No controlling interests. No billionaire bias. That’s how WUWM is telling the story of its value to its community in a new campaign.
Don’t just ask for support. Explain your value.
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How do you ask your audience and community for money? What story are you telling in those messages — and what might you be taking for granted?
So often, fundraising appeals and subscription messaging make a somewhat generic case for journalism as an entity or industry. But it’s so much more compelling to talk about what differentiates you, highlighting your values and the value you offer. And there are some key ingredients that can help you connect — or turn people off.
We’ll share some tips here. But first, look at this recent campaign from WUWM in Milwaukee. With phrases like “nobody owns us but you” and “no billionaire bias,” the campaign makes a compelling case for public media and independent journalism.
“WUWM is Yours. Truly. We don’t answer to parent companies, billionaires or controlling interests. We are not captive to the incentives of influencer-driven news or the next revenue cycle. That doesn’t make us better than other sources of news and programming, but it makes us different, and that difference matters. It allows us to focus on journalism and storytelling that serves both the public good and serves you.”
Here are three tips for telling your own differentiating story as you ask for financial support.
Focus on what you do best.
What differentiates you? The answer might be about how your journalism is different from other news about your community. It might drill down on a specific topic you cover thoroughly. Or it could focus on your ethics, integrity and overall approach — how you ensure accuracy, what independence means to your staff or how you invest in community listening.
Tell the story of why financial support is necessary.
Where does your funding come from, and how does community support factor in? People have plenty of misassumptions about how news is funded. What do you want them to know about what their dollars make possible?
Use language that is accessible, not polarizing.
We can wish that the word journalism made people feel warm and fuzzy. But the hard truth is that it often triggers partisan reactions or calls to mind thoughts of bias, opinionated coverage and national politics.
Talking about “local news,” though, is much more tangible, specific and friendly. That’s according to the “Words that Work” research from Press Forward. You might have heard another thing that research suggests journalists avoid: a focus on the word “democracy.” The report says:
“Here’s the paradox: 93% of people believe reliable local news is necessary for democracy, yet many of these same people react negatively to explicit ‘democracy’ messaging. This happens because of a disconnect between cognitive and emotional responses. People intellectually understand the connection but emotionally resist being told about it. Years of political messaging have created fatigue around the word ‘democracy,’ and it now triggers partisan defenses regardless of people’s actual beliefs.”
Resources
If a deeper dive into this topic is useful, here are some related resources from our team:
- A Trust Kit on explaining your funding and ownership demonstrates why it’s so important to talk about our business models and specific language to adopt
- A test of newsletter campaign messaging with five newsrooms and the News Revenue Hub produced useful templates and mixed results
- A newsletter A/B test with PolitiFact shows the strategy that got more people to click on the donate button and also increased Net Promoter Score ratings
- The ideas in this newsletter are based on a webinar we offered with the Local News Catalyst initiative at Public Media Company. A replay of that webinar is here.
At Trusting News, we learn how people decide what news to trust and turn that knowledge into actionable strategies for journalists. We train and empower journalists to take responsibility for demonstrating credibility and actively earning trust through transparency and engagement. Learn more about our work, vision and team. Subscribe to our Trust Tips newsletter. Follow us on BlueSky and LinkedIn.
Executive Director Joy Mayer (she/her) founded Trusting News in 2016 after a 20-year career in newsrooms and teaching. She lives in Sarasota, Florida, and can be reached at joy@TrustingNews.org.
