In the lead up to the 2024 elections, America Amplified stations experimented with a whole variety of strategies and platforms to reach people who needed more information about the election and the mechanics of voting. We’re always preaching: meet them where they are at! So, for a half dozen or so of our public media stations – those eager to experiment and expand – one new platform for engagement this election season was Reddit. 

While platforms like Twitter/X and Facebook/Meta are distancing themselves from news and media publishers, Reddit is teaming up with journalists to help distribute content. At least that is what Reddit’s business development teams are promising. 

For stations that were not yet on Reddit, the experiment seemed a bit daunting at first. The format was a pretty familiar one for most of us in broadcast: AMA, ask me anything! But there were a lot of steps necessary to set up a Reddit account, pick a subreddit to moderate or host the discussion, and then all kinds of Reddit-specific lingo and protocols to become aware of. 

(Did you know, for instance, that the day you join Reddit is your “cake day”? On that day you get a little cake icon next to your name, and other redditors may wish you a “Happy cake day!” There’s an expected response: “Thank you kind redditor…” Apparently, Reddit loves rituals.) 

For newcomers to the platform, Reddit helped broker introductions to appropriate subreddits for America Amplified stations in Boston, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Richmond, Virginia, Dallas, Grand Rapids, MN, and Delaware. Subreddits are location or topic specific, and should be the ones most likely to have people interested in the topic of the AMA: r/New Mexico or r/Texas, r/boston. 

To participate in a Reddit AMA, stations needed to post a proof of identifIcation so the Reddit community can confirm that they were indeed who they say they were. Proof of ID is pretty simple: a selfie, with the date and time of the scheduled AMA, your name, and your Reddit username. You can also just post a social media post from one of your official accounts, discussing the upcoming AMA. 

The next step is to create a post title and a short bio. Keep it informal and human, Reddit advises! Then, it’s time to answer questions. For those who are new to Reddit, the platform provides clear guidelines on how to host an AMA and how to answer questions. 

• Sound like a person; don’t respond with canned talking points!

• Aim to answer about 15 questions in an hour

• As comments/questions come in, they are sorted by “best,” “top” and “new.” Alternate between those categories as you answer questions, and try to answer a variety of topics.

• Answer the questions that you really want audiences to see. You’re in control of the conversation!

• Have fun!

• If you don’t know the answer, it’s fine. You can always say - “I’ll get back to you!” and post the answer later on the same thread.

As in anything new, the best way to get comfortable with Reddit AMAs is to do one. Our stations were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was, and by the fantastic engagement numbers they saw on the platform. GBH in Boston had 78,000 views of their AMA specifically focused on Massachusetts ballot issues; KAXE in northern Minnesota had 23,000 views in their first 24 hours and Georgia Public Broadcasting had 30,000. A few stations that approached the AMA experiment with trepidation ended up being delighted by how well it worked and plan to build more Reddit engagement into their social media workflows!

VPM News in Virginia is an old hand at Reddit. One reason? Reddit was actually founded in Charlottesville, Virginia, where News Editor and VPM chief redditor Meghin Moore is based. There’s a Wafflehouse in Charlottesville that used to have a plaque at table 19 where the idea for the platform was hatched by founder Alexis Ohanian. Unfortunately, the plaque was recently stolen…

VPM News did their first political AMA in late September featuring their statehouse reporter Jahd Khalil. They coordinated with the mod team (moderator team) at r/virginia (a subreddit they knew already and one that had pinned their voter guide earlier in the year). They were delighted by the experiment and metrics that revealed 14,000 views in the first 24 hours and 21,000 a week later. 

America Amplified spoke with News Editor Meghin Moore and Managing Editor Dawnthea M. Price Lisco to get a better sense of their experience with Reddit. 

Tell us about your engagement initiative or project? 

Moore: Our cake day [first day on the Reddit platform] was January 25 of 2024. I had tried to convince an earlier boss at a different news organization a few years ago that we should be on Reddit, and he wouldn’t go for it. At VPM News, however, the bosses said go for it. Any new platform for our content is a good platform. 

I’m the main voice for VPM News on Reddit and I like it because it is the one platform that we have total control over. We have more of a conversational tone with jokes sprinkled in here and there. It has been really successful when we’ve been using it as a platform to disseminate news. It lets people know that there are people on the ground, paying attention. We’re seeing people coming to our general Reddit page and appreciate that we’re really focused on local news and local updates in Richmond, Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley.

What was the main objective? 

Moore: A lot of us at the station are casual redditors with our own personal accounts, not tied to the station. But here in Virginia we’re seeing that traditional media is not meeting the needs of our public. Most of the newspapers here are owned by Lee Enterprises (a large media company that owns 77 newspapers in 26 states) and they’ve cut all kinds of staff, reassigned people to new beats, just hurt local news coverage. So Reddit was a platform where we could really provide some of the information people needed. 

Did the collaboration between America Amplified and your public media station help shape your engagement strategy?

Moore: A lot of engagement is about throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. Being part of America Amplified means we are bringing the conversation to the people who are paying attention to the community and asking questions.

How are you building trust in the communities you serve?

Moore: Trust is built into the Reddit experience. By having a presence, by being an authentic person on the platform, it shows when people are asking questions. Being able to give an answer and provide details builds trust. The trust comes in the form of letting people know that people are more than their bylines; they are real people outside of their job, just like the audience!

How are you bringing reporting back to the community?

Moore: By bringing it to where people are.

Lisco: Our audience has regularly complained that they don’t know how to reach us.Through that feedback, we’ve made it easier to get in touch with individual reporters, hosts and editors. All of our engagement efforts were aimed at making ourselves more deliberately visible. 

What lessons do you take away from this work in terms of strengthening engagement?

Moore: By engaging with folks where they are, it helps bring more credibility to our news outlet … even if people sometimes make silly comments. It is not as scary as it appears. When getting to know a new platform, there is always going to be a learning curve. But my advice is to pick it up and find your niche. We are meeting people where they are and there are folks from all ages on the site. Being on Reddit is part of an effort to show folks that we’re not just news outlets, we live in these areas and have skin in the game. 

Is there anything you would like to add for other engagement practitioners? 

Moore: You don’t need to take “professional” tones when doing things like a Reddit AMA.

Lisco: Feel free to dump ideas on the floor if they don’t work and don’t be afraid to ask the community for real ideas on change. Treat your audience with respect and like equal partners, because they are. That’s how you both succeed.