| Things that may factor into story decisions | Extremely/Very important | Somewhat important | Not at all/Not very important |
|---|---|---|---|
| How many people will pay attention to the story | 62% | 26% | 11% |
| How many people are affected by the story | 51% | 34% | 14% |
| A desire to help people make up their minds on issues | 38% | 42% | 20% |
| The personal biases or political views of the journalist | 38% | 35% | 27% |
| A desire to help solve problems in society | 36% | 40% | 24% |
MEDIALIT14. What people think drives news judgment
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About the Author: Kevin Loker
Senior Director, Program Operations and Partnerships
Kevin Loker serves as Senior Director of Program Operations and Partnerships at the American Press Institute, where he has spent more than a decade helping local news organizations improve their journalism, business and connection to their community.
As Senior Director of Program Operations and Partnerships, Kevin organizes and facilitates programming for the Journalism Programs team, including experiment funds, research and API Local News Summits. He also supports the VP of Journalism Programs and CEO in maintaining and developing partnerships with funders and collaborators to support API’s work.
Recent partnerships include managing API’s joint webinar series with The Associated Press and organizing sponsorships of API Local News Summits with Microsoft’s Democracy Forward program, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Oklahoma Press Association, Report for America and Subtext.
For 2023-2024, Kevin was a Visiting Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. His project built upon work to reimagine local opinion journalism and philanthropy’s role in the process. His report “Philanthropy and Local Opinion Journalism: A Civic Opportunity” will publish in September 2024.
Kevin’s research experience in journalism includes contributing to more than a dozen studies of U.S. news consumers through the Media Insight Project, API’s collaboration with the Associated Press – NORC Center for Public Affairs Research; contributing to a major study of philanthropic funding ethics in news, as well as surveys of journalists; and serving as the research assistant for the fourth edition of “The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect,” a widely used journalism textbook.
Before API, Kevin worked in digital and membership services for the Online News Association. He is a former contributor to 10,000 Words, a media industry blog. Together with his wife Laura, he received a 2017 Catholic Press Association Award for an email newsletter for Catholics.
Email Kevin at kevin.loker@pressinstitute.org, follow him @kevinloker or connect with him on LinkedIn.
