It's all about promoting that good content in a world where we are all bombarded by information at every turn. Of course, the best promotion of content is the one we all do via social media when we share an article that we know may be of interest to our friends. I have caught my 13-year-old granddaughter doing that on a regular basis. She, too, can be an editor and content curator, alerting her friends to the latest story about favorite entertainer Taylor Swift.
So, it is within the framework of those dynamics for sharing information that newspapers and magazines must operate. Our audience is already promoting the content we produce (if they think it is worth sharing!). Editors, too, can promote content, and I am always impressed by how The New York Times does it.
For the Sunday edition, for example, I always get a newsletter alerting me to content in the Metropolitan section, with a friendly message from the editor and with about 10 highlights of content that may be of interest.
One of my favorite electronic newsletters, and one I receive and check out daily, is that of Quartz, which not only summarizes the important news of the day, but does more than that when it introduces me to those “invisible” stories that are not part of every publication's agenda for the day. The Quartz newsletter also includes “sponsored” content.
These e-newsletters are not difficult to produce but add to that valuable curating that we all appreciate.
Today’s Quartz newsletter highlight: bananapocalypse?
Quartz refers to this type of stories as “Obsessions”, and here is a typical example of content that is not likely to be found at the top of the agenda for many publications, but Quartz gives it its place:
Quartz obsession interlude
Gwynn Guilford on the impending bananapocalypse. “It’s clear the strategies for containing the spread of Panama disease, as it’s known, aren’t working. And since the fungus can’t be killed, it’s likely only a matter of time before it lands in Latin America, where more than three-fifths of the planet’s exported bananas are grown. In other words, the days of the iconic yellow fruit are numbered.” Read more here.