A single revenue model is not going to solve everyone’s problem all the time, we need to be creative and get multiple revenue streams going, said Dr. Carrie Brown, director of the Social Journalism program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, on Friday.

Dr. Brown was speaking to students at the Asian College of Journalism, on “Post-Covid Journalism”, where she emphasised involving consumers in the journalism process, as a way to sustain it.

Highlighting the effect of the pandemic on journalism, Dr. Brown talked about how the initial increase in news consumption was soon replaced by “news fatigue” among the audience.

“People are struggling to deal with the bad news that is happening all at once across the spectrum. This is causing people to tune out”, she said.

Suggesting that journalists should focus on solution-driven reporting to “cut through the news fatigue”, she stressed upon the use of social journalism, wherein the audience is at the centre of what a reporter does.

 “Think of journalism less as a product and more as a service to the community”, Dr. Brown said.

To ensure that news is delivered to those who are impacted the most by it, Dr. Brown said news should be delivered in a creative manner using different revenue models.

Reiterating the importance of increasing audience participation in journalism, Dr. Brown said that such revenue models are key to making communities that have been historically left out, a part of the mainstream media.

“It is absolutely critical to remedy some of the flaws of traditional journalism”, said Dr. Brown.