Great point.

these “content marketing rockstars” lack understanding of the niche they are writing for

I’m most successful writing for clients when I get to interview stakeholders or industry experts. Content is truly about understanding the business, industry.

Which is why I’ve learned to see myself as a brand journalist. I think shielding the client from the copywriter must go back to the days of traditional ad agencies where the account exec interfaced with the client and the graphic artists, writers, programmers were shielded from the interaction.

Journalists were never like that. They’re expected to dig in to the topic, learn it and communicate it.