The News is Served

A practical framework for newsrooms to connect with niche communities

Kelsey Proud, St. Louis Public Radio
Reynolds Journalism Institute Institutional Fellowship
2014-2015
Table of Contents
Getting started: Why do this?................................................................................... 2
- We have to eat: Thoughts on engagement and organizational financial success
A little structure: Whose job is it to “do” engagement work?................................ 4
- Making space for engagement work in your work
- Establishing decision makers and stakeholders
- Collaborative possibilities
Internal reporting: questions to identify and refine your goals............................ 6
- For entire-newsroom engagement strategy
- For individual story reporting or specific projects
If you’ve got it, use it: Using the sources you already have ................................... 9
- Creating a shared database of sources
- Conversations about “power players” as starting points
- Conversations with community members
- The next level: Social media network mapping
Report. Publish. Share. Test. Measure. Adjust. Repeat. ........................................... 11
- Making connections before, during, after reporting
- Using social media for testing
- Metrics for success (qualitative and quantitative)
Keep It Going: Resources, Print-Out & More ................................................................. 16
- One-sheet: Seven Questions For Engaging Stories and Projects
- Resources
- About the author and contact information
Getting Started: Why do this?
Hello there. Thanks for jumping in. I’ll start our journey together with a little more about me and some ideas that aren’t new, but bear repeating.
First, who am I? I’m Kelsey Proud, engagement editor for St. Louis Public Radio. Our organization has undergone a transformation over the past couple of years as we merged with the former online news organization the St. Louis Beacon. In that transition, we had a chance to reexamine our strategies in newsgathering and production from the ground up. That examination continues to evolve and we along with it.
We were also presented with one of the biggest journalistic opportunities and challenges starting in the summer of 2014, with the death of Michael Brown and resulting fallout that became known as “Ferguson.” That work continues, too.
The framework I present to you here is not one hatched in a sterile environment devoid of obstacles but is the culmination of my knowledge and research as a working journalist in a newsroom faced with real-world challenges and crisis situations. It’s meant to be something that moves and changes as your organization changes. It’s also aspirational - perhaps not something that can always be achieved, but is worth striving for.
Why do “engagement” work - creating and joining conversations around our stories? Because we all should. Because we all can. Because change is good and opens us up to possibilities we never could have imagined otherwise.
Most of all, because we must.
<Insert discussion of changing landscape of journalism here and struggling business models>
That was a little bit of a joke, folks.
All kidding aside, we have to eat, right? Well, our communities also need us to feed them good information. Isn’t it a good idea to know who’s feeding us and what they also need from us to thrive? When we get closer to this mutually-beneficial relationship with our communities, it gets easier to make a case for financial support, and for our own relevance.
People will pay for something they find valuable - how can we make sure we’re worth it?
We can do all of the in-depth, multimedia-driven, slickly-produced journalism we want. But it means nothing if nobody knows it’s there — especially if those people who are either directly affected by or keenly interested in the topics we cover are unaware of our presence.
It’s the difference between writing in a personal journal and journalism. Journaling is for the writer. Journalism is for the community. It’s not about us.
For so long journalists held a monopoly on attention and information. That time is over; we all know this. What’s just beginning is an era when journalism can redefine itself as something of people, not about them. When the best work doesn’t show things from 10,000 feet up, but rather from right in the center using a 360 degree lens.
How can we serve our neighbors and our world? By involving them in the process from start to finish; by focusing on them. We have to know who they are, what they value, and how they consume information. And we have to demonstrate that we know these things by bringing the stories to them where they are.
Let’s get started. The news is served.
A little structure first: Making room for engagement
Great, you’ve decided to move forward. But who made that decision? And do you have the support needed to set your effort up for success?
For this to work you’ll need people in the roles I mention in the next section. You’ll also need the following:
- Support from the top: You know how your organization works and who makes the decisions. Do the people whose opinions really matter in your organization agree that this is worth pursuing? The answer needs to be yes. (And if it’s not, show them the first page of this document. And if it’s still not, contact me and I’ll try my best to help you make the case. Really.) That leads into another point. Leaders and team members must…
- Acknowledge that this effort is a priority: Ask yourself and your team members “What can we stop doing that isn’t working well so we can make room for this?” There is real time investment in taking on this engagement framework, especially if you’re overhauling your entire strategy. Pursuing this while keeping everything else dialed up to 100 will likely lead to burnout and an unsuccessful project or effort. Doing this with half-effort likely will not pan out well either. Make room.
