the more hilarious parts of the process, but also the most valuable.

User experience was at the top of our list for the re-launch of Junkee. Part of that was to seamlessly integrate video into our site, so visiting junkee.com is a more holistic experience and a place you can get lost in. I’m so proud of where we’ve landed, and I’m excited to continue developing the site with our team in the next phases, as we add more features to enhance the overall experience for our people.

As an Editor, can you describe a day in your life and your top editorial priorities? 
We don’t do straight news, so our editorial approach isn’t tied to the 24-hour news cycle. We are, however, deep in the comment sections in every corner of the internet. We hear stories that matter to our people directly from them, which allows us to be intentional in how we approach our version of news. In terms of editorial priorities, our content sits in three key verticals: music, culture, and social justice. These are where the passion points of our team and the Junkee community live.

Our days look different all the time though, which keeps it interesting. One day we might be focused on how a single story can show up in a bunch of different ways, and the next day we could be in back-to-back brainstorms for a slate of upcoming commercial campaigns with partners we love. Maybe we’re knocking off early because our favourite artist only has a spare 15 minutes on a Saturday to chat with us (it’s all about balance). Personally, I’ve got three different drinks on the go at all times: a green juice of some kind, a big cup or bottle of water, and a dribble of coffee at the bottom of a cup I’ve microwaved in the hopes I’ll get to it. And normal, when the time strikes.

Could you provide insights into Junkee's editorial creation process? 
Firstly, I’d just like to shout out to my team here. I’m constantly impressed by their proper passion for this thing we’ve built together. They are bright, sharp, and curious storytellers who are up for anything. I value their perspective (as do our audience), so when they pitch something I’ve never heard of, I trust them. All of our biggest and most-loved stories start from this authentic place of: “I have deep thoughts and feelings about this thing, I need to talk about it.” Following the team down niche rabbit holes is some of the best fun I’ve had working in this industry, and it doesn’t get old. 

From a four-and-a-half minute presentation about Jacob Elordi picking up Barry Keoghan’s little iced coffee on the Saltburn press tour (a single moment that became our most engaged video ever) to dissecting the complicated feelings on the day of the Met Gala this year, we’re committed to an editorial strategy led by the passion points of our team and our community. 

What trends and issues stand out as particularly significant or influential among today's youth?
So many. We’re in constant back-and-forth chats with our community to get a better feel for the things that are affecting their world right now. We use this two-way conversation to inform all of our coverage, particularly in our Social Justice vertical. 

Probably the best recent example is our new content series, which doesn’t have an official title, but we’ve loosely referred to it as "Visibly terrified at Parliament House". It started when Multimedia Reporter Ky Stewart shared how much they don’t feel represented by Australian politicians right now, and asked if our audience felt the same.

The response was massive and very depressing. So many of them told us how disappointed they were in politicians of all parties not caring enough about the issues that take up serious brain space for them, and how they felt super disconnected from the political system because of the lack of representation. Feeling emboldened by the shared frustrations, we took our audience’s responses to Canberra and spoke directly with politicians about those issues. And a whole new content series was born on Junkee. 

For PR professionals seeking effective engagement with Junkee, what advice would you offer to ensure their pitches or stories are successful?
Firstly, it’s important to note that our audience is made up primarily of Gen Z, so please keep that front of mind when thinking of Junkee! Above all, we love both working with and amplifying people who get it. People who understand the social landscape, who understand the power of fan culture, who prioritise intersectionality, who are socially and politically conscious, who go to gigs on a school night and bed rot on a weekend.

We want to be the first people you think of to interview a hot new TV cast, or someone starting a sick social movement that our people can support. We want to work with you and keep working with you. So please reach out, we’re keen to continue expanding our network with like-minded people and make some really cool things.