Society has given news organizations lemons.
It’s time they made lemonade.
The internet has given the journalism industry a lot of lemons. Newsrooms are dealing with smaller staffs, shrinking circulations, thinner profit margins, low news trust, and more. It’s time to make some lemonade. This project hopes to provide resources for local news organizations to increase engagement. Its resources will include social media guides, templates, ideas for evergreen content, and more. We love journalism. Feel free to email us with any questions or concerns about our project. We will do anything we can to help.
This idea was presented by Indah Setiawati (istk8@mail.missouri.edu) and LaRissa Lawrie (Lawrie.larissa@gmail.com) at the Reynolds Journalism Institute’s 2021 Student Innovation Competition
RJI 2021 Challenge:
News Organizations are Struggling Nationwide
“Whether it’s that subscriptions have dropped, trust is low or corporations are buying them and chopping them down to their bones — no one problem is the cause of current struggles, nor will one solution be the saving grace. One unfortunate result of the challenging environment: newsrooms are finding it harder to stay connected to their audiences and communities. ”
— Reynolds Journalism Institute
Now
Then
Digital Engagement Guides Made for Shrinking Newsrooms
Missouri Business Alert Prototype
As part of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute’s 2021 Student Innovation Competition, Team Fantastic Two, Indah Setiawati, and LaRissa Lawrie worked with the Missouri Business Alert to develop an engagement project. This page immortalizes that work so that this project can be replicable in other newsrooms and sustainable for the Missouri Business Alert. We hope that they might help your newsroom.
01 – Instagram Audit
The Missouri Business Alert wanted engagement help and new ideas for their Instagram account that they could do with only two people. Indah and I created an Instagram media audit and talked through the Missouri Business Alert’s goals and KPI’s with their newsroom. If your newsroom has no idea where to start with Instagram or any other social media – we recommend starting with an audit.
02 – User-Generated Content
Are you looking for a weekly idea for consistent user-generated content? This guide provides a step-by-step tutorial on creating user-generated content. This prototype was developed for the Missouri Business Alert and has proven successful and sustainable in small local newsrooms with only two full-time staff.
03 – Email Outreach Guide
The Instagram Audit revealed that the Missouri Business Alert had a high engagement rate with profiles of business owners. They regularly featured interviews and profiles. After meeting with them we designed a workflow that streamlines this sporadic content into weekly evergreen content. The survey auto-fills into an excel document and can be scheduled weeks out in advance.
“If your audience isn’t listening, it’s not their fault. It’s yours”
— SETH GODIN