News organizations get new structures

I am exceedingly excited about 2023 and the opportunity in front of the news and journalism sector. If there’s any sort of potential bright spot coming out of some of the current tech platform crises, it’s that news and journalism institutions can offer a counter message and cement themselves as reliable sources of community information and connection.

This moment will be quick and fleeting, as we already see other apps and platforms beginning to pop up, offering themselves as alternatives to what the giants of social media once were (are?). This sort of rapid evolution within our digital spaces will require news and journalism institutions to understand and figure out their own pathways to information distribution, community connection, and trust building with audiences. The ability to understand and build that product roadmap (even if it’s just a website to start) will be largely dependent on not only their markets and regions, but most importantly, who they seek to serve. This will require a constant assessing and figuring out of revenue opportunities that lend themselves to various product and multimedia strategies in sustainable and diversified ways.

All of this increasingly complicated audience, product, and revenue strategizing and mapping requires a sophistication and new way of structuring and designing internal organizations, while thinking through both short-term and long-term goals and realities. At the early stages of an organization’s growth or transformation, it may not make sense to hire a super senior full-time resource right away. It may be better to bring on a more mid-tier leader who can partner alongside a sophisticated consultant or firm that will help them grow and develop in their role, while also aiding in building systems, processes, and providing experienced thought partnership at a fraction of what a full-time salary at that senior level might have entailed.

The sustainable and thriving news and journalism organization is not going to reflect the org chart of a printing press shop. Full stop. Business, operation(s), tech, product, and multimedia talent will need to be core and integral partners and leaders to editors, journalists and reporters. They’ll need to be empowered, vs. practices like relegating a role like a “social media manager” to the bottom of a news organization’s org chart.

This sort of talent will provide a fresh and experienced set of perspectives and strategies, as well as a track record of success in other companies, industries, and sectors, that can be extremely applicable and relevant to the changes and needs of the news and journalism sector. They’ll understand what it takes to build and sustain an organization (and business operation) via some tried and true principles, some of which have existed for thousands of years.