Jan. 29, 2009 at 12:20pm

What’s killing newspapers is killing your newsletter

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
Comments (1)

I thought his comments about the plight of those tradition-strangled newspapers weren’t my problem until I realized what he says applies to the newsletters we all produce. Sometimes, doesn’t it feel like we are shoving every possible message into our newsletters like passengers in a Japanese subway?

And, he contends, newspapers turn readers off by overloading them with information, which leaves them thinking, “I just can’t handle that much information; I’m overwhelmed! I don’t have time for this in my life! I can’t keep up!”

Dumenco blames at least a little of newspaper readership decline on “content written in classic J-school-taught ‘pyramid style’ [that] can seem all the more lumbering and flabby amidst the milieu of crisply written blog posts and zippy data points.” So, why do we use the inverted pyramid and three paragraphs when we could make a point with a great headline and maybe one paragraph of explanation?

How many of our members/readers really want to read all that we write? Dumenco talks about newspaper readers faced with “lumbering and flabby” information. But he could just as well be talking about our financially traumatized credit union members when he says, “Making consumers feel overwhelmed, circa 2009, is just about the worst thing you can do to them.”

What can you do to make your news snappy, efficient and not overwhelm your members?

Comments (1)

Kurt, you bring up many good points. And with my journalism degree in hand I'd like to argue that there's still value in the "inverted pyramid" writing style.

Done properly, the top of the pyramid - the first few paragraphs of an article - contain the most important nuggets of the story. Readers should have gleaned enough details by then so they can move on to another article long before they reach anything "flabby."

Today we have so many ways to gather and share information, no wonder people are overwhelmed. So as communicators we need to stay focused. Whether our vehicles are blog posts, newsletters, emails or news articles, we should sweep away the clutter. Share only the most vital information, put it first and make it interesting to readers.


1 | Left by Jackie Zils | Feb. 2, 2009 at 1:57pm