‘Audience-first mindset keeps media relevant’

A digital media expert highlighted the importance of applying an “audience-first” mindset to keep the substance of news organizations relevant amid the rapid changes in the digital world.

(ABS-CBN Digital Media Head Karen Puno talks about the importance of keeping an 'audience-first' mindset in a lecture held at the UST Paredes Ballroom on Wednesday. Photo by Julius Villavieja, Dapitan Post)

Karen Puno, head of ABS-CBN’s Digital Media Department, said considering the audience and putting their needs first will keep news organizations significant.

“The way to stay relevant in media is to put the needs of the audience first—to listen to what they want to say, by freely listening, creating the type of content that suits their needs,” she said in a lecture held at the University of Santo Tomas Paredes Ballroom on Wednesday.

She said mastery of the digital is not about the knowledge on technology, but about using it to serve the public in the digital world.

“We found out that mastery in digital has little to do with learning the technology that runs it, and everything to do with serving the people who are in it,” she said.

Puno cited the significance of a news outlet’s following, saying the wide reach of news websites would keep its content relevant.

“This also helps keep us relevant. As a news organization, you become irrelevant when nobody wants to listen to you or to read or watch your news,” she said.

Online aggression

Puno emphasized that the anonymity given by social media could allow anyone to be bold and aggressive without thinking about the consequences.

“We see that there is so much hate and aggression probably because social media give us protection of anonymity. So a lot of people just go at it. Fights break out quickly and frequently in social media,” she said.

She explained that ABS-CBN handled the aggressive online users by letting its audience defend it.

“When we do not try to stifle the voices of those critical of us, our audience actually comes out to support us,” she said.

She said the support of the audience is a humbling experience that pushes them to serve the public better every day.

“[We serve them] by helping them get through the muck of so much content floating online, a lot of them untrustworthy—just by simply doing our jobs,” Puno said.

“Because their support helps us carry on and continue to do our mandate to always be in service of the Filipino,” she added.

The lecture, which was titled “UST Media Leadership in the Digital World,” was organized by UST Office of Public Affairs in cooperation with ABS-CBN Corporation.