🔶 #25: "Why we need networked journalism in an age of complexity and uncertainty"

Hello and welcome back to the News Alchemists newsletter!

Last week, I spent quite some time exploring the Digital News Report – and based on my LinkedIn timeline, I was far from the only one. I was curious to know what others were finding most interesting/relevant/urgent, so I asked:

💬 What's in your opinion the most important chart in the report and why?

I started by sharing my own answer, which won't surprise you one bit if you've been reading this newsletter:

What happened next reminded me that sometimes it's still possible to experience the magic that social media always promised us: dozens of people from all across the world talking together about something they care about – and learning a lot from each other in the process.

💬 Morten and Erika replied with their own favourite insights, pointing to how news consumption is often very different country by country, and to an encouraging willingness to pay for news podcasts.

💬 Charlie chimed in with a comment that will sound familiar to you, as it's exactly what I said a few editions ago: we really need to stop calling it 'news avoidance'. And the many replies to his comment show how much people agree, which is great, but also how nuanced the issue is.

💬 Cécilia advocated for the value of 'feel-good' journalism; Michaël reflected on what would happen if journalism reported on itself as harshly as it does with other industries who negative affect people's emotions; and many others added their own reflections on the report.

💬 Last but not least: Isabelle and Khalil replied to say they had written their own posts focusing on the same chart – here and here – leading to a great number of interesting conversations under their posts as well.

And that's me sharing a bajillion links before I even get to the seven links (sorry, not sorry 🤷‍♂️). I do it because these conversations made me feel hopeful and, as always, I want to share that hope with you.

The Digital News Report reminds us every year that our industry is not in great shape. But it also points to a lot of opportunities to do better – if only we decide to see them – and brings us together so that we can help each other spot those opportunities and make journalism more helpful for the people we aim to serve.

See you next week! 👋