News Alchemists #21: "What is news?" + A special offer.

Hello and welcome back to the News Alchemists newsletter!

Last week, I opened this email with a question: What is journalism?

Only a few hours after, I came across a new research study by the Pew Research Center titled: What is news? –– That's some timing!

The study explores "how Americans decide what ‘news’ means to them – and how it fits into their lives in the digital era" – and of course as soon as I started reading it, I was hooked.

(Nieman Lab published a short summary.)

I want to unpack a few findings with you but, before I go any further, two disclaimers.

First of all, the study is the result of surveying and interviewing people in the US only. It's not representative of people's views across the world, and results may well be very different if the same study was done in other countries. For this reason, I'm using it only as a good prompt for important conversations we all should have.

Secondly, words matter: the study asks what is news, which is not exactly the same as asking what is journalism. We often misuse the two words as synonyms, but they are not.

(For what it's worth: in my view, news is a subset of journalism. Most news is journalism – at least from a traditional point of view – while a lot of journalism is not news.)

The study touches upon what topics and what sources are considered news, and what is and isn't news on social media, but the part I'm interested in is the section that examines how people feel about the news.

As noted by 🧞Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, it's striking that only 7% of respondents say that news makes them feel empowered 'often' or 'extremely often'.

Same exact percentage say that news often makes them feel happy.

Hopeful? 10%.

At the other end of the spectrum: often or extremely often, news makes more people feel angry, sad, scared, and confused.

From the study: "some participants noted that their negative feelings about the news are due to common topics of coverage, such as politics, crime and war." Nobody is arguing that journalism should stop covering such stories (although I have thoughts about the value of crime stories if you're interested), but the problem lies in how we cover them and in the widely unbalanced representation of reality, and equally unbalanced information diet, that most journalism tends to offer: "[other participants] indicated that their negative feelings originate from feeling overwhelmed by either the quantity or content of news, particularly online."

When I talk about the need to redefine and reimagine what journalism can be, and to heal the broken relationship with the public, I'm essentially talking about this. About the need for us to take ownership of how we make people feel as a result of interacting with our journalism.

About turning journalism into something that makes people feel sad and angry sometimes, because that's inevitable, but that at least in equal amounts makes people feel empowered, hopeful, connected, seen, and yes, even happy.

Last week I asked: "If aliens landed on Earth today and you could explain to them what journalism is – starting not from what it's been and all its flaws, but from what journalism *can* be if we were to make it truly people-centric – what would you tell them?"

Among the replies, this one made me feel hopeful because it includes exactly the two feelings that people experience less often when consuming news according to the Pew study, power and happiness:

📝 Your question is, what would you tell the aliens? I would tell them: Journalism is about power – as a subject, as a practice, and as a service. Its use makes the user more or less powerful – more capable, competent, enabled to pursue happiness, as the Declaration of Independence put it. The misuse of journalism, notably by tyrants, is aimed at preventing people from thinking or knowing what is true (as Hannah Arendt said) – to make them more or less helpless and compliant. Our job is to overcome those attempts to turn people into cattle.

(Apropos of nothing: the reference to cattle reminded me of the amazing final speech of Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator – beautifully featured by Paolo Nutini in Iron Sky. Both worth a watch.)

No seven links today. The Pew study has enough food for thought to keep us all occupied for this week, and a number of links to many other interesting sources and research – for example this one from 2023 that I recommend checking out: What is news, anyway? Readers’ answers depend on how much they see people like themselves in the story.

But we're not done, there's a gift waiting for you. This is the last of five editions sponsored by House of Kaizen and, to end with a bang, Matt Cronin – HoK founder – is generously offering a FREE consultation exclusively for News Alchemists subscribers 🎁

I've talked before about HoK growth framework, which has the power to turn the idea of audience-centricity into an actionable roadmap that will help align your business goals with the goals of your audience. This is your chance to learn more about the framework and how it can unlock new revenue opportunities for your organisation.

👉 Click here to book a chat with Matt and mention in your booking that you're a News Alchemists subscriber. (Many slots available next week and beyond). I promise you that's going to be time well spent. Not only you will get something out of it, but so will News Alchemists, as your engagement demonstrates our value to sponsors – and the more support I get, the more time I will be able to dedicate to creating value for you 🔄

See you next week!

P.S. That also means that News Alchemists is looking for its next sponsor: Is it you? Is it someone you know and want to introduce me to? Is it someone you don't know but you think I should reach out to? Let me know!

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.

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