Episode #5:
How to use expert analysis to boost audience engagement with Michael Jones
In this episode of The Craft, Shorthand’s Rachel Westbury chats with Michael Jones, Publications Editor at The University of Queensland (UQ).
Michael shares how UQ’s alumni and community magazine Contact leveraged expert analysis to boost audience engagement.
As Michael says, “Our audiences are looking for trusted sources — so why shouldn't the community come to a university to get those expert analyses on the big topics facing society? Universities are the epitome of a trusted organisation with so many experts on hand.”
Listen as Michael and Rachel discuss the content strategy that saw Contact Magazine’s reader engagement soar, the shift from print to digital journalism, and the importance of following your career passions.
How to listen:
This episode’s guest
Guest name: Michael Jones
What they do: He’s the Publications Editor at The University of Queensland
Company: Contact Magazine at The University of Queensland
Noteworthy: He has over 17 years of experience as a journalist and an editor in daily newspapers and in the higher education industry. While working for newspapers, Michael specialised in newspaper page layouts and later focused on editorial design in magazines.
Where to find Michael: LinkedIn | Design portfolio
Links from this episode
Episode highlights
Use expert analysis to boost audience engagement
“We found that our audience were craving content that followed the big issues in the news cycle. While we didn't have a large news team to cover day-to-day reporting of those big issues, what we did have was world-leading experts on almost any topic imaginable. Our goal was to start using Contact as an avenue to position our researchers as expert commentators on those issues.
“We've always told alumni stories well, but a university magazine in this day and age needs to be so much more than that. The media has changed so much in terms of what's considered traditional news, and I think our audiences are looking for those trusted sources. So why shouldn't the community come to a university to get those expert analyses on the big topics facing society — universities are the epitome of a trusted organisation with so many experts on hand.”
Design your story in three steps
“When it comes to the process of designing an editorial story, it really comes down to understanding what content you have. That's not just the written words, but it's images, digital assets, statistics and infographics.
“I follow a three-step process when developing a story, and that's carefully selecting and curating images, understanding where they're going to be used, and plotting them out in thumbnails. I'm still old school and use a sketchbook at times.
“I then go through the images and try to understand a common theme which will dictate the style and tone of the design — the textures, overlays, colour choices, dark versus light.
“The last step that I like to use, as an old editor of mine used to describe it, is to add ‘a touch of Vegas’. And that's to generate something interactive or something that makes the reader stop and go ‘wow’. That's a basic step by step of what I like to do before even getting onto the platform to build an article.”
Utilise your print design skills in your digital storytelling
“I began my career right on the cusp of when the internet was really coming into the way that newspapers worked and that shift towards a digital age. I loved print and editorial design, and I was one of those ones who was really dreading the shift to digital news. I worried that my love of design would be lost when it came to doing content in the digital space.
“But now with platforms like Shorthand, it's reinvigorated my love for design. I can bring those skills to the digital space, build on them, and create these immersive bits of content, which I just love doing — it’s now a favourite part of my job.”
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