An independent analysis of a news reporter’s Facebook post urging his friends to subscribe for just $8 a month because #localjournalismmatters has found that the post was far too long.
Of 500 of his Facebook friends who did not engage with his post, none found the arguments that #localjournalismmatters compelling enough to subscribe to the Middletown Dispatch Gazette Bee. Examples of covering high school football and local township meetings had no effect. Moreover, his analogy that a subscription is “the equivalent of giving up one lunch out per month” actually had a negative effect.
The analysis also found, though, that the reporter who posted the message felt that he accomplished plenty with the post. Researchers are trying to figure out how that disconnect exists.