- Baseline understanding of engagement tools: After you figure out which group you’re trying to reach most, find out where they gather online. Are you part of that community already? Do you know how to use Twitter (or Snapchat, or Reddit or whatever tool you’ll need to use)? Get a baseline understanding of the tool as a personal user before jumping in there to connect to the community as a professional. However, don’t let this be a hindrance that stops the entire enterprise. If you get the absolute basics of a tool, you’ll be fine. You can always Google the rest as you go or ask someone who is doing this already. Learn by doing. The whole point of this type of thing is to iterate and change what you’re doing on the fly based on what you’re learning.
Whose job is it to “do” engagement work?
The short answer? Everyone’s. But, in reality, the details might look a little something like this: Depending on the size of your organization[1] and the goal you have in mind (to build/change your entire digital engagement strategy versus a specific project or story) the number of people will vary. However, I’d suggest you need people in the following roles (perhaps simultaneously) for this process to be most successful.
For either a strategy overhaul OR project-based approach:
- Project Manager - Someone who really understands why your team is doing this and who is invested in its success. This person directs progress, logistics and communications between all team members and outside parties (if applicable). The project manager measures what’s working and what’s not. Also, he or she has the final say, when necessary, following team discussion. This person, therefore, must be comfortable taking decisive action and knowing when to do so.
- Collaborator/Producer - This person implements the process with content as agreed upon with the project manager and other members of the team. The producer reports back to the project manager and others frequently, if informally.
- Vested Reporter(s) and Editor(s)- These are content creators who are proven or willing champions of this thinking and who will serve as an instrument of experimentation in their work. This is the front-line, spaghetti-against-wall person who communicates frequently with the project manager and the collaborator/producer.
For a project-based approach, I’d suggest adding the following other roles, if possible and appropriate:
- Subject/Beat Reporter - Hopefully, this person is also the Vested Reporter, but we all know that’s not always the case. Reporters on important beats are not always those who are also most open to trying new things. For your first project as a staff using this framework, I’d suggest trying to find a project that allows a Vested Reporter and a Subject/Beat reporter to be the same person. The success of the project may help those who are less enthusiastic about this approach see its value and consider changing their ways for the next round. If that’s not possible, have the Project Manager serve as coach or “river guide” to the Subject/Beat Reporter.
- Community Collaborator - Is there someone in the community who knows this issue or topic in and out? This is your person. They can be as involved or uninvolved as you wish. This person can act as a sounding board for ideas, as a collaborating producer, as someone to help get the journalism out to people or as someone to convene groups. Who knows? Maybe the collaborator can even act as a funder of your effort (with clear and transparent disclosure of their involvement everywhere). The possibilities are endless.
Internal reporting: questions to identify and refine your goals
Now that you recognize the “why” and have the infrastructure set up, it’s time to get specific and find a clear direction forward. Here are the core questions to help you do that:
If you’re overhauling your engagement strategy as a whole for your organization, ask organizational leaders and stakeholders to think about and discuss these questions::
- What is our mission as an organization? Do we still agree with it? Is it modern? Does it reflect who we want to be for the next 10 years or so?
- How well does our structure, who we employ, how we produce content and what we produce live up to what our mission states? How?
- Who are we currently reaching? How do we know?
- Whom do we need to reach? How do we know?
- How do our fans perceive us? How do we know?
- Why are people who aren’t our fans (or don’t know about us) outside of our reach?
- What does engagement mean? (Create a common understanding of this, which can be multi-faceted).
- (If you’re a geographically-based organization) Is our community changing rapidly? How are we adjusting to that change? Is there an opportunity in that change?
- Are we staffed appropriately to allow us to pursue our goals? Someone in the organization must be charged with being the decider for engagement-related topics. Whether this is its own position or part of someone’s role already employed at your organization, engagement strategy cannot just float as a responsibility. As we’ve said, engagement is EVERYONE’S job, but one person must be the decider and “river guide” for these efforts. This person should also, if possible, have a deputy, or at least have someone cross-trained to help in the situation where the primary engagement person is sick, unavailable or unable to work. This work requires cultivation of relationships and keen attention to detail - it’s arguably one of the highest-profile positions at your news organization - akin to an on-air personality or star writer. In my experience, this role requires someone working at least half-time on it. Staff it like the front line to your community that it is.
