Reuters: Perfecting the old, experimenting with the new
In the digital era, traditional outlets are finding new ways to attract and maintain readership. Reuters is doing this by continuing to provide a high quality of work in long-established forms of journalism, while also experimenting with new ways of distributing news.
To gain an insight into these developments, we were fortunate to meet with two senior Reuters staff who shared their thoughts and experiences with us.
We began by meeting with Duff Wilson, a journalist who specializes in investigative reporting.
Investigative journalism: crafting an investigative piece and why it is important
A key function of investigative reporting is to provide a voice for the powerless and to hold the government responsible. Recent efforts from Wilson include a focus on the US opioid epidemic and how it is affecting newborn children.
This coverage resulted in the US government passing a bill to help protect children born to mothers with an opioid dependency. Wilson has written a number of articles that followed the issue throughout its course — from the original problem, to the proposed bill and through the passing of the bill.
Wilson also provided us with insight on crafting an investigative piece. Beginning to write after months of research can be a daunting task — Wilson advises to approach the first draft as if you are explaining the story to someone.
In his first draft, Wilson leaves out statistics and quotes, instead focussing on constructing a solid story.
With an investigative piece, it is important to ensure that there is a narrative arc, Wilson says, that captures the reader and carries them through the piece. It is important to decide who the protagonist is and what the decisive moment will be.
While Reuters is continuing to deliver traditional forms of journalism, they also want to revolutionize the way consumers watch news.
Television
Dan Colarusso, the founder of Reuters TV, explained to us that he thinks anchors are a thing of the past. At Reuters TV, there are no designated on-screen reporters. Expert reporters from around the world may appear on screen, however, they are not “eye candy.”
What is Reuters TV?
The idea behind Reuters TV is that the viewer gets to choose how many minutes they want to watch for — they have the option to watch for five, ten, 15, 20, 25, or 30 minutes.
In this time period, a number of video segments play back-to-back. Each segment has been edited to fit the time specified — if the viewer watches for 5 minutes, they may see a 30 second segment of a video that would be 45 seconds if they were to choose to watch for 10 minutes.
The idea behind this unique design is that if someone only has five minutes to watch the news, they will still receive a substantial amount of information. They won’t have to sacrifice the amount of information they receive for the sake of time.
Another key feature of this program is that it is available online and on mobile, which allows people to watch regardless of whether or not they have cable television.
This helps to target a wider audience; a response to the fact that as many people now consume their news through the Internet than through traditional TV.
Millennials
Reuters TV is trying to capture the attention of millennial viewers — however, they refuse to pander to a younger audience, Colarusso told us.
“Millennials are the ‘least monogamous’ with their media consumption”
According to Colarusso, this is a difficult audience to capture, as millennials are the “least monogamous” with their media consumption — meaning that they choose to get their information from a number of sources and are not loyal to a single source.
Takeaways
In order to be successful, news outlets need to be flexible and open to change. However, this should not be at the price of the quality of journalism.
The challenge Reuters is facing is the same as that faced by nearly every news organizations. How do you attract an audience? And how do you keep them? Reuters is evolving in order to find out, staying on top of the ever-changing media landscape while maintaining a high level of journalism.
