Interesting what readers expect from an article

This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, November 11, reporting from New York City.

While there are no surprises for me here, I think this study in Texas with a small sampling of readers tells us that members of the audience are smart, knowledgeable and question what we do—as they should.

However, in the era of the never ending news cycle, fake news and Presidential tweets, readers are more demanding of journalists.

Let’s take a look at this study, which I discovered via Nieman Lab;

The study, conducted via five focus groups with the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin, was carried out by researchers Tamar Wilner, Dominique A. Montiel Valle, and Gina Masullo Chen . basis of the study:

Highlights

Boxes explaining the reporting: Using stories from USA Today and the Tennessean, people who viewed an article with a box that explained how the information was gathered, rated USA Today and the Tennessean significantly higher on 11 of the 12 attributes of trust compared to people who saw the same story without the box.

I imagine it is not practical for every story to have a box explaining how the reporter assembled the story, but it is quite telling that readers favored stories with such explanations. This may be that readers are always fascinated by the behind the scenes of the journalistic process, just like movie fans can’t get enough of “how that scene was filmed”, I guess.

However, in this era of distrust of the press, those boxes with info on the news gathering process may also give more credibility to the piece.

Tell me more: Readers also know so much about many stories when they start reading that it is no surprise the study found that readers want reporters to dig deeper.

Beyond the facts, explain the complicated stuff to me: “After reading the story about a fatal bus crash, participants wanted to know why the bus driver was not arrested. The story reported that a police search warrant indicated she may have been impaired while driving but that she had not been charged with a crime. Participants wanted more explanation of police procedures in this story.” according to the Nieman Lab piece.

Awareness of sources: The readers want to know why certain sources were included while others were left out of a story. Remember, readers today may have been exposed to more than one version of that same story. It is only logical that they will compare sources and information, as they should.

Is this biased? Readers are very aware of this, now more than ever. How independent is the reporter? How unbiased? According to the Nieman Lab piece: “Newsrooms should consider providing a statement of independence, stating a lack of relationship with story sources. Newsrooms could also clarify key information about how and why the story was reported up-front or in a box within the story.”

The demands that readers impose on journalists will continue to get tougher, a good thing if it means that our checklists before publishing a story will include the items above as essential.

German newspapers commemorate 30 years after fall of Berlin Wall

During the weekend the front pages of many German newspapers lead with retrospective articles and visuals commemorating the 30th anniversary of the end of an era; when the Berlin wall came down, spelling freedom for many people in the East.

Take a look:

Launch party for The Story in Zurich

From Monocle Weekend

THE INTERROGATOR / EDITION 30

https://monocle.com/minute/2019/09/21/

Mario García

Editorial consultant Mario García has advised the most important newsrooms in the world on design – and how best adapt to a digital transition. More than 700 publications, from The Wall Street Journal to the South China Morning Post, have received his strategic steer. Other than being an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, he also runs his own consultancy firm: García Media. Nowadays his speciality is how digital devices influence narrative structure and consumption; his latest book, The Story, was written specifically to be read on a phone. Here, though, he confesses to a few analogue pleasures.

What they are saying about The Story!

The Story is here!

You can now download my new mobile storytelling book, The Story, from Apple Books at $6.99
This is Book 1 of a Trilogy! The other two books coming soon.
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-volume-i/id1480169411

The newspaper remains the most powerful source of storytelling on the planet. But technology threatens its very existence. To survive, the Editor must transform, adapt, and manage the newsroom in a new way. Order The Story by Mario Garcia, chief strategist for the redesign of over 700 newspapers around the world.

My chat with in Monocle Radio

Listen to my chat in Monocle Radio’s The Stack: Latest episode‘The Face’ and ‘The Story’:We welcome the return of the print version of ‘The Face’ and talk to legendary newspaper designer Mario Garcia about his latest book, ‘The Story’.
https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-stack/368/play/

My interview with CNN en Español

I was a guest in the program Encuentro, hosted by Guillermo Arduino daily at CNN en Español. The interview was about how we read on mobile devices and my introduction of my new mobile storytelling book, The Story, to a Spanish-language audience.

García: Si tienes una buena historia, la gente la va a leer