How to Provide Reliable Stories in a World Full of Noise
Today, as our reliance on mobile technology continues to increase, there is a strong desire to get credible information and news with the simple click of a button. Yet, since only 32% of the population reports having "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of confidence that the media reports the news in a full, fair, and accurate way, the presentation and consumption of news are changing. The mistrust of information during the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with general skepticism toward the media, has amplified the demand for trustworthy and authentic content.
This is where news curation can help your brand.
What is News Curation?
News curation is the process of finding, analyzing, filtering, preserving and sharing the most relevant information on a specific topic for a particular audience. News curators aim to discover a 360-degree view of an entire story by looking at multiple sources, finding contrasting perspectives and speaking to experts on the subject matter.
Simply speaking, news curation is the technique of going through many different sources, choosing the best pieces of editorial journalism and then sharing these sources in an easy-to-read format, such as an email digest, social media post or a constantly updating website feed.
What Are Some Examples of News Curation?
One of the benefits of news curation is that there are many ways to find and present information. Some examples of news curation include:
Curated Blog Content
Blogs don’t have to be fancy, but they need to be informative and accurate. Curated blog content allows you to write informational blog posts about trending topics, industry news, research reports and more. A business can either write these blogs themselves or share them from a reputable brand and source. Incorporating this third-party content into your blog strategy can also help improve engagement to your website and customer loyalty.
Weekly Newsletters
Industries where news is constantly changing can benefit from weekly curated newsletters containing content from the past week in one place. Consumers can take comfort in knowing that they can expect quality and consistent news from your brand’s newsletter emails.
News Section on Website
Some companies, such as Fidelity, provide a news section on their website, which features important stories from various publications. A curated news section can be a great addition to your blog or it can encompass its own part of the website. This allows your company to showcase important and relevant industry news stories, while becoming a trusted resource for clients.
Photography
Businesses can also leverage photojournalism from top publications to provide further value to the articles they are curating. These images can cover general news, portraits of influential individuals, or current events. Sharing a link is fine when it comes to a newsletter or social media post. However, sharing photos online usually does require a copyright license and it's important for organizations to make sure they have the rights before curating or republishing any piece of content or photography.
Ultimately, no matter what method is used, the same principle for news curation still stands: You will be filtering through the content you find, and then tailoring how you share this material with your targeted audience.
Why is News Curation Important?
Media content is everywhere, and most of it can be accessed for free. This is a double-edged sword since accessible media is not always authentic media. There are so many news outlets, news websites and news sources available on our smartphones that it is easy to feel overwhelmed. After all, a simple Google search for the news can result in millions of websites, leaving consumers to sort through the results.
But consumers don’t have the time or energy to verify each website’s reliability, fact-check the story’s authenticity and then sit down and consume the content. Instead, consumers are more likely to pick one of the first news articles that appears in the search results, and assume that the article is factual.
Here’s why news curation is essential for your business:
News Curation Establishes Credibility and Trust
When you produce reputable information, consumers will start to recognize your brand as one with authority and purpose. Once readers feel that they can trust your brand to provide important and accurate news content, they’ll return for more.
News Curation Builds Connections Through Leadership
News curation usually involves giving your opinion to the news story when you share it. Think of it as giving a shout-out to the original author or publication. This bolsters credibility for both parties, builds professional connections, and help build thought leadership on the subject matter that can be helpful in the future.
News Curation Grows Your Audience
Once consumers know that your information is factual, they will be more likely to share your publication and business with friends. Word-of-mouth is still incredibly powerful, and you’ll see your audience grow once you start to offer a consistent stream of news curation options.
News Curation Keeps Your Brand Relevant
In our rapidly changing world, you’ll need to do what you can to stay relevant among the millions of other brands around you. Providing a news curation option to your audience will not only show that you are dedicated to staying up to date in the media world, but that you are also committed to making sure your audience is, as well.
News Curation Can Save Your Organization Money
Developing content is a costly endeavor, especially when it comes to researching industry news or the impact these trends are having. By outsourcing content development and showcasing news content from respected journalists, your brand can help keep clients up to date while saving time and money.
What Skills Do You Need for News Curation?
News curation is more than just compiling a list of news articles and sending them out to the world to read. Instead, you’ll need to add value, provide context, give insights and format everything properly. Here are some specific skills that you will need to ensure each step of the news curation process is executed correctly:
Research Skills
One of the hardest things about news curation is the need to provide a full 360-degree report of a story. You will be required to research news and media outlets that are outside of your realm of expertise. Keep in mind that in your search for the best-curated story, you’ll need to vet multiple pieces of news from sources unfamiliar to you.
Staying on Top of What’s Trending
News curation requires constant media monitoring. You’ll need to stay on top of what is trending to provide your audience with the most relevant news, as soon as it happens. This means checking all of your media sources multiple times a day.
Validating Sources
As mentioned before, not all media sources are considered equal. Your goal here as a news curator is to separate relevant sources from lower-quality ones. Some important details to look for in the vetting and validation process include:
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Read the entire article thoroughly.
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Confirm the author’s experience and credentials.
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Review if the author is an expert or qualified to speak on the topic.
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Confirm the credibility of the source material.
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Review if the information is up to date.
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Fact-check all claims
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Check for any nontransparent information such as paid advertisements and hidden promotions.
Turning News Into Valuable and Compelling Content
Now it's time to compile all the news you found into a piece of content that your audience will want to read. Begin by asking yourself what questions your audience is likely to ask before, during and after reading your content. Then, create your material based on the answers to those questions.
Since consumers have such short attention spans, you’ll want to organize your content to be in quick, digestible chunks. Think about why your audience will want to consume your content, and then work from there. Additionally, you’ll want to be innovative with the presentation of your content; blogs aren’t the only successful method you can use. Consumers love videos, podcasts, email newsletters and infographics, so feel free to get creative.
