This year, we retire the news article as the default unit of journalism. It had a good run, but it’s a relic of distribution, audience, and revenue models that no longer function the way they used to.
A one-size-fits-all approach fits no one in the end. It places a heavy burden on the reader/viewer/listener/user to do the work of sifting through the story and mapping it to other relevant content and information. It asks our audience to identify the new information and skim over the old. To formulate the right questions to find the context they need to understand a new development, or to get up to speed on an ongoing issue. To rely on social headlines and teaser text to accurately assess whether a piece is worth their time.
This year, we’ll continue to see forward-thinking outlets discard the news article in favor of more dynamic formats that place the individual at the center of the story and news product. We’ll better understand a person’s shifting needs throughout the day and mold our stories and story selection to those moments. We’ll improve our reputation by improving our approach. Audiences will learn to trust us more because we will transparently strive to serve them better, and we will listen when they speak.
Successful news organizations will adopt a more nimble product approach — building a culture and habit of quick experimentation and establishing that expectation with readership, opening channels for conversations about those experiments and how they might improve. Our readers will feel like they’re a part of the process, not a part of the product.
Emily Withrow is director of R&D at Quartz.
This year, we retire the news article as the default unit of journalism. It had a good run, but it’s a relic of distribution, audience, and revenue models that no longer function the way they used to.
A one-size-fits-all approach fits no one in the end. It places a heavy burden on the reader/viewer/listener/user to do the work of sifting through the story and mapping it to other relevant content and information. It asks our audience to identify the new information and skim over the old. To formulate the right questions to find the context they need to understand a new development, or to get up to speed on an ongoing issue. To rely on social headlines and teaser text to accurately assess whether a piece is worth their time.
This year, we’ll continue to see forward-thinking outlets discard the news article in favor of more dynamic formats that place the individual at the center of the story and news product. We’ll better understand a person’s shifting needs throughout the day and mold our stories and story selection to those moments. We’ll improve our reputation by improving our approach. Audiences will learn to trust us more because we will transparently strive to serve them better, and we will listen when they speak.
Successful news organizations will adopt a more nimble product approach — building a culture and habit of quick experimentation and establishing that expectation with readership, opening channels for conversations about those experiments and how they might improve. Our readers will feel like they’re a part of the process, not a part of the product.
Emily Withrow is director of R&D at Quartz.
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Cristina Kim Public media stops trying to serve “everybody”
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Meg Marco Everything happens somewhere
Annie Rudd The expanded ambiguity of the news photograph
Kevin D. Grant The free press stands against authoritarians’ attacks on truth
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Steve Henn The dawning audio web
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Geneva Overholser Death to bothsidesism
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Brian Moritz The end of “stick to sports”
Matt DeRienzo Local broadcasters begin to fill the gaps left by newspapers
Kerri Hoffman Opening closed systems
Greg Emerson News apps fall further behind
Ernie Smith The death of the industry fad
Laura E. Davis Know the context your journalism is operating within
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Tom Glaisyer Journalism can emerge newly vibrant and powerful
John Garrett It’s the best time in a century to start a local news organization
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Irving Washington Leadership isn’t something you learn on the job
Jeff Kofman Speed through technology
Whitney Phillips A time to question core beliefs
Tanya Cordrey Saying no to more good ideas
Logan Jaffe You don’t need fancy tools to listen
Carrie Brown-Smith Engaged journalism: It’s finally happening
Alana Levinson Brand-backed media gets another look
Simon Galperin Journalism becomes more democratic
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Monique Judge The year to organize, unionize, and fight
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Heidi Tworek The year of positive pushback
Sarah Schmalbach Journalist, quantify thyself
Cory Haik We’re already consuming the future of news — now we have to produce it
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Monica Drake A renewed focus on misinformation
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Joe Amditis Collaborative journalism takes its rightful place at the table
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Linda Solomon Wood Everyone in your organization, moving toward a common goal
Christa Scharfenberg It’s time to make journalism a field that supports and respects women
Josh Schwartz Publishers move beyond the metered paywall
Felix Salmon Spotify launches a news channel
Elizabeth Dunbar Frank talk, and then action
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Don Day Respect the non-paying audience
Candis Callison Taking a cue from Indigenous journalists on climate change
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Colleen Shalby Journalists become media literacy teachers
Knight Foundation Five generations of journalists, learning from each other
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Elizabeth Hansen and Jesse Holcomb Local news initiatives run into a capital shortage
Juleyka Lantigua A changing industry amps up podcasters’ ambitions
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Craig Newmark Formalizing newsrooms’ battle against disinformation
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