Tuesday 22nd August: The importance of follow-up stories

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“If it’s worth publishing, it’s worth monitoring,” says Em Kuntze. Publishers post stories all the time which are worth following up, and plenty of stories don’t get this treatment, which is a missed opportunity to satisfy curious readers.

This piece (which incidentally is a brilliant example of good partner content) looks at when you should publish a follow-up to an article. Comments posted on social media are a good place to look for prompts, from questions readers are asking about a story to myth-busting about claims people might be making. Or, in the fishy example the piece is based on, sharing the best bream recipes.

Kuntze’s explanation of the user needs model is worth looking at, but it reminded me of one of the pieces Peter shared in yesterday’s newsletter. News doesn’t have to be about constant ‘updates’; you can still share info about news topics which meet other user needs.

Most bankers and analysts say this is one of the worst times to sell a media company in modern history in the US. High interest rates have increased the cost of raising money and suppressed the prices people will pay. The rapid decline of cable, a shaky advertising market and two strikes have fuelled scepticism about media. And the US government has sued to block just about every major deal possible. I don’t know how true this holds for the rest of the world but we’re certainly a long way from the flurry of M&A activity just 18 months ago.

We’re just a few weeks into Meta’s news ban in Canada, and already we’re seeing some very stark consequences. For the 20,000 Yellowknife residents hit with an evacuation order, sharing information from credible news sources like national publisher CBC, local newspaper The Yellowknifer, and digital broadcaster Cabin Radio on social media is off the table.

This is from a few weeks back but didn’t make it into the newsletter at the time. It’s a more lighthearted read about visualising data in more tactile ways, whether that’s train delays, infant sleep patterns, population growth and daily news feeds. If you’ve done any data visualisation in yarn or dog treats, we’d love to see - just reply to this email!

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