News Engagement Workshop – Princeton

In October, the Center for Media Engagement hosted its second News Engagement Workshop, bringing together 11 digital news innovators to discuss current practices and future possibilities.

During the two-day workshop, participants brainstormed an array of new ideas about digital news. Some of their ideas include:

Metrics-based goal setting: Have journalists set goals for their stories and then evaluate whether they met the goal

Was this helpful?: Provide a rating scale allowing readers to give feedback about whether news stories are helpful

Tailor article length: Create articles of different lengths to cater to different readers

Citizen-focused reporting: Combat political polarization by giving citizens more voice in political stories

See the full report on this event for more information.

Themes that emerged from the workshop include

• Digital Success and Analytics – How can analytics and engagement best be incorporated throughout the practice of making the news? What new metrics would you want?
• Audience Involvement – How can readers and staff engage?
• Website Design – What are best practices and new ideas for providing visitors with reasons to keep coming back?
• Political Polarization – What could newsrooms do to affect levels of polarization?
• Questions Facing the Digital Newsroom – What do you wish you knew about metrics, workflow, mobile, and keeping pace with technology?

Workshop participants

Wright Bryan, NPR
Jennifer Carroll, Gannett Digital
Megan Chan, Politico
Rachel Clarke, CNN
Ryan Kellett, The Washington Post
Enrique Lavin, NJ Advance Media
Allison Lichter, The Wall Street Journal
Todd Olmstead, The Wall Street Journal
Barry Osborne, The Denver Post
Allison Rockey, Vox
Ben Turk Tolub, Philly.com