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News Alchemists #9: "How journalism can win hearts and minds again."

Hello and welcome to the News Alchemists Newsletter!

If January felt like it was never-ending, I swear it feels like February lasted barely a week. Shorter month, I know, but still. Is it just me?

Anyways, now it's March and with every passing week I enjoy writing this newsletter more and more. That's mostly because your generous feedback tells me it's interesting and useful, so keep it coming and let me know how I can make these emails even more useful and accessible.

Shout-out to Erin, Clara, Louis, Mayra, Lars, Mili, Sannuta, Laura, and everyone else who took the time to let me know how much they like the newsletter or to share it on social. 🫶

Without further ado (I've always liked this expression), here are your seven links of the week:

I always try to keep these descriptions short: just a few words, sometimes with one quote from the read I'm recommending. But some reads are so good that I'd want to include four or five quotes, and choosing one is almost impossible. This is one of those. The success of 🧩 Zetland (already featured in #4) is a beacon of hope that keeps shining, and there's so much we can all learn from 🧞Lea Korsgaard and her team:

"We have built a culture where everyone in the organisation knows that any decision has to take a point of departure in the members’ needs and how we can serve them with information and good journalism." And: "Our members wanted to help us because they have this sense of belonging – and they share a responsibility for us actually publishing what we do. [...] they tell us ‘I don’t do this for myself; it’s for a purpose – and what I gain is this sense of belonging.’ "

⏸️ Quick time-out for a little rant: what's up with the odd formatting on that page, WAN-IFRA? 😵‍💫 Text alignment freely switching from left to centre; subheadings starting with "..."; random double spaces. The article is great but the experience of reading it is headache-inducing. /end rant

File this under "make you think" because I'm not sure it will provide much hope. But, as the great Will McAvoy once said: "The first step in solving any problem is recognising there is one." So don't skip over this deep-dive into falling news engagement by the Reuters Institute, and get to the end: under 'What should we make of all this?' you'll find some useful tips.

Any fans of The Newsroom here? Don't tell me I'm the only one.

Talking about news avoidance: "It surely can’t be right, even if it were possible, to act as though the news didn’t exist. On the other hand, I think I may scream if I encounter one more newspaper column informing me that “now is not the time to turn away,” while offering no suggestions as to what that might entail besides working oneself into a frothing rage that somehow only ever ends up aiding one’s opponents. So what are you meant to do?"

The Imperfectionist by Oliver Burkeman is not about journalism. It's a newsletter 'on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment.' But the latest edition has useful reflections and advice on how to stay sane in these crazy times and take back some level of control.

When I see a post by 🧞Khalil A. Cassimally in my feed, I stop what I'm doing and I read it. Here he shares the presentation he gave last week at the Africa Media Festival in Nairobi, including reflections on the current struggles of our industry and a hopeful message: "It doesn't have to be this way. We can do better."

Clever idea by 🧩 Der Spiegel: struggling with reading and moderating too many comments under their articles, they decided to get rid of the comments section altogether and instead create a Reddit-like dedicated space for debate. Readers love it, and the editorial teams are happier too, since they can get a better sense of the public’s opinion about the issues they cover.

"If you want to convince people to pay for your content, provide opportunities for them to meet you." YES! I love this profile of Hungarian media 🧩 Partizán and their efforts in organising meaningful offline events that bring the community together. By 🧞Lela Vujanic on The Fix.

In line with Rishad Patel telling us last week that journalists might be exactly the product designers we need, the #HireAJournalist campaign launched by 🧞Haddie Djemal wants to help businesses "see what’s possible when you bring a journalist onto your team."

Want more? 📚 Check out the previous editions

🎁 Bonus: I wrote a commentary with my friend and long-time collaborator 🧞Federica Cherubini for a journal on the impact of academic work on journalistic practice: Crossing the river Gap: How research and practice can build a better journalism together.

See you next week 👋

Just another Will-McAvoy-in-The-Newsroom gif because why not.

Published by:

Mattia Peretti

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