African summit offered five big takeaways in newsroom transformation
PICTURE: Utilising formats, such as audio clips, can create routines (Garrett Morrow/Pexels
International News Media Association
The recent INMA Africa Newsroom Transformation Summit, featuring Pulse Africa, BBC News Swahili, the Daily Sun, Nation Publishers and Nation Media, highlighted insights from news companies going through newsroom transformation.
Here, Newsroom Transformation Initiative Lead Amalie Nash details the biggest themes from the Summit:
Building audience as search and social decline
Nash highlighted global themes like the need to build audiences despite the decline in Search and social. Google’s updated Search algorithm reduces referral traffic to news sites, while social media platforms like X are diminishing news content on their platforms.
These changes are and will likely continue to make it challenging for news organisations to grow their audiences via Search and social.
To bypass AI-based algorithms and other mechanisms that downgrade news content, it’s important to increase direct traffic. Scandinavian publishers have seen success with direct traffic (80% or more of their traffic is from direct traffic).
Nash suggested using newsletters because of their high retention and the opportunity to develop a direct relationship with readers.
In addition to newsletters, utilising formats that create routines (audio clips, daily briefings, morning digests) and engaging with readers through comments on owned channels, including social media, are strategies for audience growth
Giving readers what they want (user needs)
Nash said she strongly believes in giving users what they want by focusing on their needs. This kind of focus involves tracking what readers want while providing ‘perspective, inspiration, context’.
Monitoring how engaged readers really are means having access to real-time metrics and looking for longer-term trends, she said. ‘People want different forms of content. Now, user needs are not about format, but format goes really well hand-in-hand with user needs. I love seeing the adoption of user needs.’
Attracting younger audiences
Traditional news formats that once dominated print and television are no longer the tried-and-true ways to reach younger audiences. Their media consumption habits differ greatly and require news publishers to rethink how they produce and distribute news, Nash said.
‘You have to provide it in ways people want to consume it, otherwise they won’t come back to you.’
To attract younger news consumers, Nash recommended short-form videos via TikTok and Instagram Reels for news explainers. Also, align your news content with their habits. Work alongside influencers who your users might trust or already have a relationship with.
‘How should we be partnering with them? What can we learn from them?’
- Share news younger consumers can connect with, from lifestyle content to social justice to climate issues
- Venture into non-traditional topics and subject areas to appeal to new and younger audiences.
- Broaden the reach of your news, and brand, by engaging with influencers and content creators
Nash mentioned the proliferation and the impact of the creator economy. News organisations can benefit from the creator economy if they are authentic ways that a relationship will engage their audiences.
Creating multimodal content
In today’s news landscape, there is an understanding that readers have options of not only their source of news, but their formats.
According to Nash, text-based articles are no longer sufficient: ‘People should have a lot of different options of how they want to consume the content and we need to provide those different ways’
‘Liquid content’ is content that can be consumed in multiple formats, she explained, like a YouTube video of an audio-based podcast accompanied by a transcript that appears on-screen. AI tools can help with transcription and video summaries.
Adapting to AI and automation
Newsrooms can develop efficiencies by using AI to their advantage when producing content, especially across multiple formats. Adopting new technologies in an ever-changing news media landscape is important and ultimately helps with sustainability, Nash said.
‘The tools and technology are changing pretty rapidly and so, making sure we are keeping up with that. I’ve seen a lot of writing out there that really the biggest opportunity right now is automating a lot of routine tasks that we’re spending a lot of time on, headline writing, summaries, creating chat bots, things like that.’
