IF YOU read ONE THING
Connect your listeners to each other

Listening to a podcast is usually a solo activity, but Radio Ambulante—NPR’s Spanish narrative podcast—has built a loyal following offering the exact opposite: a shared podcast listening experience. The show, which chronicles Latin American life around the world, has built a global community through “listening clubs”—like book clubs, but for podcasts. The format is fairly standard: Listeners come for two hours and spend the time getting to know each other, listening to a 30- to 40-minute-long episode, and discussing the episode with help from a moderator. The idea, according to Jorge Caraballo, growth editor at Radio Ambulante, is “to provide spaces for the communities of Radio Ambulante listeners to meet face-to-face ... to have conversations, to get to know each other better, and to strengthen networks among themselves.” And it seems to be working: 84 percent of listeners surveyed after the events have said it’s a conversation that they could not have in other places. For anyone interested in starting a listening club, check out Radio Ambulante's step-by-step guide.

POWERSTAT

Facebook continues to be the leading referrer to news sites in 2019, with the majority of its users saying they get news on the platform.

Source: Pew Research

TREND WATCH
Disappearing metrics

Some major changes could be headed to social media feeds, pending the results of newly announced tests: This week, Facebook shared its plan to test hiding likes and other metrics for users in Australia. Users will still be able to see the likes on their own posts, but the numbers won’t be publicly displayed (for a visual, check out TechCrunch’s write-up). The plan is to “gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people’s experiences,” according to a Facebook spokesperson, who added that the goal is to make the site “a place where people [feel] comfortable expressing themselves.” Instagram conducted similar like-hiding tests in July, but has yet to share any results. Mental health advocates have long argued that like counts on social media can be damaging to people’s self esteem, but major social platforms have yet to go as far as removing this core feature altogether.

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Deliver information to the people who need it most

In the age of the internet, it may seem enough to publish a story, look at pageviews, and mark that story as a success. Lost in all the metrics is a major goal of journalism—to help audiences in need. Local reporting has the powerful potential to shine a spotlight on issues that affect the community, like KPCC’s three-part series on elderly abuse. Given the likelihood that elderly audiences won’t read its report on websites, the L.A.-based radio station took to alternative methods of engagement to help get the word out. Its advice?

• Be Present. Reporters for the organization went to health events and conferences to promote their work and solicit feedback for tools and data they could use to influence future reporting.
• Find ways to be in the preferred language, platform, and geography of your target audience. Given the ethnic makeup of Los Angeles, it’s likely that a significant number of audience members are Spanish-speaking. Taking that into account, KPCC translated its story into Spanish and mailed out translated postcards directly to potential readers in neighborhoods with large Latino populations.
• Find distribution partners. KPCC reached out to newsrooms and offered to share its reporting free of charge and, as a result, was able to share its story on a Farsi-speaking radio show.
• Identify trusted messengers. Collaboration with health organizations allowed the reporters to speak directly with senior citizens familiar with the struggles detailed in the report.
• Do the hard work. Reporters went above and beyond the typical rollout for an article by delivering 4,000 postcards, traveling to where their audiences were, and speaking with audiences face-to-face.

PERSPECTIVES
Play the long game

This week, we wanted to highlight a thought-provoking Twitter thread on the value of engaging with Gen Z on platforms they’re on. Written by Adriana Lacy, an audience engagement editor at The Los Angeles Times, and iterated on by other journalists and writers, it addresses some big questions that have been floated recently: What’s the utility of publishers using TikTok? How should publishers address younger audiences? Is there value in a more personal approach?

• “Gen Z is less interested in the power of ‘institutions.’ Traditionally, credibility was based highly off this. For this generation, it’s more about connections and experiences. … That means that the personality is vital. It’s why we’re seeing the rise of influencers. When I asked about journalists and publishers they like, the focus was on the person, like Michael Barbaro and The Daily. … Will the Washington Post gain a ton of subscribers tomorrow for being on TikTok? Probably not. But 5-10 years from now when Gen Z is older and ha[s] disposable income, they might just get one because of their connection way back when with TikTok guy.” - Adriana Lacy, audience engagement editor at The Los Angeles Times (Twitter)
• “Rebuilding trust in journalism is like building the pyramids. We will probably die before we EVER see the results, but the important thing is to build the foundation now for generations later.” - Gene Park, reporter at The Washington Post (Twitter)
• “Social media predictions: 1) Brands hire social media hosts to become the face of the brand on social [and] 2) Visual content gets even more weird and abstract.” - Matthew Kobach, head of social media at NYSE (Twitter)

This week in our office
A few members of our team packed their bags for another conference this week—this time, for ComNet19 in Austin. One highlight: We enjoyed seeing participants from our pre-conference workshop share their feedback with us on Twitter. Thanks to all who joined us!

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