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Engaged Journalism explores the changing relationship between news producers and audiences and the methods journalists can use to secure the attention of news consumers. Based on Jake Batsell's extensive experience and interaction with more than twenty innovative newsrooms, this book shows that, even as news organizations are losing their agenda-setting power, journalists can still thrive by connecting with audiences through online technology and personal interaction. Batsell conducts interviews with and observes more than two dozen traditional and startup newsrooms across the United States and the United Kingdom. Traveling to Seattle, London, New York City, and Kalamazoo, Michigan, among other locales, he attends newsroom meetings, combs through internal documents, and talks with loyal readers and online users to document the successes and failures of the industry's experiments with paywalls, subscriptions, nonprofit news, live events, and digital tools including social media, data-driven interactives, news games, and comment forums.
He ultimately concludes that, for news providers to survive, they must constantly listen to, interact with, and fulfill the specific needs of their audiences, whose attention can no longer be taken for granted. Toward that end, Batsell proposes a set of best practices based on effective, sustainable journalistic engagement.
List of contents
Foreword, by Mark BriggsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsList of InterviewsIntroduction: Why Engagement Matters1. Face-to-Face Engagement: How News Organizations Build Digital Loyalty and Generate Revenue Through the "Original Platform" 2. News as Conversation: Not Just Informing but Involving the Audience3. Mining Niche Communities: Serving Topical and Hyperlocal Audiences Through Digital and Mobile Platforms4. Search, Explore, Play: Drawing Readers into Journalism Through Interactive Experiences5. Sustaining Engaged Journalism: Measuring and Monetizing the Audience RelationshipConclusionNotesReferencesIndex
About the author
Jake Batsell is an assistant professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he teaches digital journalism and media entrepreneurship. His research focuses on audience engagement, media convergence, and the business of digital news. He previously worked as a staff writer for The Seattle Times and The Dallas Morning News.
Summary
Explores the changing relationship between news producers and audiences and the methods journalists can use to secure the attention of news consumers.
