Tribune presents lessons from news avoidance research and experiments

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Earlier this year, the Texas Tribune shared takeaways from the organization’s experiments intended to reach Texans who distrust news outlets or avoid the news entirely. During a virtual chat with journalists on Sept. 17, Tribune staff discussed how those lessons are shaping some of what the organization is doing now and in the future.

The event featured the Tribune’s Ayan Mittra, senior managing editor; Matt Adams, director of audience growth and engagement; and audience producer Laura Duclos.

Over the past year, and with the support of the University of Minnesota professor Benjamin Toff, The Alliance for Trust in Media and the Google News Initiative, theTribune worked on three experiments: Setting up a texting group with low news consumers ahead of the 2024 election, hosting focus groups to help shape our short-form video strategy, and surveying event attendees to improve their experience and broaden our reach. Doing so allowed the Tribune to think differently about engaging “news avoiders” and be more responsive in addressing their needs and gaining their trust.

"We started asking ourselves questions about how to engage with news avoiders,” said Mittra. “We wanted to be part of the solution.”

Key takeaways from the experiments include:

• Quickly building trust through creating safe spaces for asking foundational questions that get quick answers.

• Quick-to-the-point social media videos that feature journalists will also fuel connection and trust with your brand.
• Event location and partnership are critical when it comes to reaching new audiences through in-person engagement.
• News avoidant and younger audiences are looking for authenticity and genuine self-presentations from journalists and media representatives on social and in-person platforms.

Mittra, Adams and Duclos walked through how each experiment has influenced the organization’s audience strategy and will help guide what the Tribune does next.

With texting, the Tribune is now working toward a new phase of direct engagement, to help meet people where they are and provide answers to their questions when they need them.

"This is one experiment where we really see an opportunity to follow up and to meet people where they are,” Mittra said. “To think really closely about the two-way information street, making our journalists available to answer foundational information in real time for folks.”

Short-form video has quickly become central to how the Tribune serves its audience.

"We were really looking at news consumers and news avoiders who are increasingly video first, especially on mobile,” said Adams.”We know that there’s an audience there. We know that’s how a lot of people are getting news. So, we wanted to see how we can start to experiment and transform a lot of our reporting work into this video work that would appear on your mobile devices.”

From its focus group, the Tribune learned that having reporters speak directly on camera helps build trust and transparency. The goal now is to create videos rooted in timely, relevant Texas stories, prioritizing speed, clarity, and keeping them concise at around two minutes.

“There’s so many young people who really just use social media video for any type of news consumption and stuff like that,” said audience producer Laura Duclos. “They’re not going to texastribune.org to read the story. But if we can get it in front of their face in a way that’s easy for them to understand, that just affects people so much more.”

And when it comes to its live events, the Tribune is rethinking where they happen, who the organization partners with, and the format the event takes.

From a survey of Tribune event attendees, the Tribune identified three themes: thinking deeper about other spaces for events that could be more appealing to new audiences; working with different organizations that have the trust of Texans who may be unfamiliar with the Tribune; and creating respectful environments for diverse perspectives.

"It's really important to us to bring that connection to Texans,” said Mittra. “It’s central to our mission.”

During a question-and-answer period, Mittra shared that the Tribune’s news experimentation work is just beginning, as community organizations and news organizations have reached out on ways to continue the work through partnerships.

"The exciting thing is that we’re not done with this,” Mittra said. “We want to continue the conversation, work together, because we know how important it is.”

Note: The Texas Tribune completed this research through partnerships with University of Minnesota professor Benjamin Toff, The Alliance for Trust in Media and the Google News Initiative.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.