How can you evaluate the impact of news stories on the public?

2 How to define impact

Before you can measure the impact of your news stories, it is necessary to define what impact means for you and your organization. As different types of journalism may have different purposes and outcomes, there is no universal definition. For instance, investigative journalism may seek to expose corruption and injustice, while solutions journalism may focus on positive and constructive responses to social problems. To ensure you are measuring the right kind of impact, you should clarify your mission and vision as a journalist or a media outlet, specify your target audience and their characteristics and preferences, set your objectives and indicators for each news story or project, and select your methods and tools for data collection and analysis.

3 How to collect data

Data is the essential material for measuring the impact of your news stories. It can be quantitative, such as numerical data that can be measured and compared using statistics, or qualitative, such as descriptive data that can be interpreted and understood using narratives. To collect this data, you can use surveys and polls to ask your audience about their opinions, or conduct interviews and focus groups to have in-depth conversations with them. Additionally, social media and web analytics can track your audience's engagement with your news stories online while media monitoring and evaluation can observe and document the media coverage around them.

4 How to analyze data

Data analysis is the process of transforming your data into insights that can help you evaluate the impact of your news stories. Depending on the type of questions you want to answer, data analysis can be descriptive, inferential, or predictive. Descriptive analysis summarizes and visualizes data using charts, graphs, tables, or dashboards. Inferential analysis tests and compares data using hypotheses, models, or experiments. Predictive analysis forecasts and estimates data using algorithms, machine learning, or artificial intelligence. To analyze data, you can use various tools such as spreadsheets and databases to organize and store data in a structured format, statistical software and packages to perform calculations and operations on data, data visualization and reporting tools to present and communicate data in a clear manner, as well as data science and analytics platforms to apply advanced techniques and methods to your data.

5 How to report impact

Impact reporting is the process of sharing your findings and recommendations based on your data analysis. This can help you communicate the value and significance of your journalism to your audience, peers, partners, and donors, as well as improve your journalism by identifying strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and best practices and lessons learned. Impact reporting can be done through stories and testimonials that showcase the personal and emotional effects of news stories on an audience or other stakeholders. Additionally, case studies and reports can be used to document contextual outcomes of news stories on a particular issue or community. Infographics and dashboards can also be used to highlight key metrics and indicators of news stories. Finally, portfolios and awards can demonstrate the excellence and recognition of news stories.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?