JSON Feed is a modern web syndication format, an alternative to RSS and Atom, that describes a feed's items using JSON instead of XML. A version 1.1 feed requires a version identifier, a title and a list of items, each with a unique id, making it simple for developers to generate and read.
JSON Feed is a syndication format designed as a JSON alternative to RSS and Atom. Its own specification argues that JSON is far easier to read and write than XML, which is part of why it was created: to make building and consuming feeds simpler for modern web and app developers. A JSON Feed 1.1 document requires three top-level fields: a version identifier, a title, and an items array.
Each item in the feed needs at least a unique, unchanging id. Beyond that, common fields include a url for the item's permalink, an optional title, either content_html or content_text to hold the actual content, and a date_published for when the item went live. Publishers are encouraged to serve the feed using the specific MIME type application/feed+json, though the plainer application/json is also accepted as a fallback.
For a newsroom, offering a JSON Feed alongside an RSS feed gives modern tools and developers an easy way to pull structured press updates programmatically, without needing an XML parser. It is a smaller addition once an RSS feed already exists, since both typically draw on the same underlying list of releases.
How to: 1) Generate a JSON Feed 1.1 document with version, title and an items array. 2) Give each item a stable id, a url, a title, content_html or content_text, and a date_published. 3) Serve it with the application/feed+json content type where possible. 4) Keep the feed and your RSS feed in sync, both reflecting the same set of releases. 5) Link to it clearly from the newsroom page, for example at a predictable path such as /feed.json.
QUESTIONS
What is JSON Feed?
It is a web syndication format that uses JSON rather than XML to describe a feed's items, created as a simpler alternative to RSS and Atom for developers who prefer working with JSON.
What fields does a JSON Feed require?
At the top level: a version string, a title, and an items array. Each item needs at least a unique id; common additional fields include url, title, content_html or content_text, and date_published.
Do I need both RSS and JSON Feed?
Not strictly, but offering both covers more use cases: RSS is the long-established, widely supported format, while JSON Feed is convenient for developers building custom tools. Many sites publish both from the same source data.
What MIME type should a JSON Feed use?
The specification recommends serving it as application/feed+json, with the more generic application/json accepted as a fallback whenever a server or hosting platform cannot be configured to send the more specific content type.
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