From the E&P Newsroom
Audience Roundtable

News and the next generation. Engaging Gen Z

Every generation seems to have a way of seeing the one that follows as being different from their own. Now, as Gen Z (people born between 1997 and 2015) comes on the scene, it will be fascinating to observe how they'll find and engage with news content, which platforms and types of content will resonate with them, whether they’re willing to fund quality newsgathering, and how Gen Z journalists will themselves influence the news profession.
News media

Trusting readers to be partners

For the better part of 10 years, journalists have been told that paywalls are the future to funding a sustainable newsroom. Free is out, the funnel is in and pageviews matter a lot less than subscription conversions. What if there is another way? Well, journalists in Chicago are putting that to the test.

The Charlotte Ledger

It’s one of the oldest stories of human endeavor: From the upheaval and uncertainty of established institutions — in this case, the newspaper industry — comes opportunity. Tony Mecia saw his chance after 11 years with The Charlotte Observer and another eight years as a freelancer writing for various publications. Today, that opportunity has become The Charlotte Ledger, a newsletter-based news product distributed by email.
More E&P "Exclusives" on Audience
Boston Globe Media has announced the launch of The B-Side, a new email and social-only product geared towards informing and entertaining new audiences. The B-Side's focus is hyperlocal and will provide curated, authentic and relatable content that reimagines how local news is conveyed to the next generation of Bostonians.
These days, there’s no shortage of options for news and information, but that also means getting noticed is tougher than ever before. That is why it helps (and is more important) to not only know your audience —who they are — but to know what motivates them and what can pique their interest.
Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: Grow your audience and paid online subscription base by bridging significant gaps in reaching key segments, including Black readers.
There is a sudden swell of optimism about the state of journalism in Chicago, where local journalists are about to answer a question I posed on these pages several years ago: Why can’t newspapers create a business model similar to public radio stations?
ThinkNewsBrands, a cooperative of Australian publishers, has studied advertising effectiveness across media platforms — in its “Benchmark and Payback Series.” In August, the group released a new installment in the series, The Social Chapter, which looked at key indicators and ad metrics. In August, the group released a new installment in the series, The Social Chapter, which looked at key indicators and ad metrics, such as short-term and long-term memory recall, and “brand lift” —
Recently, America’s Newspapers encouraged a “Shop Local, Eat Local, Read Local” campaign. The topic of supporting local spending has never been timelier and more critical. Never has our locally-owned and operated business base been under more pressure. As this pressure continues to mount, so will the pressure on the local news media companies as well. 
In a digital age where news is preserved online, newsrooms are facing increasing pressure to “unpublish.” To help newsrooms address the matter, Deborah Dwyer, a Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) fellow and a doctoral candidate in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, created Unpublishing the News...
Audio is a platform unlike any other, in that it closes the distance—physically and cognitively—between the listener and host and guests. In conversations with people who podcast, you’ll hear the word “intimate” used a lot to describe the relationship between listener and the voices emanating from their earbuds.
The time has come to expand our footprint outside of traditional journalism and information realm and into a total market is our playground approach. Providing non-journalism and informational products is a must.
Lee Enterprises, Inc. has launched a new food-focused digital magazine called Feast and Field, which explores farming, food production, culinary history, and cooking. Found at feastandfield.net, the product is the latest expansion of Feast Magazine, which launched in 2010...
When asked what the most critical component of their business model is, I believe most news media executives will indicate that their audience is what sets them apart. That makes perfect sense as our audience is the foundation upon which all other aspects such as advertising (both traditional and digital), editorial, events and so forth rest upon...
Recently, I was reminiscing about a question I heard years ago at an industry event by a media executive who was inquiring about how one would purchase a small or mid-sized newspaper. Media analyst and speaker Jim Chisholm said without hesitation, “Just buy a large metro newspaper and wait a few years.” He probably didn’t understand just how prophetic he was at the time.
For Shaw Media, the most promising source of digital revenue growth is through their digital subscriptions, which is why the organization recently launched Shaw Local, a digital local news network covering northern Illinois. It includes all of Shaw Media’s local news coverage from its 53 Illinois newspapers and magazines.
Industry News on Audience
The Financial Times has launched an app version of the FT Digital Edition, a digital replica of the print newspaper designed for easy reading on any device. 
Cox Media Group’s NeighborhoodTV project in Atlanta, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, aims to bring viewers hyperlocal content that harkens back to TV’s earlier, less rigidly structured days.
One way to deliver what audiences want is by listening to them, going into the community to get first-hand answers to basic questions.
"Maybe the idea of a newspaper sports staff providing definitive coverage about teams in a town — and beyond — has long been antiquated. Fine. The future is more important than the past. But forgive me a bit of mourning." — Barry Svrluga, sports columnist, The Washington Post
Asking your audience for story ideas, and following through, can help increase subscriptions and improve audience perceptions of local news outlets, according to research published this summer.
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