Press Association rebrands as PA Media as part of ‘ongoing digital transformation’

A picture from the PA Media newsroom, illustrating a story about the company's NUJ union chapel being formally recognised. — PA Media's third floor newsroom at The Point in Paddington. Picture: PA Media

News agency the Press Association has changed its name to PA Media as part of its “ongoing digital transformation”.

The name change, made official today, is part of a wider rebranding across parent company PA Group, which has become PA Media Group.

When the plans were first revealed last September the company said the refresh would reflect its evolution into a “modern, dynamic” business.

New logos and websites have been unveiled for PA Media and its parent company, plus commercial picture arm PA Images and journalism course provider PA Training (see below).

PA Media Group chief executive Clive Marshall said: “Having a distinct umbrella brand enables us to better showcase the range of specialisms within the PA Media Group as we target a broader range of customers.

“The new brand structure will also accommodate organic growth within the organisation, as well as new business acquisitions.”

Marc Koskela, the company’s head of marketing, said the new branding “sets us up well for a digital future”.

He added that the continuing emphasis on “PA” as part of the brand was important to retain a link to the heritage of the company, which was established in 1868 to serve regional newspaper proprietors.

The new logos for PA Media Group, PA Media, PA Images and PA Training. Picture: PA Media Group

The news agency moved to digital-first production in late 2017 when it introduced Ready, its feed of articles which are ready to publish online with words, images, video, graphics and social media.

It then launched Now, its multimedia breaking news alerts service, and this year plans to introduce Create, a newswire which will allow newsdesks to search all PA content and select different elements to “tailor their own coverage of developing stories”.

PA Group has also bought a number of five specialist media companies in recent years as part of an “ongoing diversification strategy to reduce PA Media Group’s reliance on the traditional media sector”.

The rebranding closely follows PA’s move to a new London headquarters in Paddington (pictured above) after 14 years in Victoria.

A PA spokesperson said at the time the move would be an “opportune time to update PA’s branding to reflect the modern, dynamic business that we are”.

They added: “We have evolved a long way from our beginnings as a supplier of national news to the regional print media. Nor is the Press Association a membership organisation as the name suggests.

“As we look to the future of the broader group, our new identity will unify the various PA-branded businesses and standalone companies offering a range of specialist media services.”

Picture: PA