Image Credit: CFJC Today

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: A heart-warming Kamloops story generated a heart-warming audience response

Mar 26, 2021 | 10:31 AM

A LOT OF PEOPLE say they love seeing the media cover good news and sick of all the bad news.

That’s patently not true. Audience analytics reliably tell you that it’s the calamitous stories that get the clicks and the eyeballs.

At CFJC, we cover positive, community-minded stories on a very regular basis, and we will always do that even though the numbers tell us those stories don’t really capture the audience’s imagination like chaos and disaster do.

It’s okay to admit the truth.

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With that backdrop, the CFJC Today audience came through with a big surprise this week.

On Tuesday, we posted a story about a violent confrontation between a security guard and one of the denizens of the Kamloops downtown.

With the bystander video we had obtained, we knew this was likely the type of story that would generate a lot of engagement online — and it did.

On the same day, our newsroom did a story about a kind gesture by a Kamloops dollar store clerk that ended up sending positive ripple effects through the community.

A heart-warming story to be sure, but an example of the kind that typically generates a muted response online.

For whatever reason, this one bucked that trend.

The small show of generosity resonated with the audience and the story took off.

As of this writing, it had been seen by tens of thousands of people online, long after it was first viewed by our television audience.

Analytics-wise, this story left the security guard story in the dust. It was inspiring to see.

Peeling back the curtain and understanding what the news audience actually likes to see can leave even the most veteran journalist jaded.

The stories that take the most skill and time and effort often draw a pittance of response in comparison with a single surveillance photo of a shoplifter or blurry video of a flock of birds someone thought looked like a UFO.

This week’s response to the dollar store cashier was a welcome aberration and a reminder of why many of us stick it out in this embattled profession: because you never know what’s going to happen on any given day.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.