Ashley Muddiman – Building engaged communities

Ashley MuddimanResearch Associate, Engaging News

ProjectAssistant Professor, University of

Kansas

ENGAGING NEWS PROJECT Making News More Democratically Beneficial & Commercially Viable

engagingnewsproject.org@engagingnews

THE DEMOCRATIC NEWS MISSION

Woodward and Bernstein meeting with the Washington Post's Publisher Katharine Graham, Managing Editor Howard Simons and Executive Editor Ben Bradlee. 1973. © Mark Godfrey

PRINT ADVERTISING REVENUES FALL, ONLINE GROWSPew Research Center 2015 State of the News Media

© Danielle Pellicci

Business Goals

Democratic Goals

ENGAGING NEWS PROJECT

To provide research-based techniques for engaging online

audiences in commercially viable and democratically beneficial ways.

ONLINE NEWS TOOLS

PROBLEM: POLLS CAN MISINFORM

SOLUTION: QUIZZES CAN INFORM AND ENGAGE

engagingnewsproject.org/create-a-quiz

ONLINE NEWS COMMENTS

PROBLEM: INCIVILITY IN COMMENTS

SOLUTION: JOURNALIST INVOLVEMENT

The tone changes simply because the

user realizes someone … is listening

Jon DeNunzio, Washington Post

PROBLEM: COMMENT SECTIONS AS PITS OF PARTISAN INCIVILITY

SOLUTION: RESPECT BUTTON

ONLINE NEWS CONTENT

PROBLEM: FOCUS ON PROBLEMS

SOLUTION: FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS

Questions & Comments?

/engagingnewsproj

ectengagingnewsproject.org

@engagingnews