...because news analytics should be better than web analytics
Publishers share a fundamental problem — they can’t really quantify the nature of the content they produce or how the audience engages with it.
The American Press Institute, a trusted, nonprofit center for advancing journalism, has developed a program that helps publishers build an empirical, modern news strategy. Using API’s tools and guidance, publishers are empowered to create a new content strategy built around measuring and improving.
We use our Metrics for News content analysis software, new journalism metrics and innovative audience surveys to help publishers build smarter, more data-driven content strategies. The software is flexible and customizable for each publisher to track the types of content and metrics that matter to them.
Why be data-driven?
Local news publishers in the age of digital abundance must build brands differently.
Today, offering a little of everything is not enough. A potentially better source for any kind of information is always a click away. Publishers must develop pillars of excellence — specific areas of indispensable content that connect to needs and passions.
To choose the right pillars and develop excellent content, you need the right data.
4 steps to data-driven journalism
1. Better measure your content and readers
Our customizable Metrics for News software lets editors analyze empirically what news they are covering and the characteristics of that journalism. These data are integrated with your web analytics and social data to create new custom metrics that reveal how different types of journalism perform with readers.
2. Deeply understand your community
Our unique community survey assesses the deepest passions and worries of your readers, to help you make better-informed decisions about what they need from you.
3. Align your journalism with your audience
We help you analyze the custom content metrics and the survey data to discover where your content is aligned and misaligned with the passions and concerns of the community.
4. Identify and create centers of excellence
You develop new content strategies to improve coverage in core areas that will reach new audiences and create new advertising and subscription opportunities. Getting better means covering some issues differently, not simply more.
News analytics, not web analytics
API built Metrics for News from scratch, with and for news publishers. It solves problems your regular web analytics services cannot help you with:
Web analytics tell you about one story, or your overall website traffic size.
Metrics for News looks at all your content over long periods to give you meaningful strategic insights. You can confidently make big decisions about resources and priorities with our data.
Web analytics count readers, they don't tell you how to get more of them.
Metrics for News specializes in analyzing how you should cover different types of news. We study characteristics of your content so you can see what tactics would lead to growing your audience.
Web analytics show you the same so-so metrics as every other site on the internet.
Metrics for News invents new journalism metrics and blends multiple metrics into a single index — giving you a single measurement of engagement that is simple, comprehensive, and reflects your values.
What this isn't
Metrics for News is a tool to help you reimagine your content strategy.
It is not:
Real-time analytics. The tool is optimized for long-term strategy and deep understanding. You can keep using other common tools for the daily grind.
A replacement for your Google Analytics or Omniture. Metrics for News transforms those conventional analytics into much more meaningful and flexible insights, but we don't add new tracking codes to your site or duplicate the basic functions of those analytics systems.
A replacement for editors' human judgment. Metrics for News empowers editors to make better decisions and use data to guide improvements. It helps you get better at the coverage that is important to you — it does not replace your judgment of what is important.
Get started today
- set a clear strategic direction
- energize the staff to get better instead of smaller
- use data to test assumptions and measure progress