How Stacker distributes sponsored content to thousands of publishers
The startup devised a unique business model for its newswire service.
In the traditional media ecosystem, content distribution has long followed a predictable structure. Newsrooms produce journalism, wire services like the Associated Press and Reuters syndicate it, and publishers pay for access. Meanwhile, brands sit largely outside that system, relying on PR firms, press releases, or paid placements to get their message in front of audiences.
Stacker is attempting to collapse those boundaries.
Founded in 2017, the company has built what it calls an “earned syndication platform” for brand content—a system that distributes data-driven journalism created by both media organizations and brands to thousands of publishers for free. Instead of charging publishers, Stacker charges brands to produce and distribute content that looks and behaves like editorial.
The result is a hybrid model that blends elements of a newsroom, a wire service, and a branded content studio—while deliberately avoiding the economics of all three.
“We really see our responsibility as optimizing the impact of all of this content that is being created,” said co-founder Noah Greenberg. “Most people are not going to the blogs of these organizations… so helping it find more reach and readership is where we come in.”
At a time when local newsrooms are understaffed and brands are investing heavily in content, Stacker is positioning itself as the connective tissue between supply and demand.
In a recent interview, co-founder Greenberg explained how Stacker works with publishers, its process for creating sponsored content, and why he has no interest in driving an audience to Stacker’s owned and operated website.
Let’s jump into it…
A Newswire Built for the Content Surplus Era
The founding insight behind Stacker was relatively simple: there was already an enormous amount of high-quality content being created outside traditional newsrooms, but no efficient way to distribute it at scale.
Brands were increasingly hiring journalists and publishing research-driven stories. Nonprofits and institutions were producing credible reporting. And yet, most of that work lived on owned blogs or corporate websites that attracted limited readership.
At the same time, newsrooms—especially local ones—were dealing with shrinking resources and a growing appetite for supplemental content.
Stacker’s solution was to build a platform that sits between the two.
“We realized that a lot of brands are hiring journalists and producing really incredible research and service journalism,” Greenberg said. “And at the same time, news outlets… have a really big appetite for quality third-party content.”
Rather than acting as a traditional marketplace where publishers buy content, Stacker flipped the model. It gives publishers free access to a curated newswire and monetizes on the supply side by charging brands to participate.
The company now syndicates content to more than 3,000 news outlets through partnerships with over 150 publishing groups, including major chains like Hearst, McClatchy, and Lee Enterprises.
Critically, it has embedded itself directly into newsroom workflows. Through CMS integrations, Stacker’s feed appears alongside traditional wire services, reducing friction for editors deciding what to publish.
“If I’m an editor… there’s a bunch of content provided through the Stacker wire right next to AP and Reuters,” Greenberg said. “We’re just removing a lot of friction.”
That distribution advantage—combined with editorial vetting—allows Stacker to function as a trusted filter in an otherwise chaotic PR landscape.
The Strategic Shift: From Press Releases to Pre-Packaged Journalism
Stacker’s model reflects a broader shift in how brands approach earned media.
Historically, companies relied on press releases or surveys to generate coverage. The goal was to pitch journalists on story ideas and hope they would write about them. But as newsroom staffing declined, that model became less effective.
“What we found is… instead of putting out a press release with a few bullets of findings, we’ll just write the story itself,” Greenberg said.
That shift is central to Stacker’s value proposition. Rather than asking publishers to interpret data or rewrite press materials, it delivers fully formed articles that meet editorial standards.
The company enforces those standards through an internal review process. Every piece that enters the wire is vetted to ensure it aligns with newsroom expectations, regardless of whether it originates from a nonprofit, a media company, or a brand.
This is what allows Stacker content to live alongside traditional journalism rather than being siloed as sponsored content.
“There’s a big difference between something that’s self-promotional and something that’s journalism,” Greenberg said. “If you want to talk about your company values… that’s not content we can syndicate.”
The result is a model where brands effectively fund journalism—but only if that journalism meets the standards required for organic distribution.