Thoughts on how to build strong communities around news organizations

The importance of creating a healthy community experience for journalists and their “audiences” through cooperation and exchange of knowledge.

This morning at church the sermon was about dinner groups and the importance of living in community. According to the preacher, God created us to navigate through different groups, exchange experiences and create empathy. As the sermon went on, I started thinking about how I could apply all of those interesting ideas to journalism.

He said that a community needs mentors, companions and mentees. Taking this idea and applying it to news organizations and their “audience”, I believe that we all need a company (companies) or a person(s) to go to when we need to be informed. We need a news mentor. On the other hand, when journalists need to gather information or to find stories, for example, they need to go to someone else, maybe enter a close community of people. The pre-existent community here serves as a mentor.

So, there is this tight relationship between mentors and mentees that we can’t simply ignore. Journalists have to accept the fact that including the “audience” in their reporting process can be beneficial. It’s an extremely valuable and humble learning experience. First, it helps people to understand that there is a person behind a story. Second, it created a bond between the “audience” and the media company; or at least with the journalist. When people are included in the reporting process, they feel they matter and that they are giving back to the community. It’s a service circle. Journalists look for people to help them improve the story. People help him/her with valuable information. He/she writes back with something that will improve their lives. This inclusion gives a humanistic approach to the story being told and creates empathy, which is ultimately what keeps communities together.

Companionship is also there. It is important to establish that the story’s journey is both the reporter’s and the community’s. If the story is incomplete, both sides lose. That gives room to openness inside of the group. If reporters are struggling with something that the “audience” can help, why not talk about it? Additionally, if someone has a problem, why not communicate it to a journalist and see if he/she can help to solve it? Your problem can be a community’s problem and the more people involved, the more comfort and solutions you will find.

The preacher also talked about protecting your community. This is an issue journalists should always care about when building a community around their story or news organization in general. How can you protect your group?

Possible answers:

1. Moderate comments. Comments are very powerful and can add a ton to the story. However, they can be easily spoiled. Think about aggressive comments that do not add anything to the story and will only provoke violent confrontation, or think also about those comments that will unintentionally add wrong information to the story. Always double-check whatever information there is in the comment before approving it.
2. If you, journalist, blocked a comment or detected something wrong in the community, write about it. It’s important to let people know that there is someone listening to them, someone taking care of that group. People will think twice before writing something untruthful again.

Now, from everything the preacher told us, what most called my attention was when he said that a community is not about knowing something, it is about applying the knowledge that’s been circulating. I started thinking about what glues a community together; in the end, everything goes around one word: connection.

Everytime a journalist is reporting, he/she needs to think: Why am I writing this? After all, why bother putting so much effort in reporting something that will not help anybody? See, if I, as a consumer of news, identify a media company that gives me the information I need, in the format that I need and when I need it, I will always come back to it. What’s even better: if this media company connects me with other people that can also help me; maybe one day I can also help them too.

Journalists complain all the time about the cat lists that made Buzzfeed a hit. The argument is that people prefer to share cats than news. What we need to understand is that Buzzfeed’s content promotes empathy, which leads to connection — let’s not forget that lists are much easier to read than a long-form report. If you are in your 20s, you will obviously connect with “Twelve songs that were a hit in the 90's”. It will cause you nostalgia and maybe some laughs. There is a great chance you will share it and it will get a ton of likes. Think about the amount of people that like cats. It’s a lot, right? So of course that a list of cute, fluffy cats will be a success!

This doesn’t mean that breaking news or long-form journalism cannot promote connection. It’s just that when you write, you have to think about the people that you are writing for — hint: it’s not only for you. Readers, viewers and listeners need to connect with your story. It does not matter if it’s 100% accurate or if you spent months researching and writing if in the end people will not finish it.

Each community behaves in a different way and journalists need to understand how their current beat wants their news.

It is not an easy job and it shouldn’t be done alone. Integration between journalists, designers, programmers, audience engagement / community growth and business teams should be a norm in newsrooms. It improves the reporting process as well as the after-publishing life of the story. All of these pieces should come together to solve the news gathering puzzle.

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