The "audience expectation" as a news value: an analysis from the Gazeta do Povo newspaper journalist's experience

Abstract

In 2019 the Gazeta do Povo, one of the main newspapers of Paraná, celebrated its 100th anniversary in the midst of several changes in its editorial project. From the end of its print edition, which took place in 2017, the news production process also underwent a reformulation, now considering other aspects as relevant and primordial for the selection of events and construction of the news. The audience's interest was one of them. To understand the role in this process, we interviewed 15 professionals who worked on the writing in this period of editorial reformulation. The methodology used is a qualitative one, an analysis of depth interviews. Practitioners judge that audience-driven leads have a preference, and as the main concern is to make content to reach the readers. Thus, the logics of production and distribution change. Our argument is that these new features lead to the emergence of a new news value, which we call "audience expectation".