I ran across an article today that I thought warranted a blog post:
New York Times Plans Cutbacks in Newsroom Staff. Working in media relations, I have realized that journalists expectations have changed since the newsroom has evolved.
According to Pew’s 2013 State of the News Media report, the news landscape continues to evolve. Some noteworthy changes include:
▪ 30% decline of newsroom staff since 2000 (according to 2012 estimates)
▪ Below 40,000 full-time professional employees for the first time since 1978
This adds up to a news industry that is more undermanned and unprepared to uncover stories, dig deep into emerging ones or to question information put into its hands.
The current landscape presents opportunities and obstacles for those working in media relations:
▪ Good: Tightened resources – in addition to a 24/7 news cycle – means journalists are more likely to directly report any new data and our evergreen messages. However, with reporters having less time for legwork, it’s critical we provide easy-to-find, access and use materials online.
▪ Bad: But it potentially means that we may have to do more on the backend – more background for unseasoned reporters, as well as those who don’t regularly report on health. It also means that inaccurate stories spread faster, which means we must stamp these out immediately.
However, newsmakers and others with information they want to put into the public arena have become more adept at using digital technology and social media to do so on their own, without any filter by the traditional media. They are also seeing more success in getting their message into the traditional media narrative.
Journalists are changing the way they right articles. For example, back in July USA Today started Social Media Tuesdays. For Social Media Tuesdays, the staff must act as if there is no other way to get their articles except through sites likes Facebook and Reddit. That means USA Today’s journalists diligently place each of their famously punchy, graphic-rich stories onto various social media platforms. The purpose is to get them thinking like their readers, who increasingly get news through their Twitter feeds instead of the paper’s front page or home page.
Initiatives like these are part of a big digital push that has helped USA Today raise its average monthly mobile readership to 25.5 million, an increase of about 48 percent in the last year, according to the data company comScore. (The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, which both have paywalls, have fewer mobile readers. USA Today is free.)
Additionally, the public is taking notice of changes in the news stories, with 31% of respondents (Pew study) declaring that they’ve deserted a news outlet because it no longer provides the news and information they’ve grown accustomed to as a ray. Online news consumption rose sharply the last two years, following the rapid spread of digital platforms (+7.2% increase 2011-2012).
We should pay attention to the changes we’re seeing in the audience. Doing so may help us anticipate what the news media will be expecting from us in the future. For example, the audience’s increasing demand for online stories, social media and mobile devices is already translating to the needs and expectations of journalists.
Journalists’ Expectations in the Digital Age:
▪Up-to-date information
▪Statistics and other basic information
▪Multimedia: Photos and videos; downloadable magazine-ready; logos
▪PR contacts, as well as specific contacts on press releases
▪Searchable archive
▪Biographical information about executives, subject matter experts (SMEs) and thought leaders
Data from PR Newswire found that press releases with multimedia (e.g., photos, videos and downloadable files) can garner up to 10 (9.7) times the reviews than text-only releases.
What newsroom changes are you seeing?
