Advertising revenues from print have declined and as of yet digital ad revenues are not materialising to replace them (Cornia et al., 2017). As a consequence, news media have become more dependent on user revenues, with an increasing focus on digital subscriptions. In this development, metrics to measure audience engagement has become a new mantra for the newspaper industry (Cherubini & Nielsen, 2016; Hansen & Goligoski, 2018). The common approach in news media companies has been to imitate how platforms and digital-first media companies mine and evaluate user preferences. 

However, the present metrics approach was developed for the advertisement industry and is not suitable for the news industry, unless modified (Kiesow, 2018). Thus, there is a demand for new methods and tools to evaluate audience engagement that goes beyond a mere metrics strategy – to develop a comprehensive approach that also includes the re-valuation of qualitative components such as focus groups and interviews (Domingo, Masip, & Costera Meijer, 2015), or developing even deeper forms of engagement with the audience. The traditional segmentation of target audiences is no longer sufficient in today’s fragmented attention economy, so news media companies need more profound audience insights to improve and market their products, possibly even monetizing the audience insights (Chan-Olmsted & Wang 2019, 136). 

This development has several implications. News subsidised by advertisers can be distinctly different from news paid for by the audience, as the strategies of advertisers and needs of paying readers do not always match. This means that media companies need to learn how to listen closely to their paying customers, and not only follow statistics of clicks by “fly-bys”. Instead, customer value and user needs are in focus. The new approach on audience engagement therefore includes a foundational shift in journalism itself, a move towards a new value proposition (Meijer, 2013).

Audience engagement can be placed on different continuums. One continuum is between “thin” and “thick” engagement: thin engagement practices are limited to quantitative audience metrics, and thicker approaches include qualitative as well as in-real-life engagement, such as town hall meetings and other public events (Lawrence et al., 2018). Another possible continuum is between explicit and implicit audience participation, where the audience can merely provide data in a rather implicit manner, or then explicitly take part in journalistic practices, e.g. by contributing to news stories (Villi & Matikainen, 2016).

This paper utilizes these continuums as a framework and explores how media companies are moving from a purely data-driven understanding to a more qualitative analysis of why, when, where, and how people consume news. Data for the study derives from 84 semi-structured interviews with media managers and experts in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the United States, collected in 2016-2018. In addition, we have selected five media companies - Amedia, Bonnier, Schibsted, Voice of San Diego and Billy Penn - for case studies that illustrate informed and interactive approaches to audience relationships and engagement.