NewsBeat

February 2017 NewsBeat 19 (Continued on next page) By BENJAMIN MULLIN Reader support is more important than ever; Here are 22 ways to connect with your community ne of the most promising moneymaking frontiers seems to be reader-supported journalism. The New York Times, with its massive global reach, is betting big on subscribers; Dean Baquet, the Times' editor, recently said a10 million subscriber goal was in the realm of possibility. The Washington Post, which is on a quest to convert drive-by traffic into paid subscribers, is now a profitable enterprise. Other subscriber-driven outlets — The Information and Timmerman Report, for example — have found success by putting readers at the center of their businesses. This focus on audiences raises an important question: How should news organizations that aim to make most of their money from readers, viewers and listeners behave? I put the question on social media and asked the Twitterverse for suggestions. Here's what they came up with. (If you know some I'm forgetting, please feel free to leave them in the comments below!) Newsletters: One of the most valuable pieces of real estate in our daily lives is the email inbox. News organizations have adopted daily briefings en masse as they seek to build a direct connection to their readers that isn't mediated by social media. iPhone/Android applications: If getting into your reader's inbox is good, having a designated spot on their iPhone screen is better. The best applications are habit-forming and keep your most loyal readers coming back on a regular basis. O Letters (real and electronic): Reporters and editors gathered around my desk excitedly during my internship at The Sacramento Bee when I got my first letter from Folsom State Prison. It was apparently something of a newsroom tradition — having a prison 30 minutes away meant that we often got mail from convicts who insisted they were wrongly convicted and wanted us to look into their case. This letter was mildly upsetting, but I still read it back-to-front — as did several other people in the newsroom. The lesson? Snail mail takes up physical space in our lives and is harder to ignore. When a reader takes the time to write something longhand and put a stamp on it, it's probably worthwhile to give it a hard look. That certainly paid off for The New York Times when Donald Trump's tax returns showed up in the mailroom one day. And don't forget to set up electronic mailboxes, too. SecureDrop is a great way to receive anonymous tips from readers. Membership: If readers love your brand, or individual personalities in your newsroom, membership can be a great way to bring your audience closer to the newsroom. Live chats, Slack channels and gifts are all excellent ways to bring people into your orbit. Crowdsourcing: Here's how the typical story is written. A reporter has an idea about what deserves attention. Then, they call the usual suspects — city officials and local citizens with a public profile. Then, the news and quotes go into a story that few people will read and even fewer will care about. From NewsU: Lessons from 10 years in audience engagement Social media: Judicious use of social media applications Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat can keep your news organization in conversation with the people who follow it. Reader-supported organizations — any organization, really — can't afford to neglect social media. Telephone: When I call local newsrooms, there's an actual person at the other end of the phone who tries to answer my questions. The importance of a real human connection can't be overstated in the age of digital and automated communication." Voicemail: My college-town newspaper once had an answering machine feature that the editor compared to a train wreck: upsetting but impossible to look away from. Readers would call in and leave a message; their (often tasteless) remarks would be transcribed and printed on the second page of newspaper. Although the feature was eventually killed (too few contributors; too much whining) there's a lesson in its popularity: The power of a confessional is extremely popular, and anonymity leads to honesty, for good or ill. Other news organizations, including BuzzFeed, WNYC and CNN have allused voicemail to help their audience open up about sensitive subjects.

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