Do you want to generate high audience engagement on your news stories and form a bond with loyal readers? Then you've come to the right place: the user needs based storytelling concept was developed to achieve just that. Let's face it: digital technology has forced the role of the newsroom to change, and the function of news has changed with it. As have audience behaviours and news consumption patterns. Nowadays, different people need different things from news content. If you want to connect to the audience, you'd better listen to them.
Fortunately, these past years the publishing sector has been learning a lot about this, through audience research, ‘growth hacks’ and constant content iteration. Several models of 'news user needs' have been created in the last few years, many of them built on the groundbreaking work introduced by BBC World Service. Their research revealed six specific needs that global audiences expect to be satisfied when it comes to news coverage.
Dmitry Shishkin was one the first advocates of the model at the BBC and oversaw its adoption at their different newsrooms around the world. He has been partnering with us on the Triple N project, and shares his tips and experience here: "The 'news needs approach' covers six different editorial treatments of a news event. By focusing on other details of the story besides the cold, hard facts, the story can offer more value to the reader, which has been proven on many occasions in various settings."
Not yet familiar with the user needs?