How to build a new audience from scratch

This workshop is about how to navigate the early stages of growing an audience that best reflects your project’s goals.

So you built a new social community, podcast or project — but have no audience. At least, not yet. But there are small, incremental ways to earn a loyal audience that not only engages with your reporting, but informs it. With enough time and consistency, these tips can help develop a captive audience, and go a step beyond to build a community. This workshop is about how to navigate the early stages of inviting an audience that best reflects your project’s goals.

It can be scary to start from scratch, but our panelists, too, started by speaking into the void. Among them is Joshua Barajas, who helms the PBS NewsHour’s arts and culture website CANVAS. It’s part-original content, part-showcase of stories from local stations within the PBS network, powered by a CANVAS Facebook Group full of high-quality, thoughtful discussions — and geek-outs — about art. The group has drawn passionate, heartfelt — and thoroughly silly — responses from our audience, and inspired and informed future reporting, too. At its best, people are supportive of one another and help craft a safe and inviting space online.

Our panel would include other people finding new ways to build an audience and community from the ground-up (suggestions welcomed!).

Suggested Speaker(s)

  • Josh Barajas
    Arts Editor, PBS NewsHour
  • TBD