The Obstacles to Audience Engagement

This chapter explores the challenges that journalists face as they attempt to more meaningfully practice audience engagement. The first is that, at a moment when the news industry’s financial stability is far from guaranteed, it is difficult to empirically demonstrate that engaged journalism yields an economic benefit. This is primarily because of the limitations of audience measurement data, which tend to privilege measures of exposure above all else—such as more qualitative measures of audience preferences or reactions. The second challenge stems from the reality that the pursuit of engaged journalism—and the more explicit awareness of the audience that it entails—can lead journalists to ethical dilemmas as they grapple with who they are writing about, who they are writing for, and what to do when those two groups diverge. Finally, those who pursue more meaningful and deliberate efforts to communicate and collaborate with their audiences increasingly must reckon with unexpected and unwelcome outcomes.