Host of The Times’ ‘The Story’ podcast Manveen Rana gave the audience a peek behind the scenes of how the news brand shares compelling journalism in the multiplatform era
Tuesday’s panel, which took place at IAB’s flagship Engage event in London’s Soho Place, featured Rana and fellow panellists The Times and The Sunday Times head of digital Edward Roussel and Times Media head of strategic development Milton Elias.
They discussed how journalism is constantly evolving to meet the demands of today’s news consumers without compromising on the timeless principles making it trusted by millions.
The medium is the message
The session showcased two major investigations undertaken by The Times’ editorial teams across print, digital, audio and video: the destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra by ISIS forces and the disappearance of journalist John Cantlie during the Syrian Civil War.
With different audiences consuming the news brand’s content differently across its various platforms, its challenge was to use the strengths of each platform to engage that particular section of its reader-, viewer- or listenership.
For example, ‘The Story’ has an audience that skews younger than its print readership — one that might have a hazier recollection of the war in Syria than older news consumers.
With the benefit of time plus the strength of audio as an intimate narrative medium, Rana said using specific stories to educate listeners about the Syrian Civil War more widely meant the report “became a different version of the story with all these different insights”.
In a lighter moment that nevertheless underscored the sometimes dangerous realities of investigating a story like Cantlie’s, Rana quipped: “I did have to spend bank holiday Monday in Iraq trying to sweet talk my way into a prison — fun times!”
“An engaged audience in a quality environment is extremely valuable”
Meanwhile, Elias explained the commercial advantages of multiplatform, digital-focussed news brands. “All these components keep our audiences really engaged”, he said. “Having a super engaged audience in a quality environment is extremely valuable if you’re getting people to take action.”
He raised The Times’ content in association with Rolex as a case in point, with the brand partnership kicking off a third series of its ‘Planet Hope’ podcast highlighting positive stories around fighting climate change.
Elias also put concerns around brand safety into the context of quality news brands. “We have to think about how news…in a trusted quality environment is brand safe”, he said, pointing to research by Stagwell showing how ads in hard news environments are just as effective at driving effectiveness as those traditionally considered ‘brand safe’.
