Tag Archives: public sector comms

BREAKING APP: Nextdoor is putting a toe in news and what this means for the public sector 

That curates egg of a social platform Nextdoor is branching into news reporting.

For those who don’t know, the platform is a community-focused platform that looks to bring people together to share updates about their area.

While it has the whiff of a Facebook group about it Nextdoor users add their address to allow the app to bring them only local messages. 

Now with added news 

In a new development, Nextdoor has gone through a redesign and they have now in the process of adding a number of news providers to people’s feed. 

In the past, Nextdoor has not allowed news organisations the chance to create a page in the way they can create a Facebook page, for example. As a result, when news links have been shared this has been done on an ad-hoc basis by users themselves.

UK Press Gazette talks of Nextdoor have added news as an option to their existing site. Checking this today this hasn’t reached my corner of the internet. However, as the West Midlands does not have a news partnership it makes sense not to update until they do.

Globally, 3,500 news sources have been added. However, an extensive search has revealed only three so far announced in the UK.

In July 2025, they are: 

London – The Standard (Lebedev) 

Kent – Kent Messenger (Iliffe) 

Cambridgeshire – Cambridge Independent (Iliffe) 

Lincolnshire – Grantham Journal (Iliffe) 

In the weeks after launch, Nextdoor say that 80 local news pages have been added. I’d be keen to list them if and when they are available.

Nextdoor’s three new areas on the app

According to a Nextdoor press release there will now be three areas… News, Alerts and Faves.

For news, “trusted outlets are now reaching neighbours directly through the platform, bringing community-focused local journalism to neighborhoods everywhere,” the press release says. From the confirmed list that’s not strictly true just yet.

For alerts, the statement says the alerts will be from council, police or fire and rescue and will allow conversation during critical events. Alerts are already available as partnership agreement, as far as I know. 

If that’s Nextdoor trying to push into the highly competitive WhatsApp group and Facebook group crisis comms landscape then good luck.

For Faves, interestingly Nextdoor refers to 30 per cent of the platform already being local service recommendations. Ai will be used to give a summary response on the best coffee shop based on seven years of data. Great to be faster but so much can change in seven years which can make the answers inaccurate. This is launching in the US first before being pushed to the UK at a ‘later stage.’

What this means for public sector comms

While the idea sounds great, an initial launch of three titles will not uproot many trees just yet. Starting small before rolling out makes sense. But The Standard in London has shown no interest in covering local news in London boroughs for decades so it’s also not likely to make much difference.

Three of the 30 Iliffe titles also won’t make that much difference. The Standard in London doesn’t cover community news. However, to cut some slack, this is a toe in the water as opposed to a wholesale reinvention.

But if the scheme is successful, this could increase visible scrutiny of the public sector which has shown to be healthy for the democratic process. It would also mean that media relations becomes a bit more important day-to-day as opposed to in an emergency. 

What Nextdoor already is

One of the great things about Nextdoor is the partnership agreement they can offer to public sector organisations. If they sign-up their content is pushed straight into people’s feed. This is an absolute God send to an organisation struggling with algorithms.

Not only that, but people can send messages ward-by-ward as well as town, city or county and that’s powerful.

What Nextdoor is not so good at 

I mentioned the Curate’s Egg at the top of this blog. In a nutshell, the downside is the data on who uses the platform isn’t great. Ofcom in a single line described Nextdoor’s audience as being over 55s. But Ofcom don’t drill into the platform’s audience in the way they do with other platforms. 

That’s not Nextdoor’s problem, of course.

There is some data that appears to show that more than 10 per cent of over 55s get their local updates on local government from Nextdoor. This is sizable without being gamechanging and the figures lag behind their main rival which are Facebook groups.

Nextdoor are not particularly great at sharing numbers, either. The cynic in me says this is because the numbers are not for shouting about. But as a consultant this does leave me stuck when advising on what channels to use. 

After publication, Nextdoor got in touch to say that as a publicly traded company, most of our stats were global. However, they claim 10 million users, with one in four in the UK and one in three households in London.

The only acid test for public sector people is to experiment and keep a close eye on numbers.

The development with news providers means that the public sector may soon more widely have a conflicting voice. It’s not clear if comms teams will be able to even see them in their partnership agreement dashboards. 

One to keep an eye on. 
I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape ESSENTIAL AI FOR PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS, ESSENTIAL COMMS SKILLS BOOSTER, ESSENTIAL MEDIA RELATIONS and ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED.

Creative commons credit: By Hampstead High Street, 1988 by Ben Brooksbank, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=130693367

This has been updated after publication to clarify that Nextdoor have updated their current platform rather than build a new one and also updating the press release link. I’ve also updated the 80 news platforms available.

TRACKER SURVEY: Would you spare two minutes?

Hey public sector comms people how are you feeling?

Back in June 2020 I asked the question by running a survey and blogged the results here.

Three months later I repeated the exercise and blogged the results here.

Now we’re in January I’m keen to repeat the exercise with the latest version of the tracker survey.

