THE NEWS
At the beginning of the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal formally solicited questions from readers and went on to publish responses to the most-asked questions on an ongoing basis in a piece entitled “You Ask, We Answer,” which became one of The Journal’s “most popular free-to-read stories.”
SO WHAT
“You Ask, We Answer” is inspiring The Journal’s audience teams to make feedback forms a more common part of their broader reporting. According to deputy community editor Carrie Reynolds and new audiences chief Ebony Reed, the project is part of a broader push to “serve readers and further their interactions” with the publication. Historically, tools like surveys, feedback forms, and call-ins have been used by publishers to determine audience needs and better tailor their coverage. Now, media organizations are relying on these strategies as they serve readers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reader responses are helping publishers from the Journal to the Granite State News Collaborative to The New York Times shape their coronavirus coverage. At the Journal, feedback form responses are also being used to “suggest a new direction for reporting,” write Reynolds and Reed. In addition to “You Ask, We Answer,” the publication built Q&As on travel and health after receiving a high number of questions on those topics. New Hampshire’s Granite State News Collaborative built an audience survey to gather COVID-19 story ideas, The New York Times recently asked readers to submit questions on moving during the pandemic, and The Washington Post’s daily podcast, Post Reports, is asking listeners to share dispatch as their local communities reopen.
The Journal also sets out to gather input by creating comment prompts for readers to respond to at the bottom of articles. Many pieces featured in the Journal’s “Making it Work” ask readers to share their thoughts on how the pandemic is affecting their work. According to the publication’s chief news strategist, Louise Story, “people who come to a story … are more likely to open and read the audience conversation or reply to a post” (read this week’s interview with Louise below for more on the Journal’s engagement strategy).
Meanwhile, radio station KPCC-LAist is finding that gathering and answering questions can result in deeper engagement: More than 50% of people who submit questions opt in to their newsletter. Since early March, KPCC-LAist has received more than 3,300 pandemic-related questions and has answered 2,900 so far via their website, social media, email, and radio station.
LOOK FOR
Whether this becomes a permanent tactic for others experimenting during the pandemic. With publishers recognizing that reader feedback is a compelling way to determine audience needs and can be used towards developing new products, the practice of soliciting responses might be more commonplace post-pandemic.
Additionally, look for how the use of technology such as machine learning might help expand these offerings. Moving forward, KPCC-LAist is exploring options to use machine learning to reduce the time it takes to respond to COVID-19 questions.
