A ‘slash’ punctuation mark – known in some markets as the shilling-stroke – has taken a front role in the merger of the News Media Alliance and the MPA.

With the merger with the Association of Magazine Media now official, the merged association has announced it will be known as News/Media Alliance. Confusingly however, its logo presents a hyphen (-) instead.

That apart, the group says it will now focus on building a powerful future for quality journalism, following the merger of the two organizations announced in May.

The News/Media Alliance becomes “the leading voice for the news and magazine media industries, fighting for the future of publishing.

“News publishers and magazines are creators of valuable, compelling original journalism, together over $40 billion in annual revenue. News/Media Alliance members represent many of the biggest and most renowned brands in the news publishing and magazine industries,” it says in a statement.

It promises top-notch advocacy, proprietary research, original programmes and dynamic events to bring together diverse membership under a shared and vital purpose.

Alliance president and chief executive David Chavern said the group was committed to defending the future of high-quality journalism. “Our members work diligently to meet the needs of their readers, who rely on the news, investigative journalism and in-depth stories they provide. We know the future for the industry is bright and full of possibility, and we are excited that our two industries have joined together under a common mission.”

The Alliance is committed to working with both its news publisher and magazine media members to create strategies and business models that will propel the industry forward and allow for original, quality journalism to thrive.

More expertise is currently being brought on to expand overall legislative, technical and research capabilities. “Together, we will leverage our collective voice to achieve our vision of sustained quality journalism whose value is recognised – by all who distribute and consume it – for the tremendous contributions it provides to society and to people’s lives,” Chavern said.