ETHICAL ISSUES IN ANALYTICS-DRIVEN JOURNALISM

SALEM SOLOMON CASEY FRECHETTE

PART ONE

OVERVIEW

YEARS PUBLISHING

PULITZER PRIZES

STAFF SIZE

MONTHLY UNIQUES

164 114

1,250 30M

4 0

60 19M

PAGE VIEWS

PAGE VIEWS

MAKE EDITORIAL DECISIONS ENGAGE AUDIENCES

EVALUATE REPORTERS

73% HOW MUCH TO COVER A STORY

72% STORY PLACEMENT ON SITE

63% HOW TO WRITE HEADLINES

62% HOW TO DESIGN SITE PAGES

NEWSROOMS USE METRICS TO MAKE MANY DECISIONS…

1.  REPORT TRUTHFULLY (Ch. 2) 2.  SUPPORT SELF- GOVERNANCE (Ch. 11) 3.  HOLD THE POWERFUL ACCOUNTABLE (Ch. 6)

2. ENGAGE AUDIENCES MONITOR, LISTEN, INTERACT

1. MAKE EDITORIAL DECISIONS INDEPENDENCE, INTERDEPENDENCE

3. SUPPORT WORK GENERATE REVENUE

PART TWO

HOW ANALYTICS CAN ENHANCE JOURNALISM

1. EDITORIAL JUDGMENT

2. AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

3. BUSINESS DECISIONS

EDITORIAL BUSINESS

EDITORIAL BUSINESS /

IF I WERE BEING PAID BY THE CLICK FOR THIS COLUMN, I MIGHT HAVE BEGUN IT THIS WAY:

WILL AN OPPRESSIVE EMPHASIS ON “CLICK BAIT” MEAN THAT THE NEWS ENDS UP

IMPRISONED BY TRANSGENDERED MODELS POSING IN DISGRACEFUL LISTICLES

ACCOMPANIED BY KIDNAPPED NUDE KITTENS?

BUT I’M NOT. SO LET’S JUST SAY THAT THERE IS A GROWING TREND IN MANY CORNERS OF

JOURNALISM TO TIE THE COMPENSATION OF JOURNALISTS TO THE AMOUNT OF WEB TRAFFIC

AND/OR ARTICLES THEY GENERATE.

“

THE MARKET REQUIRES GIVING THE PUBLIC WHAT IT WANTS; DEMOCRACY REQUIRES GIVING THE PUBLIC WHAT IT NEEDS.

“

PART THREE

THE POTENTIAL HARMS OF ANALYTICS

EDITORIAL JUDGMENT

IF NEWS EDITORS ALTER EDITORIAL DECISIONS BASED ON THE NUMBER OF CLICKS A STORY GENERATES, UNPOPULAR BUT IMPORTANT STORIES MAY BE IGNORED.

“

CYRUS SYRIA VS.

12x

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

BUSINESS DECISIONS

PART FOUR

IDEAL SOLUTION AND OBSTACLES TO THE IDEAL

NEWSROOM LEADERS SHOULD FOCUS ON THE IMPACT OF THEIR STORIES AND USE METRICS TO INCREASE THAT IMPACT.

“

JOURNALISTS NEED TO TAKE A MORE NUANCED VIEW OF ANALYTICS.

CRITICAL QUESTION #1

WHICH ANALYTICS SHOULD BE USED?

PAGE VIEWS TIME ON PAGE TIME ON SITE

BOUNCE RATES NEW / RETURNING VISITOR RATIO

SCROLL DEPTH TIME SAVED / TIME WELL SPENT

CRITICAL QUESTION #2

WITH WHOM SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS SHARE ANALYTICS?

REPORTERS COPY EDITORS

ASSIGNMENT EDITORS PHOTOJOURNALISTS

MANAGERS STRINGERS

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS WEB EDITORS

COMMUNITY MANAGERS EXECUTIVES

CRITICAL QUESTION #3

HOW SHOULD ANALYTICS INFORM THE OVERALL EDITORIAL PROCESS?

EDITORIAL DECISIONS

ANALYTICS

?

? ?

CRITICAL QUESTION #4

WHAT EDITORIAL CHOICES ARE AVAILABLE ASIDE FROM USING CLICKBAIT?

60 WORDS AND A WAR WITHOUT END: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MOST DANGEROUS SENTENCE IN U.S. HISTORY

CRITICAL QUESTION #5

HOW SHOULD SUBSTANTIVE WORK BE BALANCED WITH WORK

THAT GENERATES TRAFFIC?

ACCESS TO ANALYTICS CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE STORIES THAT MATTER.

SALEM SOLOMON

salemsolomon@mail.usf.edu

CASEY FRECHETTE

frechette@mail.usf.edu

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU.