Voice, Instagram and crowdfunding: Here is your weekly journalism news update

Every Friday, Journalism.co.uk brings you a round-up of our week’s top stories, giving you all the information you need to know, wherever you are.

This week, we attended News Xchange in Edinburgh (14/15 November) to hear from an array of media professionals innovating in the media industry.

Five ways the BBC will boost its audience engagement in 2019

In an era where it can often feel like our profession is under siege, how can news organisations better engage with audiences, helping them to tackle the disinformation ecosystem while presenting them with the news they need to know and understand?

Lord Tony Hall, director general, BBC, believes public service journalism from the BBC has a unique role in that mix, giving an impartial and fair reflection of the world as they understand it, but also giving audiences stories in the way that best serves them, in they way they want.

The Guardian US and Eagle Eye student newspaper scoop Global Youth and News Media Prize for joint coverage on the March for Our Lives movement

The Guardian US and Eagle Eye student newspaper of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school have won the Global Youth and News Media Prize.

The Parkland students, who were witnesses to the 14 February shooting that claimed the lives of 17 people, guest-edited the Guardian US during the March for Our Lives movement that was pushing for gun control.

The Financial Times creates interactive audio documentary to immerse audiences in stories about Berlin

Since the Financial Times and Google announced the Hidden Cities project in 2015, the publisher has been aiming to help readers discover fresh perspectives on some of the world’s cultural and political capitals, including Brussels, Dublin, Rio De Janiero and London.

Now utilising the latest in Google technology, the news organisation is taking audiences on a journey through Berlin, guiding them through the sights and sounds of the German capital.

Difficulty to monetise content holds publishers back from innovating on voice platforms

Thinkstock

According to the latest report on voice controlled devices by Reuters Institute of Study of Journalism (RISJ), around one in ten people in the US and the UK (14 percent and 10 percent) regularly use smart speakers. However, very few use it for news updates and podcasts. In the UK, only one percent of the respondents said that news is the most important feature.

So, just how relevant are the smart speakers to news organisation and how can publishers incorporate this new tech to their business model?

The Correspondent promises English-speaking audiences an 'antidote' to breaking news

In this week’s podcast, Rob Wijnberg, founder, De Correspondent, talks about how their $2.5m crowdfunding campaign to launch an English language version aims to bring their audiences a true understanding of news, rather than reporting on the recent and immediate.

Is your news organisation new to Instagram Stories? Here is how to get started

By derekGavey on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

You may have disregarded Instagram Stories in the past, believing the feature was all about face filters, selfies and pictures of avocado on toast. A million miles away from news reporting, right?

Well, prepare to think again. With 400m daily users on Instagram Stories, the sequences of videos and images, often containing text, gifs and music, are a hit with audiences, and we are seeing an increasing amount of news organisations experimenting with the feature.

Got a story? Tweet us @journalismnews.

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