How news media companies can continuously transform their newsrooms is the focus of this report.

Key subjects covered in the report include:

• Building a flexible and adaptable culture
• Research on journalists, metrics, and KPIs
• Understanding audience through the user needs framework
• Reorganising to position newsrooms for the future
• Focusing less on print to unlock capacity for digital
• Adapting journalism and formats to what the audience wants
• Cultivating a relationship with your reader

“Strategies for Continuously Transforming Your Newsroom” focuses on how to position newsrooms for the future and get comfortable with the concept that transformation isn’t something news companies complete but rather something they need to instill into their muscle memory.

Author

Amalie Nash, Newsroom Transformation Initiative Lead, INMA

Who should read this report

Media company leaders and news organisation teams responsible for newsroom strategy

Detailed overview

The report offers seven lessons for newsroom transformation, which it claims is a never-ending process.   

“Strategies for Continuously Transforming Your Newsroom” focuses on how to position newsrooms for the future and get comfortable with the concept that transformation isn’t something news companies complete but rather something they need to instill into their muscle memory.

Written by INMA Newsroom Transformation Initiative Lead Amalie Nash, the report details what a future in the newsroom could look like, and why transforming the newsroom is essential. 

According to Nash, audience needs will continue to evolve, as will the data to understand how content is performing. Additionally, she points out, the news industry is at the infancy of understanding how generative AI will change their businesses. And the platforms by which journalism is delivered will morph in ways news leaders have yet to plan for or predict.

The report asserts that media companies will bring newsrooms into the business of news by:

• Focusing on what audiences want
• Following data
• Providing news in the formats people prefer
• Reorganising newsrooms to serve the company’s highest priorities

In doing that, Nash says, newsrooms will become more responsive to the needs of users, more focused on business outcomes, and more fluent in the key performance indicators that drive results.

Included in the report are global case studies from Omroep Brabant, Berlingske Media, DPG Media, Stuff, The Times and Sunday Times, Aftenposten, Politiken, Alma Media, and Hearst.