Stop Telling Journalists to Write Authentic Content
It's ironic how often we hear 'Write helpful and authentic content to survive in the post-search era' advice from SEO and Content gurus even in news circles.
Why does it even need to be an advice? It's the fundamental job of journalism.
The critical issue here is news publishers(digital) have no control over distribution.
Thus publishers let distribution dictate direction. And, this has its second order effects on,
Quality of content - Commoditized content wins over deeply reported, long-form journalism.
Quantity of content. - Pageviews and impressions matter more than session duration or user satisfaction.
Chosen KPIs. - Short-term traffic beats long-term reader value.
Business sustainability - Ad revenue inconsistencies.
Business priority - Should you chase ad revenue or subscription revenue?
Why? Because News publishers look outward-in. This is why we keep hearing things like… Be where the audience are. Give all kinds of format. Reformat all content to fit the platforms.
This isn’t wrong advice. But it’s not the whole picture.
The primary JTBD of journalism is informing the public about events, issues, and developments that affect their lives, communities, and society. This includes investigation, verification, contextualization, and holding power accountable.
This is the primary mission and you don't have to 'advise' this to news organisations. This is not a strategy. This is not a pivot. This is THE MISSION.
But in the era of disappearing google traffic and AI generated answers, strategists keep saying 'write authentic helpful content' because they are confusing the News JTBD with the News Business JTBD. i.e., capturing attention and engagement to drive ad revenue or subscriptions.
Publishers are struggling with these two different JTBDs. On one side, your editorial team wants to inform citizens and hold power accountable. On another side, Your business team needs clicks, engagement, and subscriber growth. These goals clash daily. On some days it just works. On most days, it's difficult.
This is where the helpful content advice fails journalism. Because…
Algorithms reward reactivity, urgency and outrage. Not sensibility, careful verifications and trust.
The advice is simply neither practical nor actionable. Most of us stare at our daily dashboard where a simple 30 second shorts outperform a 10,000-word month-long researched investigation or a long-form video.
Market share ≠ Value. India’s digital-ad pie is growing every year, but social and OTT giants grab the lion’s share, leaving newsrooms to scrap over the crumbs. big PIE. smol SLICE for news.
So what works? Maybe…
Look inward-out. Start with your core strength - what unique value can you provide that platforms can't? What stories only you can tell? What's your addressable market for that specific value.
Treat platforms as funnels. Not destinations. Use them to drive traffic to properties you control where subscription conversion happens. (ofcourse, we all know this)
Redefine what 'success' means to you. Measure trust indicators along with the usual metrics - how fast do you correct errors? How diverse are your sources? Are you quoting the same Delhi experts or including grassroots voices? Measure subscriber satisfaction. Measure market share within news vertical and not just absolute traffic.
Sell 'first to know', instead of 'first to publish', Live Q&A with reporters, exclusive access, community belonging - bundle civic value with lifestyle value.
The real fix isn't better content strategy - it's building better revenue streams that don't depend on winning the platform attention game. When you can monetize trust directly instead of just eyeballs, authenticity becomes operationally possible, not just aspirationally noble.
This JTBD conflict is like the plot of 'GONE GIRL' movie. Nick and Amy resent each other. But both like the thrill.
I’ll let you decide who’s Nick and who’s Amy
