Engagement and Relevance

As a journalist, it is important to know your audience and tailor your stories to the audience you are addressing. When I first moved back to Utah six years ago, I noticed the news here is much different than the news in Texas. The news here is tinted with Mormon references (not a lot, but some) which I never heard in Texas. The news in Texas was tinted with Southern Baptist references. It is important to know your audience and what is important to them.

One time I was watching a local Utah news station's broadcast and the girl doing the weather made a reference to a Utah temple or something like that and I remember thinking that she got it completely wrong. I think she was new to the station and to the area so you have to cut her a little bit of slack. However, it is still important to know your audience and write to them.

Journalists also have to be relevant. Is the story important to the viewer? I loved what the group said about asking the community "what is going on?" instead of "what do you want stories about?" By finding out what is important to the community, a journalists stories will be much more relevant and they won't need to turn to sensationalism.

There was a research study done in 1994 that discusses journalisms failure to make stories relevant and good enough to actually inform the public. You can find the link and read the abstract here. Media is globalizing faster and faster. The journalist must keep up with that and still keep up with the relevance and egagement necessary to present a good story.

Great presentation!