Thoughts
Your values should be built into your products
Competing in the attention game is a race to the bottom, so we as news producers should step out of that game entirely by focusing on something else: the purpose we accomplish and values we convey. The only way for news organizations to survive is to create better products that embody these things.
Focus on quality content rather than a high quantity of content
Once, in a traditional newsroom, a metrics analyst told me the best way to increase site traffic was to publish more posts.
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) June 14, 2019
I’m glad The Guardian chose to buck conventional wisdom and demonstrate that quality matters more than quantity. https://t.co/W5PD87jljA
For many people, algorithms are editors
Somewhat unfortunate. But also consider this: what is the News Feed algorithm but an automated editor showing users what’s “fit to print” for them?
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) January 15, 2019
It’s important to define how being a “journalist” is different — how decision-making is different — and communicate that to people. https://t.co/t4WCNamCFj
Don't turn local elections into clickbait
hey you know what’s fun how about instead of providing our readers information ahead of an election we bait them into clicking on a post so we can increase our impressions for the month pic.twitter.com/joJ1zFCXSS
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) May 26, 2018
Push alert pro tip
Push alert pro tip: just because it’s fewer words doesn’t mean it’s easier for the reader to understand
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) July 20, 2017
Create news for people who have never read a newspaper
For young people like me, who didn’t grow up with newspapers and who have used the internet since we were toddlers, a lot of the conventions of news today don’t make sense. News in 2017 doesn’t need to follow the production cycle of news in 1987, and neither should it come in the same form. Adapting a newspaper for the modern web isn’t good enough for people who never read newspapers in the first place.
Treat all sources with respect
Putting everything this week aside, it’s hard to get regular people to trust journalists when all journalists seem to do is exploit them for a little bit of information and leave them to deal with the resulting mess https://t.co/Qa3DG2hLBe
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) September 29, 2018
Up your listicle strategy
How about: People have individualized tastes in music and it doesn’t make sense to create a barebones listicle purporting to be “ideal” for everyone? https://t.co/SkMmadVQHt
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) October 30, 2018
Put your ego aside and let the story do the work
At a time when journalism is as important as ever but is hobbled by less trust than ever, every little thing matters, because it shapes how the industry is perceived and the degree to which our audiences believe in our mission and purpose. We can’t let our egos get in the way.
East Coast bias in media is a real problem
If anything, this week’s set of @planetmoney Indicator episodes out of LA made me realize how New York-centric all media is. Where’s the podcast that tells stories like “The Farm Labor Drought” *all the time?* https://t.co/7Ngt8f56vt
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) April 28, 2018
No memes, please
Creating memes and “shareable” content like this is definitely not the way for *any* publication to inspire trust in its audience. pic.twitter.com/AWcYQIIIux
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) July 22, 2017
Keep your ego in check
It takes a lot of ego to be so out of touch with reality that you’d rather ask for rule exemptions than address your own shortcomings
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) July 15, 2017
Don't play the victim
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) July 11, 2017
News and you
Read this. It’s about news and you. “This Is How Your Fear and Outrage Are Being Sold for Profit”?—?@TobiasRose https://t.co/LpZHL2M4jW pic.twitter.com/u1XLMW1sti
— James Tyner (@jamestyner_) July 27, 2017