We know from research one of the primary reasons people pay for news now is for coverage of a specific topic they care about. In 2018, the reason people pay for news will be less transactional and less about the tangible exchange of goods, but instead based on the ~emotional~ relationship a news organization has with its audience. And that emotional connection is built on trust, transparency, and community.
People are increasingly spending money with companies and organizations that are radically transparent, that they connect with, want to belong to, or align with the world they want to live in. And younger people who pay for news are more motivated than older news payers by a desire to support to a news organization’s mission and purpose.
If this year was about transparency of the journalistic process and how we do our job, next year it will be about transparency of values and why we do our job.
First above is Malachy Browne’s tweet that shared the steps in how The New York Times covered the Las Vegas shooting using so-called video forensics. Then there’s The Washington Post’s new series on how reporting works and explaining the journalism process.
Take companies like Everlane and Spotify.1 Both have paired making great products with building a values-based brand — and in the process created a new kind of connection with their audience news organizations have yet to achieve. Everlane focuses on manufacturing transparency and forgoes traditional retail tactics like sales. Spotify used their policy on parental leave and flex holidays as an opportunity to showcase their values.
Everlane’s About page explains their mission of “radical transparency” and shows it through cost breakdowns and price comparisons of various products.
Other brands like Away and Glossier have found success in leading with the emotional connection and making their community integral to what they do. Away’s president Jen Rubio said luggage brands talked too much about product details and not enough about what inspired people to use them. One of Glossier’s most popular products, the Milky Jelly Cleanser, was crowdsourced from their site. Last year, 79 percent of its sales were from “organic and peer-to-peer and earned sources,” a.k.a. their community.
Away’s About page leads with its mission and the inspiration behind the product. Glossier’s call out for what became the Milky Jelly Cleanser, and the product page for the cleanser lists every ingredient and highlights some with an accompanying explanation for why it’s included.
Social media, from which two-thirds of Americans get their news, has diminished news organizations’ brand, obscuring the values by which they do their work and the resulting connection. People are more likely to remember which platform they they found content on than the news brand that produced it. News organizations will need to continue the radical transparency of how we do the work, but also couple that with the why.
Taken together, articulating and acting on clear values alongside an aggressive commitment to transparency and community can be a roadmap for news organizations wanting to rebuild and strengthen trust and the emotional relationship with its audience.
Millie Tran is global growth editor at The New York Times. Stine Bauer Dahlberg is managing director, brand at The New York Times.
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Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
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Yvonne Leow The rise of video messaging
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Raju Narisetti Mirror, mirror on the wall
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Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
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Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
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Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
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José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
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Corey Ford The empire strikes back
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
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S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
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Gordon Crovitz Serving readers over advertisers
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Jennifer Coogan The future is female
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Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
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Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
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Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
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Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
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Richard Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
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Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
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Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
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Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
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Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
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Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
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Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
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