4 hours Ago By Daanyal Saeed
Marc Dodd, Kate McClymont, Gabrielle Jackson, Kishor Napier-Raman and Eliza Sorman Nilsson (Image: Private Media) It’s a constant battle between audiences, audience editors and data teams. Readers say they want positive, detailed, feel-good stories, while the data says they want negative, digestible slop that pulls on their emotions. Newsrooms are filled with the exasperation of reporters forced to write what clicks over something that fulfils them intellectually, all in return for advertising revenue that sustains the industry.
What do readers truly want? We asked more than 200 of Australia’s biggest media figures to hear what stories their readers love the most. What they shared has formed part Crikey’s series, Movers and Shakers , holding a mirror up to the industry and asking it to reflect on itself. Here are the stories Australia’s top journalists say they’re missing Read More We emailed everyone the same eight questions and about one in four got back to us.
It was an imperfect list — if we missed you, let us know for next year — but we contacted people from the following outlets: Nine’s major metropolitan mastheads as well as people in its broadcast divisions, The Australian Financial Review , Network Ten, Seven, SBS, the ABC, 2GB, Sky News Australia, Guardian Australia , the News Corp newspapers, The Conversation , Daily Mail Australia , Australian Associated Press, Apple News, Mamamia , Pedestrian and Schwartz Media. We also included journalism academics, media lawyers and industry body executives, as well as people from smaller outlets like The Nightly , Quillette , Unmade , Capital Brief , the Koori Mail , About Time , The Daily Aus , Women’s Agenda , IndigenousX, Mumbrella , 6 News Australia and of course Crikey . More than 50 people generously offered us their insightful, searing and sometimes cheeky thoughts on the state of the industry.
What always clicks well with your readers? Be honest! Gabrielle Jackson, deputy editor at Guardian Australia : The climate crisis. (OK, and birds.) Joe Aston, former Rear Window columnist: I’ve been out of the game for 12 months now, but Qantas articles always did strong numbers with the Financial Review’s audience! As did anything about billionaires, particularly James Packer or Andrew Forrest.
Or anything with the name of a Melbourne or Sydney private school. “Cranbrook” or “Scotch College” in an AFR headline was the equivalent of “side-boob” for the Daily Mail : absolute catnip. Marc Dodd, editor of nine.
com.au: It is a boring answer but we are a news site and crime, weather and breaking news have always clicked well and always will. In the past 12 months, we have also seen a big uptake in readership of our explainers across all verticals, not just news.
And travel stories as well, particularly around Australian destinations. Nick McKenzie, investigative journalist at The Age : For whatever reason, the CFMEU story has gone off. It rates really well.
I think it is down to the mix of crime, politics and a latent anger that large government jobs have been rorted under the noses of politicians that has angered and energised our readers and watchers. Bridie Jabour, associate editor (audio/visual) at Guardian Australia : Politics, politics, politics. It’s what readers are ravenous for on the site and from our podcasts.
Also, randomly, anything to do with EVs. Jordan Baker, chief reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald : Sometimes it’s easy to pick what readers will like. Rich people fighting always get our readers excited, whether that be a court battle over an inheritance or feuding neighbours in Point Piper or parents turning on a high-fee private school.
Racy crime does well, too, as does a well-written opinion piece and a compelling personal story. You can never be entirely sure, though. I wrote a story about child poverty thinking that it would sink like a stone but was important to write nonetheless, and it ended up doing well.
Paul Bongiorno, political journalist: My reader[s love] anything exposing the hypocrisy and double-speak of politicians. Rachel Withers, freelance writer: Calling out the Coalition’s increasingly unhinged, unethical behaviour. Too few outlets are doing it, opting to treat its half-baked ideas and overt racism as standard — much like the US media did with Trump.
Michael Pascoe, journalist: Political outrage. Myriam Robin, editor of The Australian Financial Review’s Rear Window: My readers stay with long, meaty stories of all varieties (as long as they’re good). But they will definitely scan those about the lives of the 0.
0001% (I guess we’re all curious). Kate McClymont, chief investigative reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald : Any story about fraudster Melissa Caddick for some reason always goes bananas. But readers also enjoy quirky investigative pieces, especially tales of criminals brought undone by stupidity.
Janine Perrett, journalist, broadcaster and commentator: I love a good celebrity gossip story like everyone else. And entertainment and fashion trends and popular culture stories in general. Edmund Tadros, professional services editor at The Australian Financial Review : I cover accounting and consulting for the sector and they are always interested when partners at one of the big firms move to another big firm, or even to a small firm.
