You probably recognize that subjects in one environment relate to the needs of the publisher, and that subjects in the other relate to needs of the reader. The first set of subjects helps the publisher get the reader to respond in a particular way; the second set helps the reader move toward her goals. What's new in this chapter is the overlap between the two Ð the shared environment.

Let's consider some examples. In the case of an employee newsletter, the shared environment would certainly include the organization. The publisher is usually management, which has an obvious stake in the organization's health and prosperity. But employees have an important stake, too. The organization provides them with a wage or salary and perhaps even a sense of purpose in their lives. Of course, employees and management may disagree about issues pertaining to the organization. But they still have a very strong shared interest in it.

For a marketing newsletter, the product that one uses and the other sells can be found in the shared environment. If you're the publisher, you probably publish the newsletter because you want more people to buy your product or service. If you are the user (or buyer), your productivity may depend on getting the most out of the product. The product makes up a critical part of your shared environment.

For a membership newsletter, the shared environment will include the interest or cause that prompted you to become a member, or to publish the newsletter. Associations formed to fight diseases, for example, publish newsletters because they want to help fellow sufferers cope with the disease, and they want a cure. Individual members want that help, and in turn want to help others.

These three examples point to issues at the center of the shared environment. But they're not alone in it. For members and membership organizations, secondary but important issues include fund raising and alliances with other organizations. For employees and managers, the shared environment also includes industry issues and national trends in the consumption of the product or service they sell. Every shared environment includes many issues Ð some obvious, some not so obvious. As a publisher, it's your job to identify them.

Note, though, that while publisher and reader share an environment, they experience it differently. If it's an employee newsletter, for example, we expect management (for whom the publisher speaks) to have one view and employees (readers) to have another. Think of salaries and wages, in which both parties share an interest. The parties often, and quite naturally, have different views about what amounts are appropriate.

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