In some product org charts, there is a layer devoted to storytelling. I’ve noticed an emergence of a specific role for storytelling within the product department in media companies that I have a lot of respect for, including Schibsted, The New York Times, and Stuff. 

There are a few things to note here:

• As an industry, we are identifying different focus areas and capabilities that are needed. It’s important for us to be able to react to new information, technology, distribution, and capabilities. Using focused squads is a great way to do this. By having a core team with a singular focus, you can truly match skill sets and experience to work effectively together. Maybe you bring some in from the gaming industry or Hollywood, arguably the best storytelling industries in the world. They don’t need prior news experience because you can make that up elsewhere in the squad. 

• Why storytelling specifically? As our understanding of audiences becomes more in-depth, the range of formats becomes more and more diverse and distribution channels more complex. How we tell stories becomes more important. The role has moved beyond content to become more nuanced. 

• The squad that focuses on storytelling also often has responsibility for the CMS internally. Why? Because the CMS is the absolute enabler to effective storytelling. Building on strong workflows and capabilities into a CMS means that everyone can tell better stories, more efficiently. 

Stuff in New Zealand recently made some massive changes to its product org. This slide below very much resonated in how to handle brands as products and shared capabilities as products:

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