Understanding our Readers

We are in the year 2017.

Of course, by now, we have figured out what good journalism means. We know what a good story looks like. We know what our readers will like.

But do we know how our audiences consume news?

Why do they return to certain webpages every day?

Why do they click on some stories, and others not?

These are the questions Sarah Marshall is posing in her Nieman Lab 2017 predictions article. According to her, the time has come for us to evaluate the tons of data we have on our readers, and embrace a ‘reader-centric approach’.

If we don’t start understanding how our audience thinks and what they demand, we will continue to write good stories, sure. Stories, nobody is interested in. It is essential for the media sector to make use of the vast amount of available data that is being collected every single day. We need to understand what our readers want, and WHY.

But, we also need to understand how news are consumed today. Most often people don’t read news on their computers anymore. Smartphones are in everyone’s hands- all the time. Hardly anyone leaves the house without it.  So, it’s just natural to use it for the daily news intake.

How does that effect the perception of news?

Nathalie Malinarich shares her insights about the implications of our evolved consumption of technology in her article.

People are not only constantly bombarded with all kinds of notifications of varying importance. They  must, now, also distinguish between real and fake news.

Along with the hurdles that one needs to pass to find, filter and read news, it has become increasingly difficult to access good news on mobile devices.

Ms. Malinarich, therefore, suggests making the access to news as easy as possible for the readers.

Tailored news, directly pushed on to the lock screens of smartphones, is what she suggests.

But, also journalists have a great role to play in the delivery of easily- accessible news. Our headlines need to be catchier than before. Our images need to grab attention, now more than ever.

The variety of information on the Internet is enormous, the competition is huge.

We need to understand and adapt to the age of technology to deliver stories that are easy to find, trustworthy, and fun to read.

(Picture by Laura Simsek, 2016.)