Simple Ways to Use More Audio in Your Newsroom PLUS The Myriad Ways to Use Audience Research

May 27, 2021

My friend Damian Radcliffe has a good roundup on how you can use more audio in your newsroom or in your reporting. It's one of the actionable media posts today. There is also a good overview on the value, and increasing ease, of using recommendation services to help differentiate your user experience. Machine learning is making these services much easier to roll out and also offer a much richer service for users too.

Fred Jacobs also has an excellent look at market research. If you're not doing market research, you're missing a rich source of data on how your audience behaves and how you can reach them.

Recommendation Engines Easier And Valuable Feature

There are many reasons why legacy media faces fierce rivals. One critical competitive differentiator could be recommendation systems.

Recommendation systems help build deeper relationships with customers, Jeff Bezos has said, and machine learning services are making rolling out recommendation systems much easier. Despite the technology becoming more accessible, recommendation engines can still be an important UX differentiator.

How to Use More Audio in Your Newsroom

The ability to hear stories is essential for visually impaired audiences — and anyone who wants to consume content on the move In 2021, the media platform with the highest weekly reach in the United States is audio. Data published last month by Nielsen revealed that radio — just one component of this medium — reaches 88% …

I'll highlight one: Use text-to-speech services. This has proven very valuable for outlets such as The Economist.

Study: Messaging App Users Believe More Misinformation

This follow-up report looks at news consumption trends and attitudes a year on from the start of COVID-19.

Some fascinating insights in this report not just about misinformation around the pandemic but also the impact of information inequality. Another thing that jumped out at me is that higher levels of misinformation were correlated with higher use of messaging apps.

The Importance of Audience Research

The automakers are shifting their strategies to appeal to Millennials. Radio broadcasters should, too.

An excellent overview of audience research, different approaches and different industries, cars and radio. "In other words, study the behavior of your target."

New Solutions Journalism Outlet

First came Tortoise Media in 2019, now comes Squirrel News, another animalis-named news outlet but this time of the furry variety. Launched in Berlin by long-standing journalist Jonathan Widder, Squirrel News is a curated app on iTunes and Google Play for solutions-focused news. The idea behind it is straightforward – Squirrel News collects the most …

"The idea behind it is straightforward – Squirrel News collects the most important solutions-focused news, interviews and videos from across the media landscape and curates them into compact, digestible issues three times per week. "

US Senate Considers Infrastructure Funds for Local Papers

The Senate Commerce Committee chair called on Congress to include $2.4 billion for local news in the infrastructure bill. Here's why it's a good fit.

Steve Waldman argues, "Local news is, in fact, the civic infrastructure of democracy."