The Missing Element

11. Journalism must cater to the tastes and preferences of its audience.

This is less of an individual requirement, and more of a requirement of the entire community. It is important that we have many different news outlets that can appeal to different readers.

A news organization establishes itself as being for a specific audience in various ways. They must carefully select the areas they cover and the amount of attention they give to different stories based on the preferences of their readers.

For example, a music publication reports mostly on music for music lovers.

Different writing styles appeal to different audiences. Younger readers typically prefer shorter, more factually driven pieces. Older writers prefer pieces written with a stronger individual voice.

So what I’m getting at is that not everyone likes to read the news, but everyone has specific interests, and for every specific interest there is a publication that focuses on it somewhere in the world. I believe there should always be something for someone to read.