Diversity at Work

By Sally Lehrman

Wouldn't you love to have an audience that is "passionate," "committed" and "engaged"? That's the way Kay Madati and Lynette Clemetson describe the people who visit their Web sites, who discuss, comment and meet up over the news every day.

Madati heads up marketing for Community Connect, a set of social networking Web sites directed at niche audiences: black Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, religious people and the GLBT community -- or as the site calls it, "gays, lesbians and everyone else." Clemetson manages editorial for theroot.com, an online commentary and news site that emphasizes black voices.

Don't dismiss the high level of involvement in these spaces as a phenomenon of the Internet. Mainstream news outlets might have enjoyed the loyalty of the news, information and entertainment junkies that frequent such sites. But "a dumbing down, a lack of nuance, push people out," says Clemetson, who used to cover social and political issues for The New York Times and before that, Newsweek. People flock here -- and targeted online news media in general -- because "they're not represented by general market media or engaged by it," Madati agrees.

In journalism training sessions sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists and MarketWire a couple of weeks ago, Clemetson and Madati spoke often about the "authenticity" their audiences demand. That may seem like an ideal that is difficult to penetrate, a characteristic a journalist is lucky to be born with but probably can't learn. Fortunately, though, these niche sites rely on very accessible techniques: a profound understanding of their audience, an authority about relevant topics and a habit of heading straight into areas of depth.

These practices are simply a matter of attention and care, with a strong dose of respect for the people who rely on us for news. Clemetson warns about the assumptions we make about certain groups -- would a mainstream news outlet, for instance, hire a black chef to share healthy recipes and write about "eco" soul food? Check out Bryant Terry's Eco-Soul Kitchen and see what you think.

Bruno Lopez, who runs the online operations for Univision.com, offered advice that we've heard again and again, yet still seem to find it hard to follow. "You have to go outside of your newsroom and see what people are talking about," he suggested. Besides sending people out onto the street, Univision tabulates the topics that float up as top search queries and editors check in on online community discussions.

Lopez also warns against assuming that any "niche" community is monolithic. The Spanish speakers who Univision serves, for example, cut many ways in their views, concerns and culture. Univision must think carefully about audience fragmentation by national origin and generation. Editors even created a pan-Hispanic style guide to ensure that terminology will be easily understood -- and not insult -- people from a variety of "Hispanic" backgrounds. At the moment, people of Mexican descent make up more than half of Univision’s market, but South Americans are rising in volume online. "We monitor (our users) for national origin to see whether our main page needs to be shifting in response," Lopez explains.

Such attention to audience helps create a space where users can deepen their exchanges beyond the superficial. On theroot.com, for instance, users are discussing the relationships between Africans, African Americans and people from the Caribbean. Niche sites may offer a safe space for debates that hardly ever make it to the mainstream. But the mainstream overlooks far too many discussions and a level of depth that might add vibrancy to the news for all of us.