Kishor Napier-Raman, CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald : Salaciousness. Louise Milligan, reporter at ABC’s Four Corners : I must admit that stories about private schools click very well with our viewers/readers. I think that’s because they divide opinion.
People who went to those schools might think, “Oh, here’s a story about people like me,” and those who didn’t might think, “Here’s a story that makes me cranky.” Either way, people engage passionately and often do so for weeks after publication. That’s not why I chose to embark on the Four Corners investigations into St Kevin’s for our 2020 story, Boys Club , and Cranbrook for our 2024 story, Old School — that choice was based on serious systemic issues that led after publication to quite profound institutional change.
But the issues definitely get people fired up. Justin Stevens, ABC director of news: Original and impactful journalism always finds an audience. Morry Schwartz, founder of Schwartz Media: Uncovering wrongdoing by the powers that be.
Nick Feik, freelancer and former editor of The Monthly : Stories about corruption, malfeasance, political failure. Erik Jensen, CEO and editor-in-chief of Schwartz Media: Politics, especially reporting that gets inside the forces shaping Australia — that gets to the messy truth of why this country is so stuck. Eric Beecher, chairman of Private Media (publisher of Crikey ): You mean, “describe the human condition”? Indignation, voyeurism, outrage, disgust, envy, greed.
.. these are the drivers of traffic, but they rarely coincide with good journalism.
Australia’s media movers and shakers on who survives in Australian journalism Read More Alex Bruce-Smith, head of editorial at Pedestrian : Apart from the obvious duo of reality TV and scandal, the biggest stories for Pedestrian are the ones already taking life online. Our readers are chronically online, so chances are they’ve already come across a new trend or unfolding TikTok drama — they just don’t know the full story yet. We also find huge value in breaking down the big news stories in ways that are easy to understand and entertaining to read.
In my experience, it’s a misnomer that young Aussies are news adverse — you just need to know how to get it to them. Karen Barlow, chief political correspondent at The Saturday Paper : I see that hate-reading works. Personally, I like well-crafted, well-sourced, entertaining yarns.
Joseph Friedman, managing director of About Time : Our readers are mostly incarcerated, and we’re still learning exactly what they like to read. But we’ve certainly identified a bad news bias based on the stories that get the most traction with readers on social media. A positive story, say, computers in cells? About 10 times less engagement than a piece about the prohibitive cost of making phone calls from prison.
Bad news sells, sadly. Gina Rushton, editor of Crikey : To be totally candid, I’ve learned that Crikey readers love to read anything on Qantas and comment on anything about the Greens. They care a lot about hypocrisy and transparency so they’re interested in conversations about corruption, justice and conflicts of interest.
Sophie Black, editor-in-chief at Crikey : Qantas. The readers are mad for it. Often pieces that contextualise the news of the day — people just want a clear-eyed explanation.
Eliza Sorman Nilsson, head of content at Mamamia : When it comes to the website, cracking real-life stories, divorce and cheating content always works, so too does sex. When the news cycle is particularly grim we see people come to us for escapism — lots of TV gossip and recommendations, anything in the entertainment space and shopping. On a particularly hard news week, it’s not uncommon for the top story to be about jeans or the latest sneakers to buy.
For us, straight news is a tricky space to play. We often try to find the heart, the help and the humour in news stories to allow our audience to know how to feel and think about a big event. When we nail that, we can see really big downloads on our podcasts, especially the likes of Mamamia Out Loud , The Quicky News and The Spill .
When it comes to beauty and fashion podcasts, You Beauty and Nothing To Wear , easy hacks, products that provide results without massive price points, and expert advice really gets the big listens. Peter Lalor, Cricket Et Al : I’ll suspend my cynicism and say that readers still love a good breaking story. A real one, not some beat-up.
Crime clicks. Some sports click. And then there’s sex, scandal, breathless bullshit, but it was ever thus.
Who isn’t going to click on a story about a film star in a love tryst with a beagle? Peter Hitchener, Nine News Melbourne presenter: I feel that television news viewers appreciate an occasional human interest story that provides contrast and relief from some of the confronting events that make up most bulletins. Cam Wilson, associate editor at Crikey : People love to hate American big tech CEOs and founders, the Musks and Zuckerbergs. AI is a big pull.
