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Laura oliver audience engagement
- 1. Audience engagement in the newsroom What COVID-19 has taught us
- 2. What we’ll cover ● Audience-led coverage ● Understanding audience needs ● Sustaining new audiences
- 3. Choose your own adventure You are… In a local newsroom covering COVID-19 and its aftermath for a primarily local audience You are… In the newsroom of a specialist outlet covering COVID-19 for a specific demographic or profession You are… In a newsroom covering COVID-19 on a national and international level for a broad audience
- 4. Questions 1. What will you do? 2. How will you do this? 3. What else do you need? 4. Any blockers?
- 6. 1. Audience-led coverage Source: Nieman Lab “Journalism can be — and sometimes needs to be — the simple, straightforward answering of somebody’s question. It’s not just 3,000-word narratives or a sound-rich audio feature. It’s meeting information needs, in whatever form that needs to take.” CAITLIN HERNANDEZ, engagement intern
- 8. 1. Audience-led coverage ● Ask the audience ● Ask them again ● Build in audience surveying and segmentation ● Plan how you will deal with the response ● Show how you are responding ● Return to communities Why? ● Story ideas and leads ● Build sources ● An opportunity to build trust ● More qualified understanding of engaged audience
- 9. 2. Changing audience needs Inform Me Entertain/Distract Me Serve me Guide/Show Me Join Me/Let’s Connect Other Time/day study Needs/intent study
- 10. 2. Changing audience needs Service journalism will help news organisations stand out at a time when people have really significant needs. Ebony Reed, WSJ new audiences editor speaking at an ICFJ webinar
- 11. 2. Changing audience needs ● Look at the trends and data ● Think about user intent ● Emerging needs? ● Different formats for different needs ● Build a framework
- 12. Questions 1. What will you do? 2. How will you do this? 3. What else do you need? 4. Any blockers?
- 13. 3. Sustaining new audiences “More than half of the people who ask questions are also opting into our newsletters. To that end, we’ve leveraged the increased production of our reporters and producers to launch a second daily newsletter: a morning briefing that brings readers the latest coronavirus developments. Its open rate is nearly double that of our afternoon newsletter.” LAist ● Transitioning to other products ● Plan for the next phase ● Model for covering prolonged breaking news ● Focus on habits/behaviours ● “Noise cancelling service” - direct access to experts ● Focus on core commitments e.g. Project monitoring surveillance ● Solutions journalism focus
- 14. 3. Sustaining new audiences ● Plan for this as early as possible with products/initiatives ● Don’t abandon engaged communities ● Talk to them about next steps ● Return to those qualified audience segments ● Segment by engagement level ● Identify non-target audiences ● Behaviours and topics that transcend COVID Share your experiences
Editor's Notes
- Some of the things I’ll talk about now aren’t new. They’ve been happening in newsrooms before COVID-19 with mixed degrees of success. BUT This feels like the perfect story to progress your audience thinking and audience projects in the newsroom It is a multi-dimensional story that connects all of us Different strands offer chances to build different communities no matter what your newsroom or specialism It’s a story that helps us understanding changing audience needs in terms of information and distribution It affects consumption and distribution patterns (remote working, mobile use, communicating the story to children) How might we use what we’re learning from covering a story of this size and from the spikes in audience it may have led to to create a model for future stories? 10 years work in 10 weeks!
- Audience-led coverage What was most important to your audience(s) during the height of lockdown? How did you find this out and respond rapidly? Understanding audience needs How are their needs changing and how are you responding? Sustaining new audiences How will you understand new audiences well enough to keep them with you?
- 20 minutes General call-out but also creating specific call-outs has allowed the team to segment their audience into groups ie. families, students, people on the rental market - based on their activity. Use a tool called contribly. 92 callouts to date; average of 250 submissions a day during March and April - 5x what they had prior to COVID, more than 15k submissions in March and April This has since gone down to around 100 a day but is still double what they were seeing before COVID The assignment that received the most contributions was the 'Your questions on Covid19' - over 10,300 submissions to date - where the audiences were able to shape the news and highlight to the editorial teams what they really wanted to know. One great example is how they created call-outs for healthcare professionals, used the content to create articles ie: this one. 20minutes then have direct contact with professionals on the ground in different areas of France that they know are willing to share their stories, and they can call upon for more insights. These are the types of stories that their audience wanted to read. This is a follow-up piece on PPE shortages Julie Bossart is one of the journalists that responds to the questions: https://www.20minutes.fr/journaliste/julie-bossart?page=5 In the articles linked to her name you have over 50 pieces which respond to audience questions on Coronavirus that have come in via the Contribly call-out. You can easily see here that the questions and responses scope out a long list of subtopics linked to Covid: ie. rights around driving schools and tests during the lockdown, education, pets, rules around childcare, how to approach problems with neighbours, understanding paperwork needed to leave the house, fishing and sport, and so much more. Around 50k pvs per article. Their ongoing call-out 'Fake-off' that fights against fake news and tries to place 20minutes to be seen as a trusted news outlet received over 1000 contributions from posts that have been shared across social media.