- After answering all of these questions, what are our takeaways? Who do you want to reach most?
Once you’ve completed that process, answer the following questions for each topic you’re addressing or story you pursue:
If you’re working on a project-based engagement effort (or even an individual story), answer these questions in sequence, before you begin reporting:
- What is the specific need you’re trying to fill or question you’re trying to answer? Can you boil it down to one sentence? Then, do that. This will also help you describe your project to others (Funders, community collaborators, in social media outreach etc).
- To whom is this topic important? (i.e. teachers in inner-city schools, technology early-adopters, new college grads, senior citizens in the suburbs, etc.) Think about things like age, education level, race, socioeconomic status, geography, access to technology, marital status, etc. It can also be helpful to talk about who you definitely DON’T need to reach with the project or story. There may be several groups you identify here, but your journalism should be laser-focused on serving one sector especially well.
- Why is it important to the targeted community? How do you know? (Don’t assume - ask!) This can take time to figure out. It’s worth it to be comprehensive in answering it.
- How do the people who need this information or are affected by this topic consume information? What tools do they use? In which digital places do they gather? Is the community digitally connected or do they engage with each other in other ways? (If the answer is no, consider physical/analog or events-based engagement strategies. I won’t get heavily into these strategies in this framework, but they can certainly be an important part of the puzzle. You can’t push digital on a community that isn’t talking there. Again, it’s not about how we’d like to communicate as journalists, it’s how the communities communicate already — without our influence).
- How should the journalism be reported, presented, published and/or broadcast? What tools does your organization already have that can be used to create journalism or information that will best serve this group of people where they are?
- How will the group you identified know about the project? This goes back to the whole “why do it if no one will see it?” core principle.
- How will we know if we are successful? How will we follow up?
If you’ve got it, use it: Turning to the sources you already have
Once you’ve identified the topics you’ll cover or the first opportunities to test your new engagement strategy, the Project Manager can work with the Vested Reporter/Editor to determine a starting point. Before you try to find new sources in the beat or topic, it’s a helpful idea to document and use the sources you already have by creating a shared database. This isn’t a “must have” for this framework, but it can pay dividends in the future (perhaps even financially - if you are able to integrate the database with those in your financial department in some way).
There are many ways to go about this, and you’ll have to investigate which system makes the most sense for your organization. However, here are some general characteristics for putting this database together:
- Is it relatively simple to use? Use as stripped-down a system as possible so that it can be sliced, diced and sorted in numerous ways (using Google Sheets or something similar is a good start).
- Is it sortable?
- Is it searchable?
- Is it accessible to the entire organization?
- What is the plan for its maintenance? Who will be the keeper of the database when new sources must be added, removed or changes made?
- How reliable is it? Is the place where the information will be stored (locally, in the cloud etc.) stable?
- If it’s a more advanced system, what is the customer support situation? Is it what you need?
Beyond the structure, there are conversations
Once you’ve settled on the structure, it’s time to start populating your database with people interested in specific beats or your chosen topic. This is a process best facilitated by conversations and group work with the Project Manager and Vested Reporter/Editor.
Beyond the typical categories of name, job title and phone number also consider including information about each source in the following categories:
- Website
- Social media handles (a must-have for effective digital outreach)
- Email
- Neighborhood of residence or company significance (especially useful for those with brick-and-mortar organizations focused on neighborhood issues or businesses)
- Key topic interest or expertise
Start with power players, then involve the community
- Who are the “typical faces” in this issue? Start building your database with these names first.
- Then, have the Vested Reporter, Project Manager and Collaborator/Producer have conversations with each of these power players. Questions for those conversations can include: Who else should we know that we don’t? Who is someone they speak with regularly or from whom they get the inside track on this topic or beat? Include any names you get from these conversations in your database. (Fringe benefit: these conversations often can spur new story ideas).
- Remember the people you identified when you asked “who are we trying to reach?” and “To whom is this topic important?” Go find these people, and talk with them! Put them each in your database, and find out who they know, where they find out about the topic you’re interested in pursuing and put THOSE people in your database as well.
