20200
P
1
20100
R  E
2
2070
D   I   C
3
2050
T   I   O   N
4
2040
S   F   O   R   J
5
2030
O  U  R  N  A  L
6
2020
I  S  M  2  0  2  0
7

Rebuilding journalism, together

“Small media organizations without resources for long-term strategic thinking could do a lot worse than asking their readers what directions they could follow in the future.”

The relationship between news organizations and the public is difficult. So is the relationship between news organizations and their journalists. We’re tackling multiple unknowns at once, at a speed that makes many of us feel overstretched and underprepared for our jobs — or for what we think should be our jobs.

Could it be that honest conversations about our experiences — within our teams, within a wider organizational structure, and with our readers — might help relieve some of that pressure and provide solutions?

Just as a more experienced colleague can help a young journalist dealing with a tricky reporting situation, or be a sounding board for untangling complicated narratives, so can a reader with expertise in a particular field provide insights or a new perspective to help unblock projects feeling the weight of indecision.

Small media organizations without resources for long-term strategic thinking could do a lot worse than asking their readers what directions they could follow in the future. At DoR — an independent journalism platform that helps readers connect, understand one another and what they can do to tackle the problems of modern-day Romania — we’ve embarked on a journey to establish a feedback loop with our readers, through surveys, in-person interviews, and focus groups.

It’s easy to start a conversation with readers when you want to discuss the subjects you’re reporting on. Many journalists do this with resounding success and see their own work benefit from these check-ins with their audience. But it’s another process entirely when you’re hoping to build a shared understanding of each other’s relationships with journalism: for them to know why you’re there as a journalist, and for you to understand why they’re there as readers.

Building common ground takes time, effort, and uncomfortable conversations, but we’re likely to see more editorial teams dedicating resources to this in 2020. Publishers hoping that reader revenue holds the key to at least sustainability (if not growth) will need more than a lead-acquisition campaign. (Though that’s definitely also on our wishlist at DoR for 2020!). We’re all going to need more readers who understand our mission and our values — and for that to happen, we need to talk more, listen more, and work together.

Catalina Albeanu is digital editor at Romania’s DoR (Decât o Revistă).

The relationship between news organizations and the public is difficult. So is the relationship between news organizations and their journalists. We’re tackling multiple unknowns at once, at a speed that makes many of us feel overstretched and underprepared for our jobs — or for what we think should be our jobs.

Could it be that honest conversations about our experiences — within our teams, within a wider organizational structure, and with our readers — might help relieve some of that pressure and provide solutions?

Just as a more experienced colleague can help a young journalist dealing with a tricky reporting situation, or be a sounding board for untangling complicated narratives, so can a reader with expertise in a particular field provide insights or a new perspective to help unblock projects feeling the weight of indecision.

Small media organizations without resources for long-term strategic thinking could do a lot worse than asking their readers what directions they could follow in the future. At DoR — an independent journalism platform that helps readers connect, understand one another and what they can do to tackle the problems of modern-day Romania — we’ve embarked on a journey to establish a feedback loop with our readers, through surveys, in-person interviews, and focus groups.

It’s easy to start a conversation with readers when you want to discuss the subjects you’re reporting on. Many journalists do this with resounding success and see their own work benefit from these check-ins with their audience. But it’s another process entirely when you’re hoping to build a shared understanding of each other’s relationships with journalism: for them to know why you’re there as a journalist, and for you to understand why they’re there as readers.

Building common ground takes time, effort, and uncomfortable conversations, but we’re likely to see more editorial teams dedicating resources to this in 2020. Publishers hoping that reader revenue holds the key to at least sustainability (if not growth) will need more than a lead-acquisition campaign. (Though that’s definitely also on our wishlist at DoR for 2020!). We’re all going to need more readers who understand our mission and our values — and for that to happen, we need to talk more, listen more, and work together.

Catalina Albeanu is digital editor at Romania’s DoR (Decât o Revistă).

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Whitney Phillips   A time to question core beliefs

Kerri Hoffman   Opening closed systems

Ståle Grut   OSINT journalism goes mainstream

Zizi Papacharissi   A president leads, the press follows, reality fades

Kevin D. Grant   The free press stands against authoritarians’ attacks on truth

Carrie Brown-Smith   Engaged journalism: It’s finally happening

John Garrett   It’s the best time in a century to start a local news organization

Ben Werdmuller   Use the tools of journalism to save it

Rick Berke   Incoming fire from both left and right

Elizabeth Dunbar   Frank talk, and then action

Josh Schwartz   Publishers move beyond the metered paywall

Eric Nuzum   Podcasting finally creates another mega-hit show

Anthony Nadler   Clash of Clans: Election Edition

Dan Shanoff   Sports media enters the Bronny era

Masuma Ahuja   Slower, quieter, more measured and thoughtful

Felix Salmon   Spotify launches a news channel

Pablo Boczkowski   The day after November 4

Cristina Kim   Public media stops trying to serve “everybody”

Kristen Muller   The year we operationalize community engagement

Lauren Duca   The rise of the journalistic influencer

Bill Grueskin   Our ethics codes get an overhaul

Dannagal G. Young   Let’s disrupt the logic that’s driving Americans apart

Tom Glaisyer   Journalism can emerge newly vibrant and powerful

Colleen Shalby   Journalists become media literacy teachers

Tamar Charney   From broadcast to bespoke

Christa Scharfenberg   It’s time to make journalism a field that supports and respects women

Lucas Graves   A smarter conversation about how (and why) fact-checking matters

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Don Day   Respect the non-paying audience

Knight Foundation   Five generations of journalists, learning from each other

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Brian Moritz   The end of “stick to sports”

Jake Shapiro   Podcasting gets listener relationship management

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Madelyn Sanfilippo and Yafit Lev-Aretz   News coverage gets geo-fragmented

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Tonya Mosley   The neutrality vs. objectivity game ends

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Steve Henn   The dawning audio web

Laura E. Davis   Know the context your journalism is operating within

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Moreno Cruz Osório   In Brazil, collaboration in a time of state attacks

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Greg Emerson   News apps fall further behind

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Nathalie Malinarich   Betting on loyalty

Craig Newmark   Formalizing newsrooms’ battle against disinformation

Simon Galperin   Journalism becomes more democratic

Joni Deutsch   Podcasting unsilences the silent

Ernie Smith   The death of the industry fad

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Monique Judge   The year to organize, unionize, and fight

Jeff Kofman   Speed through technology

Bill Adair   A Nobel Prize, a Brad Pitt film, and a Taylor Swift song

J. Siguru Wahutu   Western journalists, learn from your African peers

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Mira Lowe   The year of student-powered journalism

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Meg Marco   Everything happens somewhere

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Emily Withrow   The year we kill the news article

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Rachel Glickhouse   Journalists get left behind in the industry’s decline

Michael W. Wagner   Increasingly fractured, but little bit deliberative

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Jeremy Olshan   All journalism should be service journalism

Nicholas Jackson   What’s left of local gets comfortable with reader support

Jonas Kaiser   Russian bots are just today’s slacktivists

Brenda P. Salinas   Treating MP3 files like text

Seth C. Lewis   20 questions for 2020

Monica Drake   A renewed focus on misinformation

Sarah Alvarez   I’m ready for post-news

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