Mattia Peretti’s Post

New issue of RQ1! 🙌 This newsletter that I co-founded with Mark Coddington, is nearly four years old (happy birthday on Feb. 17). It's reaching thousands of people around the world interested in some of the most important new research findings about news and journalism. The latest issue, published today, opens by highlighting a great study by Sue Robinson and Patrick R. Johnson, MJE, PhD that illustrates what journalists can learn from listening sessions with disengaged community members — white conservatives, on the one hand, and BIPOC individuals, on the other — and how an "ethic of care" can contribute to addressing some of the harms that these communities see in journalism. We also synthesize findings from a number of other interesting studies about what local news audiences really value, what 'precarious' means in the context of journalistic work today, and how journalists identify good newsroom leadership, among other things. Give it a look, and please spread the word. Thanks!

Still holds true, relevant & valuable today. Read on the Internews piece on the 5 challenges for journalism: https://lnkd.in/dJR293bg The role of journalism in our lives, for an informed citizenship, an honest and truthful reporting of news, thus facilitating ethical decision making. "The future of journalism is about the future of public conversations: How do we communicate with one another, how do we access information we need to live our best lives, and how do we hold power to account. The best conversations are dialogues, where people listen to each other, respond to each other’s needs and preferences, and find a common space to resolve problems". BBC News AFP

“We can strive to build profitable newsrooms while acknowledging that journalism requires public support,” is how Peter Erdelyi summarises the message of the Media Viability Manifesto (MVM). So happy to see the Manifesto featured in this week’s Media Finance Monitor: “The very existence of this document signals that we have entered uncharted territory, where market forces alone can no longer sustain the kind of robust, independent information ecosystem essential for a thriving democracy. The Manifesto acknowledges this new reality: in many contexts, the traditional, market-driven models that supported journalism for decades are no longer viable. … There is a lot of depth to the Manifesto that is impossible to unpack in a few paragraphs. The media sector operated under one model for so long that shifting mindsets - of key stakeholders, decision-makers, and even media professionals themselves - requires time and persistent effort. The Media Viability Manifesto, with its nuanced approach, serves as an excellent tool to move this conversation forward.” Big shout out to Peter Erdelyi. Find his whole analysis of the MVM here: https://lnkd.in/dVbieQHk

Three months ago I wrote about the urgent need to reinvent journalism, by focusing on finding radical new solutions and creating products that users actually want. In a new piece I wrote for the International Journalists' Network (IJNet) I go one step further, sharing three reflections that I believe can help us accelerate that process of reinvention: 1️⃣ We must reconnect with and update our mission: informing the public about what's going on in the world is not enough anymore; 2️⃣ We have to expand the definition of what counts as "doing journalism", embracing roles beyond that of content producers; 3️⃣ We must obsess about the quality of the experiences people have when they interact with our journalism, and truly take care of how that makes them feel. We need to change, and we need to do it fast. (If you don’t trust me on this, trust the #DNR24 that was published earlier this week.) The first push is the hardest but I believe that a brighter future for journalism is possible if we all push together in the right direction. Through my fellowship with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) I'm building a movement to support this process: a community of people who want to collaborate to set this reinvention in motion and help it spread through our industry. I call them #NewsAlchemists. Join us. https://lnkd.in/dKkTkWVK

Can quality journalism on the open web be saved? I think it can, and here are five ways to make a start. https://lnkd.in/e-DfjJWS

📝"Misinformation: how fact-checking journalism is evolving & having a real impact on the world". An article by Peter Jones &Lucas Graves that highlights the importance of fact checking in time of crisis & how it's developing👇🏻 @ConversationUK https://lnkd.in/dMmmFnYi

Journalism faces a crisis of trust, engagement, and business sustainability, but it can reinvent itself with new solutions. Read here how the “News Alchemists” aim to redesign journalism: https://buff.ly/45w5yJ5

📣 Independent media are essential for quality and transparent information! 📰🔍 Here's why you should support independent journalism: 1️⃣ Quality of information: Independent media offer in-depth and transparent analysis of events, with rigor and professionalism. 📚🔍 2️⃣ Editorial independence: Independent media are not influenced by political or commercial interests, allowing them to investigate and hold those accountable for their actions. 💪💼 3️⃣ Benefits for subscribers: By subscribing, you will have access to premium articles, exclusive interviews and other enriching content. 📲💎 4️⃣ Guarantee of balanced information: Supporting independent journalism contributes to maintaining a healthy democracy, where information is verified and powers held accountable. 🗳️🌍 Don't hesitate to subscribe to independent media to support quality information and maintain a diverse media landscape. 🙌💪 #IndependentJournalism #InformationQuality #SupportIndependentMedia

This article examines "pink slime journalism", characterized by the mass production of hyper-partisan, low-quality local news content, and the hidden political and commercial interests behind it in the US. This phenomenon undermines the ideals of independent journalism by exploiting the public's trust in authentic local news, echoing historic practices of misleading press usage dating back to America's founding READ: https://lnkd.in/gsQkFyDj #journalism #misinformation #mediastudies #internetstudies #localnews #division #pinkslimejournalism #fakenews

Good journalism has value. News consumers value valuable information. If news publishers want people to support their organizations and pay for news, they need to provide journalism that is worth paying for and has value. That means providing quality, nonpartisan journalism. That means listening to the community and building community. That means stop renting audiences on third-party platforms (social media, search) and having a direct 1:1 connection with them (newsletters, IRL events, digital communities you manage and moderate like Discord channels, text messaging). A well-functioning society needs good journalism. Publishers need to show the value of good journalism. Publishers can do this by listening to the community and then giving the community the news and information the community needs. https://lnkd.in/gKsV3izA What are the community's pain points, challenges, and problems? Local news publishers can help solve those problems for the community through good journalism. Ask questions. Provide answers. This is the job of journalism. ✅ Identify the local issue ✅ Investigate ✅ Mobilize social capital ✅ Propose solutions ✅ Hold power accountable ✅ Create change ✅ Make money ✅ Invest in community Newspapers and news publishers can either be part of the problem or the solutions. Solving problems is more profitable. People will pay for solutions. People will not pay opinions. Everyone has those. People will pay for facts and results. Not everyone has those. Whichever news organizations can build trust with their communities and help get positive results for their communities will win. https://lnkd.in/g_F-wGWC Sustainable business models for journalism and news publishers in the future will be based on quality journalism and community building. Quality journalism over quantity garbage. Quality wins. This is pragmatism. Great insights from Thomas Baekdal on why U.S. publishers are stuck in a scale model and why he remains optimistic about subscriptions. "If we look at the past decade, subscriptions have been the single most important success factor for publishers. Not just in Europe, but also in the U.S. If we hadn't focused on subscriptions, the entire industry would be far worse off than it is today. Focusing on subscriptions is the single most important thing we have done, and the overall trend remains strong. In fact, if we are to look 10 more years into the future, toward 2034, I'm much more worried about the future prospects of advertising than I am for subscriptions. So, the very idea that publishers are giving up on subscriptions to go back to advertising is foolish at best. But more importantly, this is just another example of the 'scale' mentality in the U.S. They are so blinded by this way of thinking that they are undermining their own future." #journalism #localnews #sustainability #profitable #businessmodels #community #communitybuilding