Redefining Relevance: Connecting Local News with Younger Audiences & Much More

Hey there, Benchies!

Hope you all are staying warm, New England is certainly taking a moment to remind us all who's boss this week. 

In addition to some hot new content, we’ve even got a bit of a theme going this week – I know, pretty fancy stuff. In honor of our new article on WCBS New York's Digital Content Creator Maggie Cole, we’re bringing back some awesome stuff you may have missed from the vault around the topic of local news – an eternally pertinent topic that’s even more so with the inauguration of the fake news king this week. 

Let’s dive in!

Here is our featured content this week:

🥟 Slurp on this: What Axios' Soup Dumpling Index tells us about AI in the newsroom

 You might’ve heard of the Big Mac index .. Wait, no? Oh awk. Well, it’s a nifty tool that allows you to intuitively compare and contrast prices at their favorite chain restaurants. Cool right? Well, how about a DUMPLING index.

Yep, you heard right. 

The opening of Din Tai Fung in New York City inspired Felix Salmon, Sarah Grillo and Danielle Alberti from Axios to create this index using Din Tai Fung dumplings. They reported on their findings in the article “Soup Dumpling Index: How prices compare around the world.” 

But the project was not without its challenges. We wanted the scoop. So our own Meera Chaddha sat down (virtually) with Danielle Alberti, data visualization editor at Axios, about the obstacles they faced during data gathering and on the increasingly important role of AI in this process — a key question on everyone’s mind given the rise of AI technology. Especially my dumpling lovers.. You won't want to miss this. Catch the full conversation here! 

📰 📲 WCBS New York's Digital Content Creator Maggie Cole on laying the path for a new role

In our modern era of constantly divided attention, the million dollar question has become what can media outlets do to draw in eyeballs — especially when it comes to younger audiences. This could not be more true for local news outlets, who have faced declining numbers among this population.

To answer that question, Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project (RLTVN) placed four fellows in newsrooms across New York, Chicago and Boston. These fellows create content exclusively for the stations’ digital platforms including streaming channels and social media.

Maggie Cole was RLTVN’s 2024 fellow at CBS News New York and hired by the station as Digital Content Creator when the fellowship ended. They were drawn to this role for its emphasis on local news, appealing to younger audiences and ultimately the excitement of a new perspective.  

We were eager to hear more about Maggie’s experience, and you should be too. Take a peek!

Cool Stuff Corner: What are we reading?

Noise Could Take Years Off Your Life. Here's How.

Coupling animated diagrams with photo, video, and audio, this New York Times piece paints a fascinating, albeit alarming picture of the physiological impact of extreme noise — especially in the instance of prolonged and repeated exposure. 

While we hate this for those unfortunate enough to work or live in these environments. We absolutely love what The Times did here multimedia journalism and datavis wise. If your job or home life includes regular or repeated exposure to extreme sound you will definitely not want to miss this piece, but also either way, it’s more than worth a look. Check it out. 

From The Vault 🏛️

💻 Streaming Content Producer Angela Chen on reinventing local TV news for the streaming generation at ABC7 Chicago

We previewed another addition to Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project (RLTVN) in our new content this week, but silly us, we realize that some of you may have missed the birth of this project, so for those not in the know, RLTVN is working to revolutionize local TV news to appeal to younger audiences. In partnership with leading newsrooms in major cities, the project has funded year-long fellowships for three producers and one animator. At the heart of this effort is a focus on over-the-top content — streaming videos delivered over the internet — that positions local news stations to tell high-quality, in-depth stories on platforms where young people already consume content.

Angela Chen was a 2024 RLTVN fellow in her role as ABC7 Chicago’s Streaming Content Producer. During her time as a fellow, she has completed many video projects, including stories on a 54-year-old pro-aging content creator, a Venezuelan migrant volunteer and an art non-profit. We sat down with Chen last winter to talk about her experience crafting compelling news stories for streaming platforms and reimagining local news for the digital age. Don’t miss this! 

📺 "The news has a boring problem": Sean McLaughlin has big ideas to save TV news

Continuing on this week’s theme of local news…we’re bringing back another hot read from the vault. Tired of the constant, unvaried nature of today’s television newscasts, Sean McLaughlin – former anchor, reporter, and news director for various news stations –dedicated the recent part of his career to innovating newsrooms nationwide, going so far as to eliminate anchor roles and changing the newscast format. 

Most recently, he served as the senior vice president of local news at The E.W. Scripps Company and currently is the director at large of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). His responsibilities include developing a news strategy to engage viewers across platforms.  

With over 30 years in the local news industry, McLaughlin is now sharing his takeaways from experience and research in his TVNewsCheck column, “Reinventing the News.” He challenges the traditions of format, process, and storytelling in local TV news in his weekly articles. 

Last summer our team spoke with McLaughlin about his new column and how he hopes his recommendations manifest a brighter future for local news. Take a look!

Photo of the Week 📷

Well, in honor of current events, we’re doing something a little different this week for our photo of the week. Instead of a photo from our staff, we’re spotlighting this NYT piece: Documenting a Historic Return: Photos of Trump’s Day 1

And listen, we all have a LOT of feelings about the new administration. But setting those aside for a minute. Here’s a neat look at exactly what the new president’s first day in the oval entailed 📷

That's all we've got for this week! Thanks for reading, and let us know if there's anything you'd like to see in these newsletters or in our coverage at [email protected].

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