Today's trust tip: Talk about the cost of journalism
Hi there. Lynn here.
Money is not a conversation topic a lot of people are comfortable with. Money and how it relates to your newsroom's funding can be especially tricky. And this makes sense based on the ethical implications of keeping the editorial side and the advertising side separate.
But with traditional advertising models faltering, journalists are being forced to pay more attention to new funding models in order to sustain their future. This does not mean the editorial side is becoming more compromised or influenced by advertisers or donors. But it does mean we are talking more about how many digital subscribers we have, why we have paywalls or and how our relationships with donors operate.
No matter your business model, know this: Your audience is curious about (and is making assumptions about) how money relates to your journalism.
More journalists are finding themselves in a position to defend why their journalism costs money. Doing so thoughtfully is important not only to a news organization's future but also to their relationship with their community. In some cases, Trusting News is seeing that just by talking about the cost of reporting the news, you can build community support around your coverage and build trust with your users.
At the Coloradoan, journalists have decided to publicly share their goal of getting 20,000 digital subscribers by 2020. To reach this goal they have asked reporters to share why they work as journalists. The bios are short, two-sentence blurbs that are added to digital stories. They also include a link for people to become digital subscribers. (For more details: Jennifer Hefty wrote about how this is going for our Medium publication.)
Hefty explains that each bio is accompanied by a customized URL so the staff can see the direct financial impact of their personal appeal.
TRY THIS: Start talking about money with your community by proactively explaining your paywall. Do people complain about hitting their article limit? If so, use it as an opportunity to discuss how their subscription helps you continue to report on their community. (Here's how the Coloradoan handles those interactions.) If you do not have a paywall, look for coverage that is especially expensive, such as when you pay for a journalist to travel, invest an extraordinary amount of time in a topic or request public records. Include with that story an estimate of the cost and an appeal for donations or memberships.
— Lynn Walsh, Trusting News assistant director
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