The media is beset by issues, from lack of trust in legacy institutions to serious competition from influencers, AI search and social platforms. In a world where engagement and direct relationships are key, it is time to think more carefully about voice and authenticity. Anonymous newsroom voice may be costing more than many organizations realize.
“If I’m paying, or you want me to pay for, your content, you’ve got to give me something which is human,” says Matt Payton, head of audience at The Independent. “And what is more human than a human voice?”
Voice does not have to mean a loud, strident personality. Instead it can be explained as a tone, rhythm or even perspective that makes writing feel authored rather than anonymous. The content, including headlines, must show itself to be distinctive.
Payton flags newsletters, podcasts and live blogs as formats where voice “really matters,” adding: ”It should also have a sense of wanting to help me understand something complicated, but without looking down at me. Anything impersonal, and I will unsubscribe.”
For media analyst Thomas Baekdal, voice is not just tone, but linked to editorial consistency and trust. “To me it is more about who you are, what you focus on, and how consistent you are at staying true to that,” he says.
However, as anyone who works in the audience space knows, while embracing personality may have become acceptable in newsletters and podcasts, it has been harder to introduce more broadly across the newsroom. Payton thinks that is a mistake.
“We make money by putting humanity into headlines,” he says, explaining that this does not change a story, just the way it is promoted. In other words, he sees voice as a form of reader recognition as well as a commercial hook.
Anonymous voice means readers cannot connect properly with either writer or brand. This is a serious issue because if they do not remember who they are reading, they may not return to read more. In a world where AI is taking more and more of a role, it is also crucial to distinguish yourself from a bot. Generic writing is becoming both easier to produce and less valuable. Distinctive voice is the differentiator.
“You have to be known for something,” says Baekdal. “Maybe it’s just the level of quality. Basically, to get people to subscribe, you have to show that it is worth paying for. So, your ‘voice’ is essentially the focus of that.”
This applies across both B2C and B2B. The Economist may not have bylines on its news stories, but it does have a recognizable institutional voice rooted in deep expertise. It also now showcases its top writers in its newsletters and is soon to roll out “Economist Play,” which will feature interviews hosted by Economist correspondents. This doesn’t just mean they are putting names to their team, they are also letting the audience see their faces and hear their voices.
Lindsay Deutsch, director of digital platforms at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says voice may have been more common in print-based newsrooms, where lower staff turnover and an increased number of well-known columnists meant readers and writers could build relationships.
But she explains that this has changed. “In digital journalism, we’ve spent years trying to be everything for everyone, and for a while, the clear path forward was to optimize for SEO and performance, because that worked incredibly well.”
Now, she says, priorities are shifting. “Reach can’t be the only thing. We need to think about converting new readers, especially in a subscription model, and that’s pushed things back the other way.”
Deutsch argues that personality still has value even within platform-led distribution strategies. “My team focuses heavily on Google Discover and Apple News,” she says. “But even on Apple News, the stories that get picked up are often the first-person pieces like ‘I went to Coachella, here’s what I saw’. Even at that level, there’s room for personality, not just reach.”
And to those who argue about straight news, she agrees this cannot be overly “voice-y”. “There is obviously still an obligation to report the news objectively in many cases, but what we’re seeing, particularly at a local and regional level, is that audiences are also looking for a second layer, some help making sense of what they’ve just read.”
“We often see opinion, voice-led or follow-up pieces perform substantially better than straight news stories in terms of engagement and reach,” she continues. “And we’re also seeing readers move from those voice-led pieces back to the objective reporting, which means recirculation is higher. That’s exactly what we want.”
At the Financial Times, voice is increasingly tied not only to style, but to reader behavior and retention.The FT’s newsletters, including personality-led successes such as Unhedged and Inside Politics, are worth tens of millions of pounds in lifetime value, while around a fifth of FT subscribers are only engaged with the product through newsletters.
“It makes business sense but it’s also good quality journalism and means people are going to come back for more,” says Payton. “It also means you’re going to rank higher on Google, and Google Discover, because you’re producing stuff which is more clickable, but you can do that without clickbait. Instead you are saying to your reader: I’m going to tell you an interesting story and my job is not just to tell you the facts, it’s to tell it in an interesting way.”
Voice can mean different things to different people, from tone and personality to overall editorial identity. But, however we define it, it is crucial to media success in the 21st century. Of course, it can be risky, and it is vital to guard against cliché or too much personality. The greater risk is sounding the same as everyone else.
About the author
Sarah Ebner is an award-winning journalist and former executive editor at the Financial Times, where she was director of editorial growth and engagement. A specialist in newsletters and subscription journalism, she has also worked at the Telegraph, The Times and the BBC, and now writes and advises on editorial strategy and the future of media.