If you are fire, police, local government or central government would you take two minutes to let me know how you are faring?

The survey link you’ll need is right here.

As an extra incentive, there’s a box of Gower Cottage chocolate brownies on offer in a prize draw.

Thanks in advance.

DIGITAL NUMBERS: What public sector comms need to know about the 2020 Reuters Institute Digital News Report

There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight, Goethe once wrote.

A scientist and a poet the German would have been the ideal communicator mixing hard numbers with poetry that could make your heart sing.

Numbers and stories are what’s at the heart of the Reuters Institute for Journalism Digital News Report.

What does that matter to public sector communicators?

It matters for several reasons. Media relations remain an important plank of how any organisation communicates with its publics. But beyond that, there is such crossover between journalism and communications. Both sides are trying to make sense of the changing landscape.

The Reuters study gives a useful snapshot of how people are consuming news. While its a global study there is plenty of UK data.

What’s to learn from the Reuters study

Most people don’t care about local news. Less than a third of people in the UK rank themselves as interested in local news. Public sector takeout: Think of other ways to engage people.

In the UK, COVID-19 has affected news patterns. TV news is more popular, print has dropped even further. Public sector takeout: the old regime is changing even faster.

Five times as many people use WhatsApp than read a newspaper in print or online. This bit of detail is huge. So huge in fact that I’m going to post a link to my comms chums I’m in WhatsApp groups with. But I’ll need to read the WhatsApp’d link from my brother first. UK WhatsApp use is 56 per cent against a newspaper readership of nine per cent. Almost as many – seven per cent – deliberately use it for news. Public sector takeout: WhatsApp has really developed as a place where people consume. Organisations need to think of ways to use it effectively.

Closed groups are huge. In the UK during COVID-19, 51 per cent of people are using a closed Facebook group or a closed platform like Messenger or WhatsApp. Public sector takeout: How the public sector gets its messages into closed groups is a topic we’re only starting to wake-up to.

Facebook groups on their own are huge. Globally, almost a third – 31 per cent – use Facebook groups for local news and information. Public sector takeout: it’s not enough to ignore Facebook groups.

Overall, trust in news has fallen significantly. A drop of 12 per cent in 12 months is significant. Public sector takeout: Fewer people trust the news they consume.

The BBC remains the most trusted news brand in the UK. While its news rooms diminish its reputation still remains. A total of 64 per cent trusted the BBC just ahead of ITV news (60 per cent). The Sun is trusted by 16 per cent. Public sector takeout: time spent on TV or radio interviews is worthwhile.

Local news titles are strongly trusted. At 55 per cent the local newspaper sits just behind the BBC in terms of trust. That’s music to the ears of the remaining journalists. Public sector takeout: Those that consume it value it, the only problem is not enough are.

Local newspapers’ print edition reach nine per cent of the population. Less than a tenth of the population get news printed on newspaper. So, a borough of 100,000 will see less than 10,000 reading all about it. Public sector takeout: Print gets even less important.

Local newspapers’ website reaches nine per cent of the population. Just as many people go online for their local news than buy the edition at the news stand. Public sector takeout: Local news on the web is important.

Most people get their news online and social media and over a smartphone. Over the past seven years, the web has overtaken the once all-powerful TV and print as the place where people source their news. A total of 77 per cent get their headlines online. Public sector takeout: News needs to work online above all. Content that works on the web should trump everything. So, skills to create online content should trump press release writing ability.

Facebook dominates online news. A total of 24 per cent of the UK population get news from Mark Zuckerburg’s platform. Second largest is Twitter on 14 per cent and then in third place YouTube with seven per cent. Public sector takeout: Facebook is your news priority.

People don’t start with the news website. Battling over whether or not to put news on your homepage? Meh. Only 28 per cent head to an app or website. Public sector takeout: Stop stressing about news on the homepage. That’s not where people start their journey.

They trust the doctor not the politician. Doctors are trusted by 83 per cent, health organisations by 76 per cent, national government by 59 per cent and politicians by 35 per cent. Public sector takeout: The human being talking is a lot more effective than the cabinet member. This reinforces and updates what we already know.

Everyone is worried about misinformation but it’s whether you are left or right depends on who you blame. The left in the UK at 61 per cent blames politicians. That’s six times as many who blame journalists. On the right, the gap is closer with a 27 to 11 per cent lead for blaming politicians. Public sector takeout: It doesn’t matter if we are left or right, politicians are blamed most for misinformation.

Smart speakers are used for news by in the UK one in five. More use this than in other countries. Public sector take-out: Can your news reach people on a smart speaker?

News emails are used by 38 per cent in the UK. The average is three subscriptions. Public sector take-out: Hows your email content?

Young people aged 18 to 24 use Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok as a source of news during the pandemic. In the UK, 24 per cent went to Instagram pipping Snapchat on 19 per cent and TikTok on six per cent. Public sector takeout: if you want to talk to this demographic these three are important.

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