Obviously, anything to do with Rupert. Conspiracy theory and extremism-related content remain popular. But the topics that shouldn’t surprise me for being so popular are anything related to companies in Australia that most people deal with on a day-to-day basis: anything with Woolworths, Bunnings, banks, etc.
Misha Ketchell, editor of The Conversation Australia : Well, it depends on who they are, and increasingly each publication has its niche. I think this is a real problem actually as the best journalism can create a space for a range of voices to be heard. What’s the point of journalism if we’re just talking to our mates and people converted to our causes? Sadly what clicks with readers is shrill opinion rather than considered analysis, clear solutions when nuance is needed.
Sex and food and music and all the things that make life good also tend to appeal to readers and that’s not such a bad thing. Johan Lidberg, head of journalism at Monash University: Strong and independent analysis holding power to account — eg. political donations.
Steve Austin, host of ABC Radio Brisbane Mornings : What our audience clicks on are the simple grassroots relatable stories that look trivial but affect where the listener lives and works. “Big issues” turn people off as they feel powerless and overwhelmed, suburban stories connect and reinforce a sense of community for my audience. It’s a “family thing”.
Alan Kohler, founder of Eureka Report : A strong, well-argued analysis always does well. Paddy Manning, journalist and author: There is a lot of interest in Lachlan Murdoch for obvious reasons. Peter Cronau, journalist: Investigative journalism that reveals the truth behind government spin, or silence, is always very popular with readers of Declassified Australia .
Most read pieces include articles on Five Eyes spying in the Pacific, US Defense involvement in funding Australian universities, alliance relations with America, and of course Australia’s connections with the renewed conflicts in the Middle East. Declassified Australia published the first detailed reports on F-35 fighter jet components entering the global supply chain that supplies the Israeli military from Australian manufacturers, and revealed that battlefield intelligence on Gaza and Ukraine gathered by Pine Gap satellite surveillance base is made available to the Israel Defense Forces war in Gaza. Dave Earley, audience editor at Guardian Australia : I think it’s hard to go past Australian politics for our readers.
Although internationally they always love a weird story about Australian animals. Claire Stuchbery, executive director of the Local & Independent News Association: Anything to do with revenue building — resourcing newsrooms is the primary focus for our industry association audience! Leo Puglisi, founder of 6 News Australia: #BREAKING? Neil Griffiths, outgoing managing editor of Mumbrella : Like anywhere, controversial news always works, but I think [industry news] has been a big point of difference for Mumbrella . If there is something happening that is big, largely covered news in the industry, what can we do that is different, that has a point of difference, that is giving our readers something they haven’t read anywhere else? Those angles are the most fruitful when it comes to clicks.
Lisa Davies, CEO of AAP: AAP’s brand is trusted, impartial journalism. That’s our calling card and how it must remain. Calum Jaspan, media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age : On my beat, people love reading about the ABC and the Murdochs.
And the billionaires...
Australia’s media movers and shakers on the biggest threats to journalism Read More Mandi Wicks, SBS director of news and current affairs: Any news story can engage with audiences on a given day — it depends what else is happening, the relevance or importance of the story on the day, the way the story is crafted for each platform, and the distribution strategy. News stories must be engaging to cut through the noise. First-person stories, explainers, constructive/solutions-focused journalism and data visualisation do well.
SBS World News is the only Australian news service with primarily a global perspective, and Australian audiences often turn to SBS when significant international stories break. Karen Percy, media president at MEAA: I find the word “clicks” triggering as there’s too much emphasis on clickbait, even at quality media outlets. Also “readers”?? How very “legacy” of you, Crikey ! “Audiences” is a much more inclusive word.
The personal resonates so well with audiences. Whether it’s sharing someone’s story, or sharing my own experiences, audiences are interested in people and their lives. Human connections are just the best.
Gerard Whateley, sports broadcaster: Cricket coverage with an Indian market. Waleed Aly, co-host of Network 10’s The Project : I can’t say I look at the figures very closely, but it’s pretty clear that sensation brings engagement. If you write a column deriding a shared object of derision among a readership group, that will generate lots of reader comments.
But that can be fairly cheap and self-defeating in the long run. That’s why, if I worry about data at all, I worry about the “time spent reading” measure. That shows that people aren’t just clicking, they’re engaging deeply.
And I think that happens best when you offer them a richer argument than average, or something that invites them to look at something in a way they perhaps hadn’t considered. Sally Neighbour, former EP of ABC’s Four Corners and 7:30 : No longer my problem. 🙂.
