During our recent INMA CEO Roundtable in Vail, we asked participants — 50 C-level media executives from around the world — to jot down on Post-it notes what they planned to take back from the roundtable to their organisations. Top themes included AI takeaways, the importance of brand, and being more customer-centric. 

Several themes related to newsrooms and, more broadly, cultural change. Many CEOs still feel there’s a disconnect between the newsroom and other parts of the organisation. That’s why it’s so important to get journalists into the business of journalism — so everyone understands success and priorities.

Below, I’m including some of the Post-it takeaways that are most relevant to newsrooms, along with my commentary.

We can’t blame the audience if they aren’t using us as we are

“Journalism has to stop being the only industry where the customer is always wrong,” said Shirish Kulkarni, journalist, researcher, community organiser, and News Innovation Research Fellow of Media Cymru at the Cardiff University School of Journalism. This quote speaks to me — we need to deliver journalism in the ways that people want to consume it instead of sticking to traditional formats and blaming readers for not being interested.

Audience vs. traffic

“There’s a difference. Traffic can pay the bills, but the bucket is infinitely leaky. Engaging and connecting with an audience ensures your site becomes a place people actively go to — not just a place where they wind up,” said Josh Awtry, senior vice president of audience at Newsweek. As direct traffic becomes more important, we need to focus on audience more than traffic.

Create presentation formats to help journalists tell more engaging stories

The Next Gen News report identifies a gap here: We think readers want 800-word stories, but they want personalised and customised content, delivered in the ways they understand — like social media provides. 

Focus more on user needs with support from editorial, product, marketing

User needs are an effective tool for assessing your content mix and ensuring you are giving readers what they want. There are many case studies and examples of media companies seeing positive results by focusing on user needs.

Ensure we create content readers want to read

In the end, this is what matters. Becoming audience-centric — meeting people’s needs and delivering journalism in the formats they want it in — will ensure our relevancy into the future. 

What resonates with you in these takeaways? E-mail me: amalie.nash@inma.org. 

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