Service journalism and the enormous AI caveat
Sites need to establish their reputation for content before AI kills search traffic
Last week one of my former colleagues texted me and asked for my thoughts on service journalism. For those outside the trade, service journalism is basically the practice of creating articles that deliver utility to the audience instead of news in the traditional sense. A few examples of this: a how-to story, or a collection of recipes, or even a “what you need to know about X” fact sheet.
These types of stories can be extremely helpful because you can build them around buzzy topics that are trending in the daily conversation. And more often than not, because the steps covered in “How to make a Denver omelet” aren’t going change anytime soon, these stories are evergreen and provide traffic for much longer than a typical news story. This helps them to build authority on search engines and win audience that way. And if an outlet creates those types of stories consistently they can establish an identity with the audience as a place they can find a specific type of story. The New York Times recipes archive is pretty much the prime example.
I’m a big proponent of service journalism. It helps diversify content and allows media companies to become more like lifestyle coaches than just news purveyors. But there are two important considerations for any outlet making this a big part of their offerings.
First, you need to make sure these stories display your expertise. You need this differentiator because you’re competing against a lot of other sites when it comes to something like a recipe. Not only are you competing with the Times, but also every amateur cook and Instagram foodie with their own blog. You need to stand out against that competition.
This is something that smaller daily outlets should absolutely lean into with neighborhood guides and restaurant reviews. No one knows a city better than the reporters at a local daily. I would trust any insights they delivered about where to eat and how to get there above any Yelp! review.
When I’m looking for restaurants to try in the D.C. area, I always look for Tom Sietsema’s favorite spots because I know I can trust his opinions. That’s an earned reputation and if you can establish that around a given content area, you can bring your audience all the way to the bottom of the funnel and earn subscribers.
But here’s the second caveat and it’s a biggie. AI chatbots are going to kill search traffic. We are no longer going to type in search terms and receive a selection of articles applicable to those terms like a Google search. We’re going to ask ChatGPT or another model “Where’s the best Italian restaurant within five miles of my location?” and we’re going to get one answer. As it stands, that answer will be chosen based on criteria the audience cannot see and, unless it’s an AI search engine like Perplexity, that response will have no attribution. It will not refer traffic to your site like Google does. All that search traffic? Gone.
In that scenario, you could create the best restaurant guide on the planet, but unless you’ve already earned that reputation from the audience, it’s going to be very hard to surface it.
So, alongside the creation of service journalism, I’d recommend some service marketing, so to speak. If you’re going to offer recipes, or DIY advice, or whatever, spend some time and money to make sure the audience knows that Site X is now doing Y, because the visitors stumbling in through the side door marked “Search” are going be far, far fewer in the future.
Hi, I’m Mike. I’m a former editor for The Washington Post and ESPN. In 2024 I founded and now operate Launcher, LLC, a digital media consultancy operating out of Arlington, Va. Want to work together? Reach out on LinkedIn.