If ever there were a time for local newsrooms to build trust, this is it. Online data show visits to local news web sites increased nearly 90 percent from February to March due to a sharp increase in interest.
But, what do community members want from you? In Your Voice Ohio conversations in the past four years, the message has been: “Help us.” People said they need to see people like themselves who are struggling with challenges yet experiencing success. In other words, they are searching for personally actionable ways to improve daily life. Moreover, they want hope. And, we learned this: People have questions you may already have answered, but they can’t find them on your site, and they have questions you may not have considered that are worth pursuing. Is your news site taking this dynamic into consideration? Can people find the most helpful information on your site, when they need it?
At Your Voice Ohio, we have always emphasized and championed for more engaged journalism. But, what could this look like in the age of social distancing? We’re beginning to find out!
Online Behavioral Shifts
These are unprecedented and challenging times for us all. Not surprisingly, people are looking for support and reassurance amid the pandemic and the ongoing uncertainty around its impacts, and they’re turning to online communities for this purpose. Does your newsroom present itself as part of the online community?
Early signs indicate readers are deeply engaged with the day-to-day changes taking place as state, local and national governments respond to new developments. According to a poll from Pew Research Center, more than 50 percent of U.S. adults say they are following COVID-19 news “very closely,” while another 38 percent are following “fairly closely.” In mid-March, visits to local news sites were up 89 percent compared to February, according to Comscore.
While this uptick in traffic is partially due to readers wanting more information about what’s happening in their own communities during this global crisis, it creates an opportunity to engage with a broader audience in your community. According to NiemanLab, “newsrooms are keen to fortify reader-generated revenue streams and demonstrate the value of local journalism while the interest — and the stakes — are at historic highs.” When we consider the loss of social interaction and loss of community connection, at a time when people need to feel connected the most, it leaves a significant gap. As such, it’s no surprise to see online communities filling this void, and becoming more active.
Journalists as community conveners
Local journalists have an often untapped skill – the ability to bring people together. Amid the pandemic, many local news organizations are doing some of their best, most innovative work in service of their communities.
Across the country, local newsrooms are taking some similar approaches to coverage — live news blogs with the latest updates, Q&As that deal in the general and specifics of each community, human stories and a mission to inform and not alarm.
In Seattle, the nonprofit newsroom Crosscut is using online question forms to connect with their community and assess their information needs. Audience engagement editor Mohammed Kloub said, the goal is to bring their community into the reporting process to make sure their publishing things that are helpful to people in a time of uncertainty. They’ve gotten several questions already and are working through them. The team is also trying to answer specific questions with relevant information it already has.
The Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, a partnership of the city’s six major media companies and other local institutions, is hosting virtual town halls that invites residents to talk through what information they need during this time. The Denver Post launched a “Don’t Panic” support group on Facebook – providing daily updates, inviting people to ask questions, talk to each other and spotlight small businesses, and using it as a place to counter misinformation.
The Discourse, a Canadian publication, launched a “Save Small Business” campaign for local companies, where they asked small business owners to share their stories on how the pandemic has affected their businesses. After receiving over 14,000 responses, they published that data for other journalists to use to help them reveal new stories about their communities.
The Tampa Bay Times and the Seattle Times removed paywalls from their coverage, and The San Francisco Chronicle’s “need to know” story is outside the paywall, too. At the Seattle Times, Ray Rivera, the managing editor, said they can see people subscribing because of the coronavirus coverage, even though it’s free. At the Tampa Bay Times, digital subscriptions were up by about 100, with coronavirus coverage making up about half of the stories that led people to subscriptions. The VTDigger, the nonprofit newsroom in Vermont, pledged to donate masks to local hospitals for every new subscriber.
A majority of people are stuck at home and feeling anxious, and passively consuming scary news can sometimes add to that anxiety. Having a sense of purpose or seeing a role for themselves in supporting their community, however, can help alleviate some of that anxiety. Journalists can help create this role by asking their community to get the word out, spread facts that can counter misinformation and save lives. Invite readers to share your content. Thank them and let them know the impact of the reporting they’re helping to get out. Listen to their ideas and feedback. Make them a part of your mission.
zoe morgan sydney says
Share the work. The work week attached to the unemployment rate. There’s reportedly 20% unemployment. If we reduced the work week by 1 hr & 36 minutes per day, there’d be zero. We should have been doing this all along & should continue doing it. It will give us the natural worth of all labor, motivate workers to be as productive as possible & do away with rent seekers of both stripes. It is virtually inevitable, what with all the AI based automation coming our way. Like subsidize infrastructure (ie 5g, not tuition & ag storage, not production.