Medium

Eric Ulken

In

Ideas and Insights from the JSK Journalism Fellows at Stanford

by

Eric Ulken

·

May 8

Local journalism’s AI problem is that we never solved its consumer problem

If our goal is impact, we are unlikely to achieve it with paraphrased snippets in an AI Overview. Only deep, hard-earned relationships with…

A Venn diagram showing the intersection between public good, consumer good and robot good (beep boop!)

In

Ideas and Insights from the JSK Journalism Fellows at Stanford

by

Eric Ulken

·

Jan 15

What does ‘audience value’ mean to local news professionals? Here’s what I learned

The results of an informal survey on how we define and deliver (or fail to deliver) value to audiences

What does ‘audience value’ mean to local news professionals? Here’s what I learned

In

Ideas and Insights from the JSK Journalism Fellows at Stanford

by

Eric Ulken

·

Nov 12, 2025

What is local journalism’s value to audiences — and how can we grow it?

With publishers more dependent than ever on the support of consumers, let’s make paying for local news a no-brainer for more people.

A hand drawn pyramid represents Local Journalism’s Consumer Value. The bottom quarter is information. Inside are the words alerts, updates, investigations, data. The next tier up is utility with the words discovery, curation, time-savers, explanations, advice, diversions. The next tier up is connection with the words human interest, solutions, forums, events. The top tier is belonging with the words access, agency, local pride. It is a work in progress. Feedback welcome ulken@stanford.edu

In

USA TODAY NETWORK

by

Eric Ulken

·

Jan 30, 2019

The year you actually start to like your CMS

“If we do it right, users benefit from a feedback loop that helps make our work more valuable and relevant to them.”

In

Lenfest Institute for Journalism

by

Eric Ulken

·

Apr 9, 2018

How the Philly papers are experimenting with design thinking in the newsroom

Our analytics tell us nothing about the opportunities and audiences we’re missing. To do that, we need to actually talk to people.

How the Philly papers are experimenting with design thinking in the newsroom

Eric Ulken

Eric Ulken

2026 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow. Alum of The Baltimore Banner, Gannett, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, Los Angeles Times. #localnewsforever

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