Every week I sit down and start thinking, what to dedicate my column to. And most of the time it’s quite a bit of a challenge.
Those of you who read my stories, can tell that it’s a trial and error path for me. Some columns turn out quite good, and others are just an inkshed (I’m sorry about that. Unfortunately, in reality, in most cases my job is more of a craft than an art, where I sometimes find myself being a typewriter, not a journalist. But the good quality product asks for the muse to take her time and come for a visit).
I really appreciate it when people let me know that they read what I write (be it by reacting online, or talking to me or my colleagues). And I also really appreciate when people share their opinion on what I write. Compliments are awesome, but constructive criticism is what challenges and allows the growth.
Unlike all other stories I write, my 20 Lines About… is something where I have the freedom to do what I want. And when I think about what I want to write this week, I try to put myself into your, readers’, shoes, since I always hope to interest the auditorium.
So when I sat down to write this week’s column it struck me, that I have no idea about whom I’m writing for.
Of course, sometimes I meet people who come into the office to pick up their papers. I also read the comments people leave on our social media, and thus I get to know some of you. But it adds up to probably about 200 people at the most, while in reality, our auditorium is much bigger and broader.
The papers go all over Estevan and out to many smaller communities in the southeast. And even though sometimes I feel that people now tend to skip the papers, I actually find myself at least looking through them whenever I’m somewhere waiting for something. And I can tell by the look of those publicly available copies, that 99.9 per cent of the times I’m not the first one to read them.
Surprisingly, research conducted in 2019 suggests that Canadian newspaper readership is at an all-time high with 88 per cent of people here reading newspapers at least once a week.
But here is a tweak that changes the picture. These 88 per cent include people who stated that they read their papers in the online edition. And for us, a local printed newspaper that exists since 1903, here all efforts to define our auditorium hit the dead end.
Here is an example. Last week someone somewhere in the states noticed our article on the Stoughton cattle seizure, published a month earlier. The person shared it with others online through a few groups and it went viral. In two days, we had over 10,000 readers from all over the U.S. and Canada all of a sudden reading our paper. Surprisingly, many of them were returning users, which means that somehow earlier or later some of them already came across the Mercury.
The further blending to the auditorium happens because of circumstances like my country of origin with my family and friends reading us as well due to personal reasons. So do foreign relatives of those people who we write about. The digital analysis suggests that there are people in many distant spots of the world every so often appearing on our readership map.
Back in days, they taught us that when starting the media outlet you first define your auditorium, decide on whom you want to write for and then get going, always keeping this generalized image in mind.
But with all the contemporary variables and strong differences between online and print auditoriums, unless the paper sticks to a particular defined worldview or narrow topic, how can anyone understand who is reading them today? I’m pretty sure when they established the paper over 115 years ago, their vision of their readers was quite different from where we are today.
So after three hours of reading different analytics on the newspaper readership, factors affecting it and changes that happened in the industry over the past 20 years I was nowhere close to having an understanding of whom I write for.
And then, as simple as it is, I realized that this mosaic of readers we have actually makes what I do more challenging, more unique and thus really enjoyable.
Nevertheless, if I knew my readers and their interests better, it would enhance my work. That’s why I decided to share this work creative process with you in this column.
Thank you to all, who dedicate time to reading my work and sharing their thoughts about it. And I hope I’ll get to know you better.
