Field notes
How we read section loyalty without drowning in exports
A practical way for editors to frame loyalty questions before the spreadsheet swallows the meeting.
Editors often inherit weekly exports that stretch past the length of the meeting meant to discuss them. The instinct is to scroll faster. A better first move is to name the loyalty question before opening the file.
Start with the section, not the total
Ask which section must prove its keep for the next planning lock. Culture? Regional inserts? The weekend travel package? Once the section is named, loyalty becomes concrete: who returns to that section across editions, and who arrives once then drifts.
Use three simple cuts
We usually ask newsrooms for three cuts only at the start: returning readers within the section, first-time visitors in the same window, and readers who arrived from a sister section. Anything finer can wait until those three cuts survive a sceptical editor’s questions.
Label the gaps
Sampling holes on regional inserts are common in Thai newspaper groups. Saying so in the chart footer prevents the briefing from collapsing into a fight about methodology halfway through.
Leave with one decision
A loyalty review earns its fee when the room decides whether to protect, move, or reframe a section — not when every cell has been admired. If your export still feels larger than the meeting, book a Visualisation Atelier or write to us via contact.