• Podcast
  • Home
  • Better News
  • Contact Us

It's All Journalism

The broccoli of media-focused podcasts.

  • Podcast
  • Home
  • Better News
  • Contact Us

402. Covering coronavirus in useful, trustworthy ways

March 26, 2020 by Amber Healy

In reality, there’s only one story in the U.S. these days, and every newsroom is trying to figure out the best way to cover it — the new coronavirus.

“People are consuming news at a much higher rate and relying on journalism more” as coronavirus cases begin to reach double, if not triple, digits in cities across the country, says Mollie Muchna, of the Arizona Daily Star and TrustingNews.org. “It presents a good opportunity (for newsrooms) to communicate their commitment to their community and to provide factual and up-to-date information. We’re doing this reporting for their physical health and the health of their community.” 

Mollie Muchna

Instead of trying to relay every last detail and follow every breaking news lead, she suggests newsrooms consider taking a more focused approach, distilling the big events of the day in clear, easy to understand and quick to read bites. 

Muchna recently wrote about how newsrooms can demonstrate trustworthiness in their coronavirus coverage for TrustingNews.

“More isn’t always better,” she says. “It doesn’t necessarily make people feel safe or informed. It can make them feel overwhelmed. Anything journalists can do to break down the news, whether it’s a newsletter or landing page that tells people what they need to know to get up to speed can be a great solution.” 

Some newsrooms are creating and sending out newsletters to provide additional information on how to stay safe. Others are updating a single page with the most important stories, so readers have one place to go to find out the day’s key information. 

“Chasing every single lead can be exhausting and can make coverage feel all over the place,” Muchna says. “If newsrooms can develop an overall plan and goals with their cover, centralized around their specific community, and then share that with their community. Let that be your guidepost.” 

It’s All Journalism Producer Michael O’Connell is joined this week by Mollie Muchna of TrustingNews.org and the Arizona Daily Star to discuss what newsrooms should be doing to provide useful, beneficial and trustworthy updates on coronavirus without overwhelming their audience.

Share Button
If you like this post, please share it along:

Previous Post


Covering coronavirus in useful, trustworthy ways

Next Post


Data journalism in the age of coronavirus

Related Posts

  • Photo courtesy of Aram Zucker-Scharff#122 – Geeks, GamerGate and games journalism with Aram Zucker-Scharff
  • Jason Fraley is the entertainment editor at WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C.#340 Genre films continue to dominate box office in 2018
  • Martin Spinelli#347 How one podcast changed journalism
  • It's All Journalism Producer Megan Cloherty, left, interviews Elise Hu and Matt Stiles of NPR. (Photo by Michael O'Connell)#53 – Elise Hu and Matt Stiles build reputation for innovation at NPR

Learn How To Podcast

Turn Up the Volume equips journalism students, professionals, and others interested in producing audio content with the know-how necessary to launch a podcast for the first time. It addresses the unique challenges beginner podcasters face in producing professional level audio for online distribution. Beginners can learn how to handle the technical and conceptual challenges of launching, editing, and posting a podcast.

Order this new book by It’s All Journalism Producer Michael O’Connell.

Sign Up for Our Weekly Newsletter

Design

With an emphasis on typography, white space, and mobile-optimized design, your website will look absolutely breathtaking.

Learn more about design.

[footer_backtotop]

© 2022 Copyright by AllJournalismPod LLC 2012-2021 All rights reserved.·Pintercast Child Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in