How News Literate Are You, And Does It Really Matter?
When thinking about the term “news literate,” you’d be remiss if you didn’t consider the way its definition has changed. The concept of being news-literate has been evolving over the past few years, particularly as the news itself has changed. “Back in the day” when everyone received the same news from the same three network stations, news literacy was based more or less on whether or not you had taken in what had been offered up. Now, given the multitude of news sources, fake news and unconscious bias, news literacy is strongly rooted in digestion and comprehension.
Working in the PR world, we understand how stories can be shaped and how the sources themselves can influence a person’s perspective on the content being shared. As such, many times PR executives are the most news-literate sources out there. We are constantly engaging and re-engaging with both folks who tell these stories, as well as those who hold the keys to the narrative.
To that end, we also understand that sometimes stories are fortuitously broken up onto different mediums (e.g., websites vs. social media platforms) by different executives and sometimes even with different messaging tracks. This can make it difficult for a reader, listener or viewer to receive and understand the full picture.
For example, consider a mommy blogger who last week posted a video raving about your company’s new product. Now she’s considering buying 5,000 shares of your company’s stock, and she’s told her friends on her group chat to do the same. But now she’s getting comments on her video that fans can’t find the product in stores because it’s selling out so fast.
As PR pros, should we really expect her to be news-literate enough to: a) find the trade media article with your CMO talking about how your company is ramping up production; b) go to SeekingAlpha to read an analysis of your stock; and c) find your company’s blog to read about how you’re already working on the next version of that great, new product?
Time’s up. The answer, of course, is no.
That’s where we, as communications experts, come in.
In its own way, every day in PR is a test in news literacy. How can we string together the most relevant and newsworthy components of a story to ensure the reader/listener/viewer understands the most important pieces and how they fit together in a coherent way? We constantly have to ask ourselves, “What makes this story different? Why would anyone (and very specific subgroups of the population) care?”
And, naturally, this translates to how we ourselves digest news. As anyone in the profession knows, it comes full circle. We can no longer “watch the news in the background” or scroll through our newsfeed for leisure. The constant digestion of media, contexts, messages and sources make us some of the most news-literate members of the general population (even if a select few reporters may disagree).
Even as we focus on telling specific stories to specific audiences, we always have to keep in mind the need to paint the bigger picture. We must strive to ensure that our overarching communications are strategic and ladder up to the all-important purpose and values our audiences need to know about the organizations we work with.
DIANDRA BINNEY
About the Author:
As a VP at Peppercomm, clients look to me for strategic counsel surrounding media approach, relations, broader messaging and integrated solutions – most often for B2B tech brands across workplace, data analytics, financial services and manufacturing verticals. I currently lead the Travelers, Xero, Infobip, FirstBook and Dynata accounts.
Prior to joining Peppercomm, I was an Account Director at LEWIS Global Communications, where I supported a variety of B2B tech accounts – scaling from startups/early stage companies to billion-dollar corporations.
Throughout my eight years working in communications, I have developed expertise in a variety of industries, including manufacturing and supply chain, IT/technical support, edtech, HR software and beyond. Ensuring that B2B brands have a place in some of the world’s most popular news outlets, and in daily conversations among the public is what drives me to work hard for my clients.
I am a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and a concentration in Public Relations. There, I was a member of PRSSA and the Beta Lambda Chapter of the Alpha Xi Delta National Sorority. I currently reside in Hoboken, NJ.
