NewsBeat

December 2018 NewsBeat 9 The Des Moines Register, Great Falls Tribune, New Haven Register and others, have live streamed their editorial board meetings. Reddit style (or hosted) AMA's (Ask Me Anything) and Facebook Live broadcasts are commonplace. And more outlets could follow in the footsteps of the Cottage Grove (Oregon) Sentinel where, for an hour each month, Caitlyn May hosts an informal "Meet the Editor" discussion at a local coffee shop. Five: Actively seek out opportunities for engagement These types of activities do more than let audiences peak behind the journalistic curtain — they're a great opportunity for us to listen, too. As Molly de Aguiar, managing director of the News Integrity Initiative, has pointed out: "... newsrooms can see that better listening and engagement are no longer 'nice to have,' but are absolutely critical priorities for making good on their democratic obligations, as well as for their financial well-being." The working practices pioneered by Hearken, and partners, demonstrate this potential. By encouraging audiences to submit questions they want answered or suggest topics they want covered, newsrooms like KUOW Public Radio in Puget Sound, Washington, can identify stories journalists might not have known their audience were interested in. Moreover, as the Dallas Morning News has found through its Curious Texas project, these elements can coalesce to also drive subscriptions. "We are seeing that Curious Texas articles convert well; they do better than the average stories produced by our newsroom. And they're helping to surface the kind of stories we want to follow up on," Nicole Stockdale, the News' director of digital strategy, told Street Fight earlier this month. Six: Mind your language I've argued previously that the labels used by journalists don't necessarily translate to a lay audience. As a result, newsrooms need to be more mindful of the terms they use across their content. As Joy Mayer, director of the Trusting News project, told me this summer, when we talk about "anonymous sources" many people assume the journalist doesn't know who the source is. This challenge is reinforced when your commander-in-chief suggests these types of sources (although he used to be one) are "made up." Other potential areas of concern include whether audiences can explain difference between news and opinion. Do they understand what wire services do, and that stories from AP, AFP, Reuters, etc. weren't produced in-house? Should they view material differently if it's from one of these sources, your "contributor network" or if it's "sponsored content"? Does any of this matter to them? We need to start demystifying these journalistic tropes and perhaps start using new labels. Seven: Hire differently Lastly, although there's much we can do to help journalism better connect with audiences, fundamentally, we need to do more than just repackage our output. We also need to shake some things up. It's essential that newsroom demographics more closely align to that of your (potential) audience. We need more women, people of color and a wider spectrum of political beliefs and educational backgrounds in newsrooms. And we must address the class problem that continues to blight our trade. Without this, there's always a risk of detachment, and an inability to reflect the complexities of the communities and stories we are telling. These are not new issues, so we need to think creatively about finally tackling them. The future of journalism cannot — and will not — look like the past. It will require a recalibration of approach if we are to rebuild trust and create the best possible foundation for a sustainable future. This means being better listeners, being more selective in the stories we choose to tell (vital in an age of diminished resources), being more inclusive about who tells them and more diverse in the ways they are communicated. News organizations, funders, J-schools, news and media literacy advocates, tech titans and journalists themselves all have a role to play here. Let's get to it! Damian Radcliffe is the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at the University of Oregon, a fellow of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, and an honorary research fellow at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies. — Reprinted from Poynter.org

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