The Latest: Publishers expand good news-themed offerings
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THE NEWS
The Washington Post, National Geographic, and Hearst UK are creating good news-themed products in response to reader demand.
SO WHAT
The pandemic has ushered in a demand for uplifting and positive content, or what New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz calls “good news-themed content.” Over the past month, good news-themed Instagram accounts like @TanksGoodNews have seen their follower count swell, John Krasinski’s new “news network for good news” has attracted nearly two million subscribers and 37 million views in less than a month, and The Washington Post began sending out its good news newsletter, The Optimist, biweekly instead of weekly.
In the past, publishers have relied on “good news” offerings and other forms of “soft news” like service journalism (consumer-oriented, how-to pieces) to acquire new readers and retain existing ones. The New York Times, for instance, rolled out its service journalism vertical, Smarter Living, in 2017 “as part of an effort to double its digital revenue” by 2020. At the time, the editorial director for Smarter Living, Karron Skog, told Digiday: “The news cycle is relentless, and people are always looking for other ways to escape. The Times is expanding to say ‘Come to us for everything.’” The initiative proved to be a hit: In 2018, Digiday reported that Smarter Living’s newsletter boasted an open rate of 80% and that “6 to 10 percent of people who read guides return to them.”
Today, some publishers are leveraging good news-themed content to accomplish similar goals. National Geographic and The Washington Post are sharing uplifting stories as a retention strategy, offering readers a break from the coronavirus news cycle. National Geographic has recently created two good news-themed newsletters in hopes of giving its readers a reason “to go on,” comparing its products to a “meditation app” for journalism. The Washington Post created The Daily Break which highlights “one uplifting story a day from better times.”
Meanwhile, others are sharing positive news to draw new readers. Hearst UK has found that since renaming its Country Living newsletter as “Country Living Good News Newsletter” on March 19, newsletter referral traffic increased 81% compared with the previous month. Cosmopolitan’s new “Staying In” newsletter, which features stories like “22 Fun Things To Do When You’re Stuck at Home” and is a blend of service journalism and good news, has increased site traffic 160%, according to Digiday.
LOOK FOR
Alternative responses to the demand for uplifting news. The Solutions Journalism Network rejects “good news for good news’ sake.” Instead, SJN seeks to challenge the “excessively dismal view of the world” they think many media outlets have adopted by promoting journalism that offers up tangible solutions to societal problems. (Read our interview with SJN’s president, Keith Hammonds, at the end of this issue to learn more about solutions journalism.)
Also look for the potential implications of having good news-themed content in the first place. Joanna Mang challenged the notion of positive news in June 2019 with a piece titled, “There is nothing more depressing than ‘positive news’.” Mang argued that by centering the individual, positive news stories often fail to identify systemic problems or injustices, and instead reassure readers “that action is not necessary.”
