Why trust and representation matter in journalism, with Axios Editor in Chief Sara Kehaulani Goo

Women on the Move Podcast

Continuing her conversations with global leaders at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Women on the Move host Sam Saperstein sits down with Sara Kehaulani Goo, Editor in Chief of Axios. They discuss the organization’s newsletter approach to expand into more local markets—and how Sarah is committed to Axios reporters understanding their community and building trust with readers across the political spectrum.

With a background in reporting, Sara says she moved her way across the country working at local newspapers, eventually landing at the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post before moving to Axios a few years ago. “I loved being a reporter,” she tells Sam. “I loved breaking news, and over time I realized that there was an opportunity for me to shape the news in a bigger way at a time when our digital forces were changing how people consume news.”

News that is trusted, and locally responsive

Sara says that the premise at Axios is that while people increasingly don’t have time to read the news, they still want to be informed about the news. “So we came up with something called Smart Brevity,” she says. “It really distills the news to the most important essential elements of what you need to know, why it matters.” Axios uses a newsletter format to deliver brief summaries—written by experienced journalists—on major news topics. Readers can get what they need to know from the newsletter, and they can visit the website for deeper dives.

Earning readers’ trust is a key goal at Axios. “We know that people really need information, but we're operating at a time when people don't have a lot of trust,” Sara says. “They don't have trust in a lot of institutions, but in news it's become very polarized. So what we've tried to do is really be transparent with our audience and say [that] we are going to be clinical in our reporting and facts and delivery, and be not right or left. We don't have an opinion page. We want to attract an audience of all political stripes, of all backgrounds and interests, and give you the news that's essential for you to feel like you've got what you need.”

In addition to the trust gap, Sara says there is a growing gap in local news coverage—and filling that void is one of her top goals for the year. “There is an opportunity to rebuild trust,” she tells Sam. “So it's not just politics, but what's going on in my community, how do I understand the issues that I'm going to be voting on?”

To that end, Sara says Axios has expanded the newsletter approach and hired local journalists in 26 different cities to do targeted newsletters. “The goal there is to figure out both the business model and the journalism model to make sure that we become an essential trusted source of news,” she adds.

Representation matters

One key to earning readers’ trust is making sure that Axios staff are reflective of those readers. Sara says she’s committed to ensuring that women, people of color, LGBTQ+, and other historically underrepresented people have a spot at the table. “When I was first entering the news business, there weren't very many women at the top of the newspaper,” she recalls. “And why that matters is because that's who makes decision on what you cover.”

“I think it is making sure that we have journalists and editors who can cover the story with real authenticity and experience in relatability,” she says. “And the topics that they're covering matters. So immigration for example, or wage gap issues. And if they don't know, they have to be comfortable asking and getting out of their comfort zone. I mean, that's the essence of every reporter. So to me, I think about: it’s issues around race, it's issues around gender, LGBTQ, when you have issues come up around anti-trans hate or harassment going on, we have to have people on staff who can speak to that.”

Keeping with this year’s focus on the theme of ambition, Sara tells Sam that she feels like she’s always been ambitious, and for her, that’s gone hand-in-hand with a natural curiosity. “What's great about that is that it's really an unending curiosity,” she explains. “So how do you get the story? What's happening next? How do I get the interview? How can I tell the world first about what's happening, how I help them understand the story to then how do we run this newsroom in a different way? To me, those are all fun versions of the same curiosity. So I think I just love the challenge of it. It's not just a job. Journalism is essential to this country, to how we live to our lives, and I feel very responsible for that.”

Disclaimer: The speakers’ opinions belong to them and may differ from opinions of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and its affiliates. Views presented on this podcast are those of the speakers; they are as of June 29th , 2023 and they may not materialize.

Full transcript here