How should online journalists report for a global audience?

 

Man reading newspaper in Florence, Italy [provided royalty free by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com]

In the ever-changing world of journalism, the internet is becoming more and more necessary to reach the desired audiences. That said, the internet is a global phenomenon, where anyone, anywhere, can access it anytime. Reporting for online audiences can have its challenges, and its advantages.

The first point of note, is to ask what is relevant to the global audience compared to what is relevant for a community? When reporting online, you may be faced with the situation of a world audience who won’t care about a local from your community who just did something mildly commendable. Instead, you must evaluate what the global audience would prefer to see, to focus on a different aspect of a story. This could be drawing focus to a conflict over the people, or if something is high profile enough, drawing focus to the people rather than the context surrounding it – though context must always be given.

The second point of note is the differences in cultures around the world. A global audience includes everyone, which in turn means your story must be sensitive to every culture, ethnic group, etc. This is to avoid any backlash or inaccurate reporting, as things may be perceived differently from an in-country perspective.