The next step: Social Network Mapping
If you’ve gone through all of these steps and have had conversations with as many people as possible, you should be amassing a nice starting list of people with whom to connect. Technology allows us now to take these conversations and connections to the next level with something called social media network mapping.
You know those social media handles you collected for your database? This is where they come into play. Using each person as their own “node” or point of origin, you can map, visually, the networks of people your database members communicate with on social media regularly — without them having to tell you who they are.
Admittedly, this is a step that I haven’t pursued fully myself and want to understand better. An excellent place to start with this pursuit is by reading “Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL: Insights from a Connected World” by Hansen, Shneiderman and Smith. Project Managers and Collaborators can read this and add it as a layer to your database compilation. It’s an exciting tool that deserves further use and study.
Report. Publish. Share. Test. Measure. Adjust. Repeat.
Ah, reporting. The bread-and-butter of the journalistic process. This step might feel like we’ve just put on an old, comfortable sweater, but here are a few fresh tips the Vested Reporter(s) can use to inject easy bits of modern engagement within the tried-and-true:
Pre-reporting:
- Ask outside the newsroom: While you’re formulating which questions you’d like to ask, consult with members of the community what they most want to know about the issue - this can be done publicly (say, on social media) or privately. Most of all, do this in the place where members of the community most affected by the topic (or in most need of the information) already are. This will build interest for your work and pre-story reader/listener/viewer buy-in.
- Don’t worry if the story falls through or takes a different turn. People are used to being asked their opinions by now and know things change. If anyone asks, be honest about your process and say, simply “I wanted to tell the story as well as I could and as truthfully as I could. That’s why I went a different direction.” Transparency is key and refreshing in an era when people are increasingly distrustful of “the media.” Show them the human thought process behind your work.
- If you’re using Twitter to consult the community, here are a couple of sample tweet formats for this type of engagement: “I’m interviewing an underwater basket weaver Tuesday. What do you want to know?” or “Live in Neighborhoodtown? What questions do you have about the new school?”
- Remember to keep these short; you’ll want folks to have plenty of room to reply.
- Think about the nature of the topic. Is it something people will likely want to respond to in public or private? If it’s a delicate or potentially embarrassing topic, provide an email address for responses or set up a Google form they can fill out.
- As with any responses you get, these are starting points. Verify them as you would any other source.
While reporting:
- Share as you go: Interview someone? If appropriate, take a photo of them, share a quote if you had a great interview (maybe not your juiciest, but something still compelling or interesting) and say, “Stay tuned for the rest of the story soon.” Be sure to let the person know that you’re posting the photo and quote - and use their social media handles while sharing.
- Sample for Twitter/or Instagram (or remove handles and replace with tags if possible for Facebook): (With photo attached) “Artist @KelseyProud says ‘Underwater basket weaving changed my life.’ Full interview soon on @newsorghandle.”
- If you’re working on a big project, be sure to include the hashtag you’ve designated for it, if applicable.
After reporting:
- Share that story: Why do the story at all if no one sees/hears/reads it? Remember those people you talked to for initial questions or those you identified as most affected by the topic? This is your chance to let them know about your work in the biggest way. Go after it.
- Share it on social media. Don’t feel boxed in by using just the headline and a link - pull your best facts, quotes and statements to share. Why would someone care about this story? Use that. (And ask that question for great headlines, too).
- Share your story more than once, but space it out by a few hours or so.
- Consider the tone of the story and subject matter. Think of what people will be doing when interacting with your work: Will they be out at a bar? Relaxing at home? Traveling to work? Share during the time (and day of the week) they’re most likely to be receptive to your topic or story. Don’t know these specifics? Ask members of the communities around the topic and go from there.
- Remember to share your story where the people who are most affected by the topic of your story are talking to each other - this can mean online or in person, if possible.
- Use your legacy medium (if you have one like print, TV, or radio) to cross-promote as appropriate.
- Be specific in these cross promotions. For example, say “For great photos of the underwater basket weaving studio, visit our website,” or “To learn how to make a basic basket, visit our website.” Do NOT say, “For more with artist Kelsey Proud visit our website.” You want to see those photos, right? Or learn how to make a basket? Of course you do. What does “for more” mean? Not much.
- Keep open to new leads and connections
- It’s often during these sharing sessions that more questions can lead to other stories from the community. Be on the lookout for these opportunities and seize them.
