Follow-up stories in journalism are related to the drop in trust

A follow-up story (called a suíte in Brazilian newsrooms) is the continuation of a news item in new stories that update the earlier ones. Something like “Two people injured in accident”; then, “Men injured in accident undergo surgery”; then, “Men injured in accident are discharged”; and then, “Company responsible for accident with injuries is fined.” All these made-up headlines relate to one and the same originating fact.

Not every kind of news deserves a continuation. Some events and achievements have breath for a single appearance. Either way, to be in the paper once or several times, the “thing” has to truly be news, which basically means it is not advertising or propaganda – but that is a subject for another occasion.

In terms of format, a follow-up is nothing different from a new news story. After all, there is only a continuation when a new fact is revealed. But it is in style, as I have noticed, that the lunchbox of follow-ups went sour – in the sense of why they have lost steam in recent years.

Take a police investigation as an example. Good and bad journalism alike are interested in crime stories. In both, however, a taste of vice lingers, perhaps from the pleasure of a “scoop” (when a journalist is the first to report something). It is a hurry that hinders more than it helps: not infrequently, versions are presented that serve a story one wants to tell, which may have nothing to do with what really happened.

Telling the whole story

Take the case of Homem armado ameaça jovem negro em SP, e policial se recusa a agir por estar ‘de folga’; veja vídeo (Armed man threatens young Black man in São Paulo, and police officer refuses to act because she is “off duty”; watch video; in Portuguese), for example. It is a story that quickly won the attention of journalists and the public, because a video proves not only a police officer’s omission but also her aggression against a young man. Here, whether the officer was right or wrong is not under discussion. At the same time, for lack of follow-ups, the context of the three-minute video was never widened.

A story told for its intriguing feature can yield minutes of audience and a rise in site visitors. Without continuity, however, it is a shot in the foot. In 2023, the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report found that Brazilians’ trust in journalism stands at 43%, a drop of 19 percentage points since 2015. Statistically, the downward trend could reach 41% in 2024. In that scenario, every resource of intelligence and integrity is welcome to improve those numbers.

Follow-ups are an opportunity to assure the public that story choices represent, even if against the majority, the outlet’s commitment to a story told from beginning to end, with all its nuances. For that, the editorial line as a whole, and even more so reporters and editors, must approach investigative work with the detachment to tell things as they are, not as they should be.