Gotta get structural
It’s been several months since my last newsletter and there have been some changes. The biggest is I’ve started a new job as the Digital Director for The i Paper.
Good morning,
It’s been several months since I last published and there have been some changes. The biggest is I’ve started a new job as the Digital Director for The i Paper.
(My thanks to Damon for giving me 10 reminders to just publish)
The i Paper has ambitious plans for digital growth.
We want to be the most reader-centric publisher in the UK. Knowing that if we actually place readers at the heart of what we do, we can build a better more sustainable news business.
We’re trying to approach this goal in fundamentally new ways because we don’t think it’s possible in the old(current) way. What do I mean?
- We need better metrics that reflect readers real life relationship with the news, what their needs are and how we provide value to them and doesn’t reduce complex human decisions to well, page views and time spent.
- We’re structuring the relationship between the newsroom and our product team differently - to be truly symbiotic, based on shared metrics and blurring departmental lines wherever possible
- We’re taking a long view, knowing that consistent pursuit of a clear goal over a longer horizon is likely to get better results.
This is something I feel so strongly about, I even wrote a prediction for the Nieman Lab’s annual list based on it. 2025: The year Newsrooms tackle their structural issues
I’d love to know of any good examples where publishers have been tackling these issues - please send them my way.
If you’d like to chat or share your thoughts on this topic just hit reply
Mentoring
A reminder I offer mentoring for news product people which you can find out more about here:
Nick Petrie