- Use social media for testing (This is where the Project Manager and Collaborator/Producer come in)
- This is a fun time to try some different things and see what works. Try some A/B testing of different tweets from the same story and then measure your results in quantitative and qualitative ways (more on that below). What works best? Does targeting individuals about a story work better than sending out a general tweet or posting? Find out what works best for your news organization on different stories.
- Metrics for success (qualitative and quantitative):
- When judging the success of a story, numbers aren’t the only metric, but they are the easiest to use. The best assessment of success should include both quantitative and qualitative measurements and observations.
- For quantitative analysis, use the metrics tools native to the social networks you’ve used to share your stories. If these tools are not available or don’t exist, you may have to decide for yourself what the most important numerical metric is for the platform and the story. Discuss this as a team.
- For qualitative analysis, things get a little more interesting. Did the story get shared by influencers in a community? That’s a plus. Was it shared by people who are really directly affected by it? Also a plus.
- For more on both qualitative and quantitative engagement metrics, and picking a metric or two that’s best for you, see Joy Mayer’s work on “The Engagement Metric.” It has tons of practical tips and exercises for countless different types of journalistic projects and approaches and is arguably the most comprehensive guide on the subject to date. To duplicate it here would short-change you, so check it out.
A final note on success measurement, change and accountability:
Most importantly, please remember to share what you learn with your team, including the reporters and editors. This can help your organization make smarter choices about story selection and presentation down the road. And, as I said at the very beginning of this framework, demonstrating the success of a story can even help your organization’s bottom line. Finally, no matter your role, remember to use what you learn — and return to it. Keep sharing successes and be accountable. Stop producing things that don’t work. Remember, you’re not only accountable to yourselves, but your community benefits when you keep pushing to serve them better. Change is not always easy, but it’s almost always worth it.
Keep It Going: Resources, Print-Out & More
In this section you’ll find more goodies for executing the framework for engagement and helping your newsrooms have related conversations.
Additional Resources
- On types of stories that foster engagement:
- On identifying specific social media platforms for specific groups:
On social network mapping:
- More on NodeXL: “NodeXL is a free, open-source template for Microsoft® Excel® 2007, 2010 and 2013 that makes it easy to explore network graphs. With NodeXL, you can enter a network edge list in a worksheet, click a button and see your graph, all in the familiar environment of the Excel window.”
- On determining good qualitative and quantitative metrics:
- “The Engagement Metric” by Joy Mayer - This is a full guide for newsrooms with worksheets, data and more.
Seven Questions For Engaging Stories and Projects
From “The News Is Served” by Kelsey Proud, St. Louis Public Radio
- What is the specific need you’re trying to fill or question you’re trying to answer? Can you boil it down to one sentence? Do that.
- To whom is this topic important? There may be several groups you identify here, but your journalism should be laser-focused on serving one especially well.
- Why is the topic important to the targeted community? How do you know? (Don’t assume - ask!)
- How do the people who need this information or are affected by this topic consume information? What tools do they use? In which digital places do they gather? Is the community digitally connected or do they engage with each other in other ways?
- How should the journalism be reported, presented, published and/or broadcast? What tools does your organization already have that can be used to create journalism or information that will best serve this group of people where they are?
- How will the target group know about the project? “Why do it if no one will see it?”
- How will we know if we are successful? How will we follow up?
About the Author
Kelsey Proud is the engagement editor at St. Louis Public Radio, St. Louis’ NPR member station. She earned a convergence journalism degree from the Missouri School of Journalism and was the project leader for St. Louis Public Radio’s institutional fellowship at the Reynolds Journalism Institute. “The News Is Served” is the result of that fellowship.
Previously, Proud spent time at PBS Interactive in Washington, D.C. and MSN UK News in London. She feels journalism is truly a public service and hopes her work enhances community and reaches those who need information the most.
Contact Kelsey Proud:
kelsey.proud@gmail.com
Twitter: @KelseyProud
[1]But we’re too small to do this -- To do all of this - a big project or an entire strategy overhaul with lots of people and moving parts? Maybe. But to adapt principles of this framework in your everyday process? Even an individual working alone can do that. (And I’d argue individuals working alone should do that). The core here is asking a series of questions, which I’ll explain in the next section. Don’t say “no” to the whole concept because the first steps are unknown or it feels too big. Even consistent, incremental innovation is progress, and sometimes it’s the most important kind.