News Alchemists #18: "So how do brands stop faking community and actually earn it?"

Hello and welcome back to the News Alchemists newsletter 👋

There's only one word I can start this edition with, and it's Thank You. (Ok, two words, whatever.)

Your response to last week's announcement of the collaboration between News Alchemists and House of Kaizen has been so freaking heartwarming that, at multiple points, I was almost melting. I talk about wanting to give you hope through this newsletter – but, over the last week, *I* was the one on the receiving end of a flood of hope and encouragement:

❝I’ve been really enjoying News Alchemists - it’s smart, thoughtful, and full of insight. I’m genuinely happy to see it paying off, especially now with a business model in place! ❞

❝Congrats on the sponsorship - it went really organic with the rest of the content. The work you are doing on the newsletter, man... is great. ❞

❝That's so exciting to read, Mattia - so happy you got such an awesome partnership early on! It's great to have the recognition and motivation to keep doing what you believe in! ❞

I also got a couple of messages from readers wanting to know more about how sponsoring News Alchemists works, so they can lobby their own companies to support this newsletter too. 🥹

Thank you again for making this experience so rewarding. You're awesome.

But enough about the newsletter (the product), and let's move to this week's newsletter (the content):

Sometimes when I have to decide which seven links to share, I worry about over-relying on things I come across over the week because I think that maybe you're already seeing them somewhere else, and so what use am I? That's why I like to sprinkle in 'old' links from time to time. 💽

So today, for a change, I decided to lean fully into that approach: all links in this edition are from last year or even older. Things I remember coming across that made me think and gave me hope when they were published – and that I believe to still be relevant today.

With one exception: the first link. That one is a bit of a curveball because on the surface it has nothing to do with journalism, and it's not written by a person who works in this field. It's about the word 'community' and its often blatant misuse. The TL;DR: "There’s an inherent tension between community and capitalism." No biggie.

More than ever, I'm really curious to hear what you think. Hit that reply button – and see you next week!

1. How can brands stop faking community and actually earn it? 👉 LINK

"We've commercialized connection. [...] most brands have just rebranded their audience as a "community" while maintaining the same extractive consumer relationship." The author of this post is not talking about media brands in particular, but let's be honest: this happens a lot in our industry.

But I wouldn't be sharing this post if it stopped at pointing fingers: "When profit is the motive, community becomes a commodity. The second we start measuring community by ROI [return on investment], we start draining it of what makes it valuable. This isn't to say brands can't participate meaningfully in communities. They can. But it requires a fundamental shift in how to approach the relationship."

Open the link to find four valuable recommendations to translate that fundamental shift into practice. As I said earlier, I'd love to know what resonates most with you from this post.

(@Patricia, thanks so much for sending me this link.)

2. Audience research at The Atlantic: How we use it — and what we don’t expect it to do for us 👉 LINK

In 2020, 🧞Emily Goligoski – then senior director of audience research at 🧩 The Atlantic – wrote this great piece explaining what audience research is, what it's not, when it's useful, when it's not, and why it's always time well spent:

"My work in research considers the uses of our coverage in our readers’ lives, by getting to know discerning readers and reporting back on insights. Together with collaborators I spend the equivalent of months per year learning about the news needs, digital preferences, and hopes for independent journalism of hundreds of smart people around the world. [...] We see over and over that our work is stronger when we listen to the people who use our journalism."

Side note: big "Yes!" to this subheading: 'Why we talk to and study people (please don’t call them users)'.

3. How to audit your newsroom for audience listening 👉 LINK

From 2020 to 2023, from audience research to audience listening: if the previous link left you wondering whether your newsroom has solid enough practices in place to listen to your audience effectively, this guide created by 🧞Morten Ro for The Fix is just what you need: "My experience is that most media organisations believe they already have the skills, tools and operations to listen to the audience. And if they acknowledge that they could do better, the returning question is: How?"

4. Entry points, on-ramps, and waypoints: How KPCC/LAist is trying to help Angelenos engage with their complex city 👉 LINK

The first paragraph of this fantastic 2022 article by 🧞Ariel Zirulnick summarises better than anything I could write why listening to your audience and being useful to them is the only way to go: "Our relevance and sustainability is intimately connected to how many people are active in public life and therefore seeking information about our city. To grow our audience (and audience revenue), we need to understand what prompts people to participate in the first place and how our journalism can equip them to do that."

The rest of the article introduces the 'Modes', a take on user needs that rather than considering people's information needs in a vacuum, it puts them in the context of what people are trying to achieve – or what 'mode' they are in.

5. Nobody is coming to save journalism 👉 LINK

In a 2023 edition of his excellent 'Draft Four' newsletter, 🧞Cristian Lupşa shared ten thoughts on the state of the journalism industry that I remember finding wise, honest, and challenging at the same time. The list is powerful because it includes a set of hard truths that too often we still refuse to come to terms with, but it also ends with a hopeful message:

"If we make it out, it won’t be in spite of all the challenges above, but because of them. It’ll be because we’ve looked in the mirror we’re holding up to society and have seen ourselves just as flawed. And we’ll find courage in that. And maybe creativity, and a desire to collaborate. Sure, nobody is coming to save journalism. But journalism still has plenty it can do to save itself."

6. Reimagining news through the eyes of Gen Z 👉 LINK

I love it when one link gives me the opportunity to add not one but two genie emojis: in this episode of the 'Newsroom Robots' podcast, my friend and former fellow Fellow 🧞Nikita Roy talks with my friend and multiple-times collaborator 🧞Agnes Stenbom (Head of IN/LAB and Trust Initiatives at 🧩 Schibsted) about innovating how journalism is produced and distributed to reach younger audiences and other categories of 'news outsiders'. A fascinating conversation among two of the smartest and most inspiring people working in journalism today.

7. An opinionated guide to innovating the news experience 👉 LINK

This is something I wrote a bit more than one year ago towards the beginning of my ICFJ Knight Fellowship to reflect on the many things we can do to improve the news experience for our readers. It was meant to be the first of a series of posts on the topic but, alas, that never happened.

This first post focused on the news article, the most basic editorial product that we carried over from the pre-internet age and still use today. I analysed the standard components that appear in most articles on the web (they are more than you think) and then I proceeded to list some other features that only some publications add to the article experience – features that, at least for me, improve that experience.

I remember having fun writing it. Maybe I should restart the series? 🤔

What is this newsletter?

The relationship between journalism and the people it aims to serve is broken. But we can heal it if we learn to put audiences and communities at the centre of everything we do. The News Alchemists newsletter wants to help you to do just that.

Every week I share seven links to give you some hope and to introduce you to the many smart, kind, and courageous people (🧞) who strive every day to use journalism as a force for good in society – and to the organisations (🧩) that show us that a different journalism is possible, and profitable.

To respond to this newsletter, just hit reply. I love hearing from you and reading your questions, comments, and suggestions.

If someone forwarded you this email, and you'd like to receive it too, sign up here.