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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Joanne McNeil A return to blogs (finally? sort of?)
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Anthony Nadler Clash of Clans: Election Edition
Richard Tofel A constraint of the reader-revenue model emerges
Christa Scharfenberg It’s time to make journalism a field that supports and respects women
Cindy Royal Prepare media students for skills, not job titles
Jim Brady We’ll complain about other people living in bubbles while ignoring our own
Jennifer Brandel A love letter from the year 2073
Mira Lowe The year of student-powered journalism
Bill Grueskin Our ethics codes get an overhaul
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John Keefe Journalism gets hacked
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Margarita Noriega The platforms try to figure out what to do with single-subject newsrooms
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John Garrett It’s the best time in a century to start a local news organization
Greg Emerson News apps fall further behind
Fiona Spruill The climate crisis gets the coverage it deserves
Mario García Think small (screen)
Eric Nuzum Podcasting finally creates another mega-hit show
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Elizabeth Dunbar Frank talk, and then action
Dan Shanoff Sports media enters the Bronny era
Josh Schwartz Publishers move beyond the metered paywall
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Masuma Ahuja Slower, quieter, more measured and thoughtful
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Errin Haines Race and gender aren’t a 2020 story — they’re the story
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Tonya Mosley The neutrality vs. objectivity game ends
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Sarah Alvarez I’m ready for post-news
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Annie Rudd The expanded ambiguity of the news photograph
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Jakob Moll A slow-moving tech backlash among young people
Tom Glaisyer Journalism can emerge newly vibrant and powerful
J. Siguru Wahutu Western journalists, learn from your African peers
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Carrie Brown-Smith Engaged journalism: It’s finally happening
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Don Day Respect the non-paying audience
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Peter Bale Lies get further normalized
Geneva Overholser Death to bothsidesism
Jake Shapiro Podcasting gets listener relationship management
Michael W. Wagner Increasingly fractured, but little bit deliberative
Knight Foundation Five generations of journalists, learning from each other
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