Also consider how you want to showcase the original news article or source. Sharing a link is usually fine if the content doesn't exist behind a paywall or a form. However, if posting a video, image, or article to your blog, you may need to get copyright permission. If you have questions on how to obtain a copyright license, please check out our guide. Alternatively, if you have copyright questions, you should consult your legal team.
How to Curate News Content
The easiest way to curate news is through a curation tool or a news curation service, which allows you to find and share relevant articles with your audience. Content curation tools allow you to search for specific news pieces, in order to share the collection of content with your audience through social media or via your website. These tools can help you save time, energy and effort, by helping improve content flow - which keeps your audience engaged and informed with trusted content.
8 Steps to Get Started With News Curation
Follow this list when compiling all your news stories and sourcing your media snippets:
1. Set Up Multiple Search Results for Trending Topics
You will have to search for different perspectives, so it's a good idea to set up multiple search bots and alerts to find and report on potentially relevant stories. You need to get the full story, so make sure to get a wide range of different media sources.
2. Continuously Monitor the News
It helps to stay on top of what is trending in the media world. Big news stories can break and change at any moment, so you’ll need to keep a constant monitor of the news on an hourly basis.
3. Collect and Save Promising Stories
Does a story jump out at you for being credible, interesting and unique, or a mixture of all three? If so, save the story and regularly monitor it for any changes. Trust your gut; chances are if you were intrigued by the story, your audience would be as well.
4. Fact-Check and Validate Stories for Accuracy
As a journalistic best practice, you’ll want to validate any promising story you find with a few other resources. Look for any inconsistencies in the stories, and make sure the authors’ experiences check out for relevancy. Once you see multiple stories with the same information, you’ll be able to validate the stories for accuracy.
5. Add Value to the Content by Providing an Opinion and Viewpoint
Your audience is looking for you to give them a reason for reading and subscribing to your content. Online consumers have multiple media outlets available to choose from, so you’ll want to stick out among all the noise. Differentiate your brand and add value to the content you share by providing your opinion, viewpoint and any key takeaways.
6. Format, Add Images and Commentary
Content should be striking, involving and aesthetically pleasing. Stay away from presenting your information in large chunks of plain text. Instead, in order to appeal to readers, break up your article by adding relevant images, videos, graphics and commentary.
7. License Content
The main point behind proper news curation is to provide credible branded news and information. To do that, you need to credit all of your sources, especially if you are licensing the content. Include the author’s name, publication name and any other pertinent information. However, remember that crediting content is not the same as getting the rights to distribute that information. If you are seeking to share news content on your website or company newsletter, you will generally need permission. Read our guide on how to get a copyright license to learn more.
8. Publish News on Various Platforms
Now, it’s finally time to publish your content on all your platforms. Content is meant to be shared, so publish your curated news on all of your platforms including your website, social media accounts and email newsletters.
Examples of News Curation
Content curation can be used in multiple ways depending on your business’ marketing goals. Below are some content marketing and content curation examples from companies that have leveraged third-party articles in order to build relationships with audiences.
Estadão.com
Estadão.com is the online version of a daily newspaper that is distributed nationally throughout Brazil. Estadão.com identified that they had a need to produce lighter pieces with information, such as navigating the real estate market. The website created a new section, Imóveis, which provided readers with reliable, supportive information about home buying.
The website used a combination of news, licensed and curated from NYTLicensing, which included articles from The New York Times Real Estate and Smarter Living sections. Additionally, they used videos from T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
AdvisorStream
AdvisorStream helps financial advisors grow their practices through highly engaging and personalized communications. They use licensed content as well as financial news from reputable publishers which was used to help drive conversions and engagement for users.
NYTLicensing provided AdvisorStream with a collection of content from the world’s best business publishers, such as articles from The New York Times and Harvard Business Review.
Final Thoughts
News curation is exceptionally versatile, so there is no one right way to do it. With our skills and steps, plus a bit of hard work, you’ll be able to get started on your news curation strategy in no time. Above anything else, we encourage you to stay consistent and to provide value to your readers. News curation is an incredibly beneficial tool that can help to build your business and brand, while growing and nurturing your relationship with your audience.
Frequently Asked Questions about News Curation
Where Can I Find Curated News?
Content curation can be done through different platforms, as well as through content aggregator sites. Content aggregator sites are not the preferred method of curating content, since these are usually feeds of content that can be found across the site. A content license, on the other hand, allows your company to reuse copyrighted materials in different ways. A copyright licensing firm like NYTLicensing will also have a team on staff to help you find the right articles for your company. The key to curating good news content is finding relevant, unique content that you can use to support your current content marketing strategy.
What is Editorial Curation?
Departments dedicated to editorial content curation are critically important to publishing houses, because they are the ones that are commissioning and choosing which pieces of content will be published in a collection. This process is a bit different from regular content curation, because it explicitly relies on content that is not based around selling a product. While this can be a bit more difficult of a process, it typically brings in and engages more customers than traditional methods of content marketing.
What does Curation in Journalism Mean?
Curation is relatively new to the field of journalism, however, the practice has been going on as long as journalism itself. Each and every act of journalism can actually be considered an act of curation. For example, a journalist for the daily news will curate a collection of news reports and features, all of which combine elements from a range of different sources.
What is a Curation Service?
Curation services aid in the process of assembling, managing, and presenting some type of content collection. Curators of content typically research, select and acquire pieces for their clients' collections while also overseeing the interpretation, as well as the channels the content is distributed on.
What Does Curation Mean in Media?
In media, curation can be content or news curation, wherein companies can deliver a wide range of content to customers by sourcing various news outlets for content. This can help keep customers engaged with meaningful material.
