Disproving the adage that no news is good news, newsrooms around the world are changing their editorial mix in response to audience needs — reinvigorating tired old beats and offering inspiring content in all formats, on all platforms. Canada’s Globe and Mail and South Africa’s News24 show how you can do it too.
When Reuters Digital News Report started tracking news consumption in the UK and parts of Europe in 2012, the phenomena of news avoidance soon became apparent. The trend ballooned over time, and the 2024 Report highlighted a startling offshoot: that of selective news avoidance.
This move away from news has coincided with the rise of independent content creators and ‘newsfluencers’ on various social platforms.
The message to newsrooms is clear: ‘Listen to your audiences – and meet them where they are’.
Many newsrooms are listening: a quick survey of leading titles around the world reflects efforts to amplify positive and feel-good local news stories that readers relate to – in a range of formats, across all media platforms.
In some cases it is the application of the user needs model that has prompted the creation of more stories to “Inspire me”.
Some newsrooms have a dedicated section, like the BBC’s Uplifting Stories and the Daily Maverick’s Good News Round-up; some run weekly series, like McClatchy’s ‘Uplift’ print package and EcoNews’ weekly ‘Constructive News’ reels on Instagram; while podcasts and newsletters are proving a win for Rappler’s Be The Good.
The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina
Purpose-driven initiatives
Ever the pioneer, Rappler’s investment into community-building started with the launch of an app. At the time, co-founder Maria Ressa said: “With Rappler Communities, it feels like we’re reclaiming our rights, and we’re reclaiming our reality and building real trust. This app allows us to build trust because people downloading and coming into the chat are getting to know us. I think this is critical, because if you don’t trust the people you’re talking to, what will you accomplish?”
Rappler’s Be The Good is just one of the many offerings on the app and, this past December, Community Lead Pia Ranada was named one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awardees for 2024 “in recognition of her critical coverage of the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte and her current work in helping build trust between journalists and the public”.
While Rappler has leaned into community-led engagement, others like South Africa’s News24 have reimagined editorial priorities.
Good news editor
In December, South Africa’s News24 appointed its first good news editor, Paul Herman, with a brief “to find extraordinary stories about phenomenal South Africans that don’t often find the headlines. South Africa is sadly awash with stories of what is wrong, broken or dysfunctional,” explained editor in chief, Adriaan Basson.
He has overhauled what was once a Special Projects feature into a core editorial element and on 1 April, News24 again marked its own Good News Day with a plethora of positive news stories rather than the usual run of April Fool’s pranks.
“It is easy to fall into depression and despair if you only read about what is wrong with our country and the world, but what is right is also part of the South African story,” said Basson.
Proof that these efforts are paying off is evident in reader traffic, time spent and engagement metrics.
The Globe and Mail (Canada) Executive Editor Angela Pacienza showcased this effectively during a session on community building at the recent International Journalism Festival in Perugia.
How positive messaging reimagines roles – and reignites readers
The Globe and Mail’s comprehensive editorial, content and commissioning strategy included reallocating resources, and creating new roles – this included new hires and reappointments, as well as appointing a senior leader to head up the initiative, and a health team comprising five reporters, each focusing on different issues.
The Globe also reimagined journalistic beats to focus on positive language usage, such as ‘Happiness’ and ‘Time‘.
These two roles were pilot programmes, to be tested for one year – but the impact on both newsroom culture and audience was immediate and measurable, noted Pacienza.
“Our Happiness reporter had covered mental health for about five years; she wrote about all our mental health issues with the pandemic, how suicide rates among teenagers was really high… one depressing story after another, quite frankly.”
Not only did the change in title lead to a shift in approach to – and tone of – stories, but readers write in to tell how “just seeing her byline automatically changes their mood”.
UX-friendly focus
Given that uplifting the mood “to make readers smile rather than panic” has been Pacienza’s goal from the outset, she revisited the look and feel of landing pages, newsletters, and alerts to drive more positive and constructive approaches.
“I think of the alerts as a conversation you’re having with your readers all day long. What is the personality you’re putting forward on that? I really wanted to think about ways we can make readers smile, and not just panic.”
This included implementing changes in content and UX, including:
- Positioning lifestyle content within the core product
- Packaging it with an interchangeable label (now, Living Better) that evokes a positive mood
- Changing alert rules by broadening the scope
- A visuals strategy that includes a visuals editor focused on producing stimulating article packages in different formats.
“We already did a lot of lifestyle-type content. We just weren’t showing it to the readers,” acknowledged Pacienza.
The results speak for themselves: a spike in traffic, increased reader engagement, positive feedback, high alert open rates – and a massive increase in unique users.
Critical to the Globe’s success in implementing these positive changes is the attention it paid to building its community, with an internally-led marketing campaign and increased reader engagement in the form of Q&A prompts, added Pacienza.
“We all felt it was really important to create a community, and so we increased the number of Q&As we do – and we don’t just do them about politics and business news; we make sure we do them about how we live, topics that keep parents up at night…”
From Manila to Johannesburg to Toronto, the shift toward more uplifting journalism reflects a global reckoning with what audiences truly like and want.
The appetite for stories that inform and inspire is real — and the opportunity for newsrooms to rise to that challenge is now.
This story was first published by the World Editors Forum, a leading global community of editors, which is an integral part of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
Lucinda Jordaan is WAN-IFRA’s correspondent in Africa.
