Amalie Nash, initiative lead for for INMA’s Newsroom Transformation Initiative, recommended five key strategies to build loyalty and trust with media audiences, based on insights gathered from conversations with media leaders worldwide.

Speaking at the virtual INMA Latin-American Conference last week, Nash said her experience was complemented by that of Hiroshi Takahashi, director of El Sol de México, and Rodrigo Müzell, digital journalism manager at Grupo RBS in Brazil.

“I did a report a couple of months ago [Beyond the Dashboard: 14 Case Studies in Newsroom Metrics], and the No. 1 metric that news companies are really focusing on at this point is engagement,” she said. “So they are looking at quality reads, at times spent on site.”

5 strategies to build trust and loyalty

1. Lean into habit formation

To encourage regular visits, Nash said newsrooms focus on tools like e-mail newsletters, push notifications, and content franchises that build routine engagement.

Some newsrooms have launched series around topics like food coverage to attract consistent audiences, she said. A case study from Advance Local, a U.S. media outlet, showed subscriber-only newsletters significantly boost retention, open rates, and reader satisfaction by offering exclusive content, thereby fostering a habitual relationship with readers.

2. Understand and meet user needs with better content mix

Many newsrooms overload audiences with simple “update me” stories, which report events without much context or actionable insight, Nash said. According to her experience, introducing a user needs framework helps identify underserved areas such as educating, inspiring, providing perspective, helping, or connecting readers.

A German public broadcaster applied this approach and shifted focus from updates to more contextual stories, resulting in a rapid improvement in pageviews, audience trust, and loyalty.

3. Build connections with individual journalists

Drawing lessons from content creators on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, newsrooms are empowering journalists as individual brands by adding photos, bios, and allowing audiences to follow reporters, Nash said.

During the U.S. presidential elections,The New York Times embraced this by training reporters to appear on video and produce vertical videos that put journalists front and center, resulting in higher engagement and a stronger personal connection with audiences.

4. Prioritise personalisation

Loyalty grows when readers feel content is tailored for them, Nash said. Even if full technological personalisation isn’t available, newsrooms can simulate it by recommending stories, segmenting newsletters, and offering “liquid content,” multiple formats for consuming news such as video, audio, text, and social cards.

Schibsted, located in Norway and Sweden, uses subscriber data to customise homepages, which has led to higher return visits and engagement.

5. Foster two-way conversations with audiences

Moving beyond broadcasting news, successful engagement includes active participation in comments, direct messages, and audience interactions, Nash said. Content creators excel at this by responding personally and hosting interactive events.

An example is La Gazzetta’s Instagram strategy, which involves inviting followers to send photos, responding to over 250 daily story suggestions and maintaining direct conversations with their community, building trust and deeper loyalty.

Grupo RBS transforms its newsrooms for a digital future

Grupo RBS in Brazil operates across multiple platforms, Rodrigo Müzell, digital journalism manager, told attendees.

“We have brands for TV, radio, print, and digital,” he said. The newsroom is a joint venture combining the traditional Radio Gaúcha and the Zer newspaper with a digital product called GCH, which includes a Web site, mobile app, streaming services, and active social media channels. “We got together in an integrated newsroom, and we are underway in a very big newsroom transformation.”

He described the previous newsroom setup as “more traditional, with desks based on subjects.” This setup led to teams being overwhelmed because they had to manage publishing on digital platforms, go on air, and edit print simultaneously.

“Print has a very heavy weigh on the decisions and on the ability to turn things around and make decisions based on data and focus on digital,” Müzell explained. This created challenges in adapting quickly to audience needs and digital growth.

The company implemented a different setup with teams divided according to specific business goals, Müzell said. Management implemented a split revenue model based on subscriptions and advertising, which led to creating specialised teams.

One team, called “Massivo,” focuses on broad audiences to bring in new readers. Meanwhile, two other teams concentrate on subscriber conversion and retention: the “Fidelização” team, which produces deep, rich content for loyal users, and a team dedicated to engaging and connecting with those loyal readers. 

“We separated the printing team, so we are now really digital focused,” Müzell said.

El Sol de México holds on to classic journalism in a digital era

Hiroshi Takahashi, director of El Sol de México, said the company’s editorial philosophy amid the fast-paced digital landscape. 

“In times when everything dissolves into screens, algorithms, and instant responses, journalism was not born to entertain or go viral,” Takahashi said. “It was born to disrupt, to go to the crime scene, ask the questions no one wants to answer, and come back with facts.” 

This core belief has driven El Sol de México’s editorial transformation over the last eight years.

The newsroom’s commitment to rigor and depth, even as “newsrooms are pushed to produce more with less: less time, less verification, less context, less ideas,” Takahashi said.

Takahashi warned of AI-generated texts that simulate depth without clear authorship or accountability. Against this backdrop, the editorial stance of El Sol de México and the Organización Editorial Mexicana is “not just an editorial decision but a declaration of principles.”

“In the first half of 2025, El Sol de México achieved a 42% increase in pageviews and a 22% rise in unique users, with steady growth year over year and month over month,” he said.

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