Relevance and credibility

In discussing the shared environment, you may see a connection to relevance and credibility, as we presented them in Chapter 4. A subject relevant to both readers and the publisher falls within the shared environment, and would be considered a good subject for the newsletter. In other words, both reader and publisher have something to gain by exploring this subject (and perhaps something to lose by not addressing it).

And, if the subject comes from the shared environment, we expect both reader and publisher to have some knowledge of it. The publisher may have more in-depth knowledge of it than most of the readers, but the readers have at least enough knowledge to determine whether the information is credible, or comes from a credible source.

You may find relevance and credibility helpful in determining whether subjects fit within the shared environment. The idea of a shared environment, obviously, is somewhat abstract. Relevance and credibility, on the other hand, are more concrete and more easily established when assessing content ideas. You can filter content proposals with these two questions:

• Is this subject relevant to both publisher and reader?


• Are we a credible source, in the eyes of readers, when we discuss this subject?

Setting the boundaries

In each of the three types of newsletters examined we've seen a shared environment. For employee newsletters, it centers on the organization they share.

Readers and publishers of marketing newsletters share a product or service. And, for membership newsletters, there are core interests or causes, and organizational structures shared by officers and members.

To define the boundaries of any shared environment, then, we need to identify what it is the publisher shares with the reader, and what she does not share with them. In effect, this exercise integrates the main issues we've discussed in the first four chapters.

In Chapter 1, we discussed supply and demand factors that led to the growth of newsletters as a prominent medium. Three demand factors Ð expectations among stakeholders, explaining complex issues, and niche audiences Ð also help us relate the boundaries to specific issues and audiences. What are the expectations, what are the issues, and who is included within that niche audience?

Chapter 2 introduced our objectives in terms of reader responses. Now we're ready to determine the area or areas within which we want to influence or persuade. Employers should want to

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