Building a Diaspora Beat: Strategies for Impact and Revenue

Independent newsrooms around the world are experimenting with innovative ways to diversify their revenue generation. One often overlooked, yet potentially lucrative source of income for newsrooms is the diaspora beat. This area of coverage focuses on issues and stories relevant to people who have migrated from their country of origin and settled in other parts of the world.

Leveraging the diaspora beat for revenue and impact was the focus of a recent masterclass hosted by Report for the World in collaboration with our newsroom partner, Premium Times Nigeria. The session featured insights from Musikilu Mojeed, the editor-in-chief of Premium Times, and former corps member, Chiamaka Okafor; building on their experiences reporting on the diaspora and engaging their audiences.

The case for targeting the diaspora is a compelling one. As Mojeed explained, the diaspora holds a growing and valuable audience that presents unique opportunities for newsrooms. The large size, geographical dispersion and needs of the diasporic audience can drive engagement, revenue and impact.

“People in the diaspora retain strong ties to their home countries, because they still have families back home, and they usually seek ways to connect to their own. During elections, they want to know who the candidates are. They want to know about the state of the economy in their country”, discussed Mojeed.

Specific to the Nigerian diaspora, Mojeed highlighted some of the lessons they have learnt from them. He noted that Nigerians living abroad value in-depth investigative journalism that focuses on hyper-local content relevant to them,. including analysis and data about Nigeria. Such content, he said, helps the audience make informed decisions including on investments.

Understanding the diaspora audience is key to tailor content and increase engagement.

“You must make your decisions based on data. Where are the audiences? How many people are reading you from different countries? For us, at Premium Times, we’ve observed that the majority of our diaspora audience is based in the United States and Canada. So you need these key metrics to understand the audience size and locations and how to segment them,” said Mojeed.

He also emphasized the need to make editorial decisions based on data pointing to organizations like the International Organization for Migration, World Bank or Foreign affairs departments for data on the diaspora audience.

Okafor’s beat covers stories about the diaspora, as well as issues that affect them. (Photo by Premium Times)

Covering the diaspora

Those decisions inform and shape the content strategy of the beat, providing reporters with clear directives to cover it. Okafor, who has reported on this topic for over five years, shared her tips on how to approach this beat: “Unlike other beats like politics, where there is always a story to tell, the diaspora beat can sometimes appear dry. But a beat is as good as the editors and reporters on the beat!”

Okafor emphasized that  a journalist’s interest and creativity on the issues affecting a diaspora audience can uniquely position them to cover the diaspora beat. In addition,  a good coordination between reporter and editor is an important ingredient to the success of this beat. She urged other journalists to read as much as possible about the issues affecting their audiences and cultivate their relationships with their sources

“Our sources are our lifeline. We can’t do anything without our sources, whether they are human sources or document sources. We are as good as the sources we have or sources we cultivate”, added Okafor.

Some sources recommended by  Okafor include the Ministries of Foreign Affairs/Diaspora Commission, friends and family in the diaspora, the internet or social media, court documents and diaspora groups and associations.

As newsrooms navigate an uncertain future, the diaspora community represents an opportunity with great potential. By developing targeted content and revenue strategies, media organizations can tap into this valuable audience, driving both impact and income.

Report for the World is committed to supporting newsrooms’ efforts to diversify their revenue, and grow their impact. This masterclass was part of a series of knowledge sharing sessions  within our network.