Upon reflecting on yesterday’s post, I feel the need to distinguish between engagement and entertainment.
Bobby Calder and Ed Malthouse describe this difference in Kellogg on Advertising and Media as:
“Media engagement is to be distinguished from liking, that is, the experience of the desirable or undesirable features of a particular magazine, program or site. In contrast, engagement is about how the magazine or other media product is experienced motivationally in terms of making something happen (or not happen) in the consumer’s life … It is more about what the content does for the consumer than what the consumer likes about it per se.”
Journalists should strive for engagement, not entertainment, in their stories. News can be entertaining, of course. When this happened I just about made a bowl of popcorn and wrap myself up in a snuggie:
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However, it is when news organizations go in search of entertainment that things really go off the rails.
Engagement goes beyond online traffic metrics. News outlets should know how many unique visitors and page views they receive on a monthly basis, and how these numbers compare to trends from a year or two ago. But that’s basic. What is the outlet’s social media presence? What is the quality of comments left at the bottom of stories? Over at Romenesko, Amy Gahran says this includes:
- Non-spam comments left on stories or posts
- Links to your content shared via social media
- @ replies or retweets on Twitter
- Percentage of videos played or slideshows viewed (how far did they get?)
- Facebook fans/friends, or content added (wall posts, comments, photos, etc.)
- Event signups or buzz (including event hashtags)
The following is a recent clip from “The Daily Show.” I’m posting it because it emphasizes news engagement vs. entertainment. I’m also posting it because I think Jon Stewart and I could have been very happy together in another life.
"To say that comedians have to decide if they’re comedians or social commentators ... comedians do social commentary through comedy. That’s how it’s worked for thousands of years. I have not moved out of the comedian’s box into the news box. The news box is moving towards me."
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Bernie Goldberg Fires Back | ||||
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