With newspapers laying off workers and buying out others as their advertisers move online, many talented writers and former journalists are following the ads to the internet.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the fast-growing new media marketing fields that have a need for skilled, news-savvy writers. But some journalists still harbor misgivings about joining what David Meerman Scott referred to as "the dark side."

Rather than PR, new media marketing like search engine optimization (SEO) is doing precisely what journalists would do at their traditional places of employment: using their communication skills and seasoned judgment to tell stories that have an impact people’s lives.

Paul Bradshaw points up the irony of talented journalists leaving newspapers in order to work in search engine optimization (SEO) for companies that have been hired by those same newspapers to improve their online presence. While the situation may not always be as strange as that, journalists should put their minds at ease about some of the opportunities available to them on "the dark side."

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.