In his Nieman Lab journalism predictions, Andy Rossback from The New York Times predicts that 2017 is the year of the media user.
He thinks digital platforms are facilitating news organisations to shift from an advertiser-first focus to concentrating more on the media users.
Andy says high-quality editorial offerings, coupled with high-end advertisements and exceptional editorial design, can attract more viewers to the media content.
In the year of 2017, technology has become the centre of media production like never before.
Technology not only comes into play in editorial production, such as using Adobe InDesign to put together a newspaper, but is also essential in designing the “visual” side of news.
Like Andy said, “news design, at its most useful, is an important media literacy tool”.
In 2017, in this fast-consumption digital media space, media consumers go for media content with high visual appeal.
High-quality, balanced news reporting deserves to have a design that matches its level. This kind of content that really matters needs to be read and consumed by users.
To achieve this, media organisations need to think from their audience’s point of view and think how to better present their content.
Similarly to Andy’s view, Amy O’Leary from Upworthy argues the factual journalism is not enough to reach people.
She says news distribution is an art and journalists will be able to explore how their stories travel in the “information ecosystem”.
News no longer gets distributed through word of mouth or physical paper deliveries, but travels fast through the digital channel.
Therefore journalists need to develop strategies to not just cover a wide range of topics, but also reach the relevant people and communities.
The new strategy for journalists and media organisations to expand their content reach is to come up with narratives that touch people’s heart through different ways, especially emotionally.
Both Andy and Amy believe worthy journalism content needs to be presented in attractive ways, both through the design and the narrative.
In an age of information overflow, the content with the best visual appeal and the most touching and relatable narrative stands out.
Designing software enables journalists to create attractive designs for their news content.
Social media platforms allow journalists to directly communicate with their audience and develop narratives that emotionally reach people.
Technology is inseparable to journalism in 2017 and journalists need to utilise technology to present their work.
