Future News Trends – part one
In the first part of a new four part special, News International’s Abba Newbery presents the findings of a ground-breaking new study from The Future Laboratory exploring future trends for news. In part one, Newbery looks at ‘Intuitive News’ and the impact of consumer ‘stuffocation’ in a relentless, 24/7 digital age…
Towards the end of last year News International started an ambitious new project with The Future Laboratory, a trend forecasting consultancy that specialises in identifying the future of different industries. We challenged them to find the trends that will shape the future of news and their findings are informing a swathe of activity at News International.
Future Laboratory’s response to our brief was to identify four different paradigms of news provision that will dominate the space over the coming years – Intuitive News, Authoritative News, Experimental News and Convivial News. Over my next four Newsline articles I will investigate these trends in turn and reflect on what they mean both for NI and for the media world at large. For this first piece I will look at Intuitive News and what that means.
Intuitive News
The idea of intuitive news is predicated on the information overload that is now a fact of life for news consumers everywhere. People are constantly bombarded with news and information, online, on twitter and facebook, on rolling news channels – even on digital out-of-home screens in coffee shops, petrol stations and bins.
This ‘stuffocation’ has a consumer benefit in terms of keeping people up to date, but it also puts a real premium on the role of trusted editor. In a world where there’s more information than I can ever consume, a news organisation that understands me and provides me with the information I want, when I want it and in the format I need it, is going to be invaluable to me.
Consumers, drowning a flood of news, want newsbrands that make their lives easier with edited, curated and personalised content and advertising offers, not generic ‘one size fits all’ streams of data.
Filter bubbles
There are significant implications for this. For one, at an editorial level the traditional edition-led model of news provision is one that offers real value. Personalised content can effectively create a ‘filter bubble’, limiting people’s visibility of news to just those areas that they’re currently interested in.
Rather than informing people broadly about the world in which they live as a general edition might, a personalised news outlet can reinforce people’s positions and prejudices by giving then just the information that they want to see, rather than the alternative viewpoints that might help them make a balanced judgement. This choice goes to the heart of what a news brand should be – a balanced information resource or a vehicle for a specific set of views and information.
NI’s view is traditionally towards the former – an outlet like the Times is known as a paper of record, placing upon it a broader obligation to inform readers of the full story, rather than giving them a selective viewpoint. We believe that this role is important and – whilst we want to give readers a personalised experience – it will never be at the cost of balance and breadth of view.
Personalised advertising
Where intuitive news can create real value for newsbrands is in advertising. If we can understand what topics our readers are engaging with, we can use this information to help our advertisers make more intelligent planning decisions around our inventory. We might not want to editorially facilitate people’s personal filter bubbles, but we can certainly ensure that the advertising we serve them is relevant to their interests and give them offers that are meaningful to them.
This takes us clearly into the world of customer data. In order to enable the sort of personalised experiences that both our readers and advertisers want, we need to collect information about our customer’s lifestyles and preferences. Where traditional news organisations have a huge advantage in this regard is in our subscription models.
Through our subscription process, across print editions, paywalls and integrated digital/print offers, we can collect detailed information about our readers that can be used to help serve them relevant advertising. As a trusted newsbrand our readers are perhaps happier to share this data than they might be with an unknown online start-up, safe in the knowledge that we’re unlikely to misuse it.
This data is the core of how a business like NI can meet the demand for intuitive news content moving forwards. Working with our advertisers we can help brands understand their target audiences better, and consult with them to help create campaigns and buying strategies that reach them in more targeted and engaging ways.
The future of Intuitive News
Intuitive News is just one way that newsbrands can address audiences in a new way, but it’s going to be a powerful channel for readers, advertisers and news providers alike. Indeed, leveraging customer data for advertiser targeting is a broader trend, reaching far beyond the scope of newsbrands alone. Whilst excessive personalisation can be a damaging trend editorially, it’s surely the future of advertising content across a wide range of media types.