Conversational journalism has been one of the most useful methods I’ve incorporated into my career.

But what is conversational journalism?

According to Bill Mitchell at Poynter, conversational journalism includes:

• Homophily
• Social presence
• Interactivity
• Friendliness
• Informality

I’ll try my best to explain what some of the big words mean.

Homophily simply means being attracted to someone that’s similar to yourself.

When your audience or interviewee feels like they can connect with you, they will most likely be more open to your questions. Homophily is created from the combination of the other four items.

Social presence means exactly what it says: your presence in social atmospheres whether virtually or in person.

As part of my job at the newspaper, we make a huge deal about being active on our social media to engage with readers. This shows that we’re not just some robot behind a paper that only gossips about what’s going on in the community.

We also value going to small, local events like birthday parties and ribbon-cuttings to show the community that we want to be involved in the things that they do.

Interactivity goes right along with social presence. It’s important to interact with the people you’re serving.

How are you supposed to form a mutually beneficial relationship if the people you’re talking to don’t trust you? This stems from interactivity and making sure you’re regularly communicating with the community and not just watching from the sidelines.

Friendliness is the biggest component.

Ensuring you’re respectful and engaging with your interviewee and audience will result in the same response from them (most of the time). 

On the other hand, Mitchell makes sure to include that there is a way to overdo this. 

If you’re too friendly with certain people, it can come across as unprofessional, so it’s important to know your limits and when being friendly becomes being friendly.

The last is informality.

Trust me, I know it sounds strange, but when speaking with the public, especially in community journalism, it’s important to try and relate to them.

I’m not saying people are stupid, but being too formal can be a bit intimidating, and you’re back to being that robot that just sits behind the paper.

All five of these concepts easily flow together, and making sure to practice them will ensure you get the best response from your interviewee, and a great relationship with the public you’re serving.

Make sure to check out Ben’s article!

Mitchell, Ben. “Big Idea: Conversational Journalism.” Poynter. 2009. https://www.poynter.org/archive/2009/big-idea-conversational-journalism/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2020.