As we explored in our March master class, putting people, not “traffic,” at the center of everything is more essential than ever. 

Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones, had an almost visceral reaction to the word “traffic” on stage during our interview at the last week’s INMA World Congress of News Media — reminding us these are real customers, real people.

It was both humbling and poignant to hear that from a company celebrating its best results ever.

It’s become clear that news businesses are now mostly three distinct parts:

1. The legacy business

Our print and cable operations still generate strong profits, but they’re undeniably in decline. 

We don’t discuss this much because most organisations already understand the trade-offs here. The focus is on efficiency and margin maximisation — automating print layouts, optimising distribution, squeezing every drop of value from existing subscribers — so we can free up resources for growth.

2. Core digital products

We’ve mastered the basics of our Web and app experiences, but perfection remains elusive. Now is the time to obsess over user journeys. 

Our platforms should showcase our journalism at its very best: clean, uncluttered, crystal-clear in purpose. As Condé Nast showed us, a decluttered interface drives engagement. We must choose a single call to action on each page — subscribe, click this ad, sign up for that newsletter — and resist the urge to ask users to do everything at once. 

Or as one exec succinctly said at the event: We shouldn’t have our internal struggles show up on our customers’ experience. And yes, intelligent personalisation plays into this to help users find what they need, when they need it.

3. New distribution paths

These channels aren’t always new, but they remain largely uncracked. Take an example Die Zeit’s CEO gave us about once of their brand extensions that garnered 30 million views but almost no revenue. 

The big questions persist: Which platforms deserve our focus? How can we reach younger, more diverse audiences authentically? And what sustainable business models — subscriptions, sponsorships, affiliate programmes — will underpin those efforts?

You know who nails this? Creators. They understand the power of story and the importance of marketing. Something we, as an industry of storytellers, have only just begun to prioritise.

On the study tour with my colleague Amalie Nash, we learned that some newsrooms now dedicate up to 5% of their resources just to promote their own work. At The Wall Street Journal, the editor and CMO are so aligned around this that marketers sit right alongside journalists, speeding up campaigns to keep pace with the newsroom’s breaking news cycle.

Ultimately, journalism itself is the product. Our mission is to deliver the best possible experience of that product on our own platforms: intuitive, seamless, and tailored. We must make it effortless for readers to discover, access, and consume the stories they need to stay informed.

Now more than ever, the world relies on structured, fact-based journalism that provides context, holds power to account, and — just as crucially — builds community. 

Almar’s warning still rings true: “These aren’t traffic metrics, they’re people.”

As I head home from World Congress, I’m carrying with me a renewed commitment to keep in mind that real humans are at the heart of every product, process, and platform decision we make.

If you’d like to subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter, INMA members can do so here.

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