- Since early March, LAist newsroom has received more than 3,300 pandemic-related questions Nearly a third of questions have come from out of state, some from as far away as India and the UK. To date, have answered more than 2,900 of those questions, including using the reporting newsroom is already doing. “Our approach to answering questions, which has grown to include email and text, didn’t take shape overnight. It’s the result of years of developing an engaged newsroom — and we’ve had our fair share of growing pains along the way.” But previous callouts like this had maxed out around 1,000 submissions Using Hearken To deal with the increase in engagement- because you don’t want people submitting and then hearing nothing: — Staggered work schedules for our seven-person engagement team, allowing for coverage on weekends and evenings — Held weekly check-in meetings — Worked in close coordination with the digital editor charged with keeping the website’s FAQ up to date. “We maintain a master database for the newsroom that includes questions, source contact information, the status of their question, and whether a reporter is interested or has reached out to them — among other details.” answer people’s questions where they are - language and platform. Developed text service for those without reliable internet - now send weekly round-up to 300 people. Also hard copy information bundles to certain groups and neighbourhoods “There have been times, in fact, when the newsroom was receiving nearly 10 questions per minute.” “we are seeing the biggest audiences we’ve ever experienced at LAist.com: both March and April beat our previous monthly record by well over 200%.” More on texting https://medium.com/@joinsubtext/get-the-latest-on-covid-19-in-your-community-5aeb8c16316c
- Audience engagement in reporting. Great examples of community guidelines for engagement and structured callouts. What experts did they already have within their audience. “Help make sure our journalism is responsible and focused on the right issues”
- Has your newsroom been doing this? Are you set up to deal with audience contributions at scale? How could you use audience-led coverage to improve understanding of who your audience is? What datasets would you want to build? => the key is the link between journalists and readers. 20 Minutes is deeply engaged in engaged and contributive journalisme. We really want to strengthen the trust in the media. We really want to take the audience's voice into account. Before Contribly, if we had reported in the 'old-fashioned way', the journalist might have kept to their original hunch and reported a different perspective to that of their readers. They would have missed something relevant. Audience participation is a very good way to understand them better, their concerns, interests, feelings... For example when we publish this article https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/2799831-20200615-deconfinement-reprise-ecole-obligatoire-22-juin-soulage-enfants-aussi-racontez (call out about how people feel now that schools are reopening) We were surprised to receive answers that were absolutely in contradiction with our initial thoughts. Therefore we took this in account and shared a completely different story https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/2800691-20200616-deconfinement-fille-fait-crise-angoisse-parents-loin-etre-soulages-retour-obligatoire-ecole "Lundi, nous vous avions demandé si ce retour à l’école vous apaisait, s’il s’agissait d’un soulagement pour vous. A la lecture de vos témoignages, c’est plutôt… le ressenti inverse qui domine. Entre colère, angoisse et incompréhension, cette annonce a été un véritable coup de massue pour beaucoup de parents, et pour de nombreux élèves. (Translation: Monday, we asked you if the return to school was a relief. After reading all of your contributions, it's rather the opposite feeling that dominated. Between anger, anxiety and confusion, this announcement was a real blow for many parents, and for many students.)
- CNI Wanted to understand if audience behaviours - how, what and when people consumed journalism across 10x Vogue sites around the world was different during lockdown. First step, was to regularly run studies looking at when (time of day and day) people visit Vogue sites in different markets to give a base for comparison. Audiences like to unwind with Vogue before going to bed. This is a behaviour we observed last year [2019 time-of-day study]. Throughout lockdown and throughout the easing of lockdowns, this pattern remains. Whether audiences are in Latin America, Russia, Taiwan, Japan or Europe they follow remarkably similar behaviours. What changes have we seen in audience behaviours? During the first two weeks of lockdown – whether in Italy, France, Spain, the UK, India, Russia – the evenings were quieter. We assume that people were glued to TV news or focused on Covid-19 updates from news sites. Overall, the traffic peaks (morning wakeup, lunchtime, and the bedtime spike) are becoming more pronounced. This is particularly true Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK. Intent study Other things to look at - was mobile traffic dropping with more people at home? What about audiences from social? What topics were people visiting in greater numbers and more frequently? What content could be commissioned to meet this increased appetite? Returned to the needs study - categorising stories against a set of audience needs identified over the past year. Different priorities in each market. How was COVID and lockdown affecting these categories? Did we need different categories? Took two week’s content and categorised to see output, performance, social engagement etc. E.g. Netflix, home cooking, “educate me” interest in DIY beauty Several markets have devised new series and products to better reflect and meet 'entertain me' and 'guide me / show me' needs/intents Vogue Mexico and British Vogue also then used these ideas of intent to divide up their newsletter, so they would also commission pieces to fit into that newsletter structure But what is perhaps most surprising is that in a world without red carpet events, without the daily digest of celebrities stepping out and IRL fashion shows, traffic to the Vogues is strong. May 2020 was the best month to date. And while our audiences’ behaviours have changed dramatically – there are fewer people commuting and most are spending the majority of the time at home; in some countries, a fifth of people are furloughed or have lost their jobs – audience behaviours to the Vogues have barely changed.
- WSJ has run multiple Q&A sessions online during the pandemic, including overhauling its Q&A tool to provide a better and more navigable experience for audiences, making it easier for them to follow and find information. Q&As aren’t necessarily new but the title has also moved its jobs and money section outside of the paywall during this time and used qs submitted by readers to help develop the most relevant content. It’s pairing its journalism with resources available to its audiences. The Wall Street Journal has launched a mobile-first site called WSJ Money to help readers manage their finances during the COVID-19 crisis. The interactive micro-site is divided into five topics: stimulus money, student loans, mortgages, unemployment and taxes. Presented in a Q&A format, questions such as “What if I can’t make my mortgage payment this month?” and “How much will my unemployment check be?” are answered in short, easy-to-read cards that can be copied and shared. The audience and personal finance teams plan to add new features and additional information during quarterly updates, based in part, on findings from user research studies. Has invested in running audience surveys to new audiences signing up to the site or visiting as part of these initiatives - especially important as there’s been an influx and they won’t be getting the same data as usual because they are running content outside the paywall. Reflect audience needs in your products too: Whether it’s launching that text message list for those with limited internet access for Laist or changing the format of newsletters as some Vogue markets have done Quick mention for unexpected needs! Yorkshire Post Moved obits to front, not paid for as usual to help with healing and grieving process Same for 20 minutes: In addition, our role as a media is completely relevant with giving the audience key facts and tips to better cope with the situation For example, this article has had more than 180 000 views https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/2797779-20200611-coronavirus-doit-etre-place-quarantaine-retour-voyage-etranger (Should we be put in quarantine when we return from a trip abroad?) This one more than 320 000 views and 1600 shares on FB, 112 000 interactions (reactions, comments, shares) https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/2761783-20200416-coronavirus-oblige-renvoyer-enfant-ecole-lorsque-cours-reprendront (Do I have to send my kids back to school when classes start again?) In a crisis, people are overwhelmed by questions, fears and anxiety. Contribly is a very open way for the audience to express their deepest concerns. Boston Globe Realised people wanted to offer help as much as possible and that it could connect people with local needs. Boston Helps gives helpers five ways to support a community member: paying for someone’s groceries; paying for someone’s essential toiletries; paying for meal delivery to someone’s home; paying for a rideshare service locally; or by giving money to help a Bostonian. On the flip side, people who need these services can select which one they need the most. 700 helpers vs 125 requests but that’s changing. Most requests around groceries.
- What can this pandemic teach us about better understanding audience needs? We have months of data now about audience behaviours on our sites and with our products - what’s changed during lockdowns and what’s happening if you’re emerging? What behaviours have stayed consistent and what’s changed? What frame of mind are people in when consuming our products? Why are they using them and what are their needs? Can we plan for how these needs will change? Can we find opportunities for new products, distribution or editorial to better meet needs or anticipate needs? This should include realising that different formats will better meet different needs and that it’s not one-size fits all. Anticipate needs if possible - what are the next topics and consumption habits likely to accompany the next phase of people’s lives? What framework can you build for regularly analysing audience behaviours and needs and reporting on this?
- Audience-led coverage What was most important to your audience(s) during the height of lockdown? How did you find this out and respond rapidly? Understanding audience needs How are their needs changing and how are you responding? Sustaining new audiences How will you understand new audiences well enough to keep them with you?
- One of my biggest concerns is that we’ve seen a glut of newsletters and podcasts launched to cover COVID-19. What’s next for those audiences and communities attracted by and built around those products? Promoting other products or ways to engage can only get us so far. Returning to LAist: Plan for the next phase - they are doing this: We plan to train the AI to become increasingly accurate and targeted with this growing data set and to be able to map out topics and trends as the disease runs its course, allowing journalists to provide broader insights and be on top of the most relevant lines of public inquiry. Not only will this allow us to stay on top of COVID-19 questions, but we also see it as a path forward in covering prolonged breaking news — something we experience during every Southern California fire season. Understanding the behaviours of these new audiences can help us think about them in terms of behaviour and beyond topic specifics e.g. the Vogue time/day study, the desire to engage civically and charitably in Boston The Correspondent Focus on topics that are linked to COVID but are relevant to the site’s core principles and audience interests as well as existing in-house expertise. Use the pandemic as a way to collaborate with audiences even further e.g. building databases together, finding experts to join the community to address gaps in areas exposed by COVID and a crowdsourced guide https://thecorrespondent.com/354/coronavirus-in-context-a-guide-to-help-you-understand-the-pandemic/46866684810-59c0a344
- If this wasn’t on your plan before you launched them, then get it on your plan NOW! Aine Kerr, Kinzen: Journalists have long focused on the supply side of journalism — producing more, better, faster content. But we’ve underinvested in the demand side — understanding what people actually want and need from us. So what lessons can we learn from new audiences that might have been drawn in via COVID coverage? Segment by engagement - super users vs passersby Identify what proportion of these users are non-target audiences e.g. we may be happy to lose, gives us a more qualified sense of ongoing audience and narrative to our audience data when talking about COVID spikes in numbers. Otherwise there’s going to be a big drop YOY for lots of places.