Bringing Agile to the Newsroom (Test, Measure, Iterate) PLUS New Details about That Chicago Public Media-Newspaper Tie Up

October 12, 2021

We have an interesting case study from the Facebook Accelerator that looks at how a news organisation brought the Agile methodology to their newsroom. It might be Agile, but it's also so rooted in product thinking with the idea of testing hypotheses, measuring the results and then making small course corrections based on the data. They were testing small ideas to grow their membership. Great case study to learn from.

In the US public media world (where I work), there were more than few gasps of surprise when WBEZ's parent organisation announced that they would merge with the storied Chicago Sun-Times. There have been a number of interesting acquisitions by public media groups of local digital news start-ups, usually relatively small shops. But this was the first merger between a public media shop and a legacy newspaper. We have a fascinating interview, and as someone in public media, one thing leapt out at me - a passing reference to communication about the merger with the WBEZ newsroom. Trust me when I say that this could spell trouble. If leadership loses the support of the newsroom in a public media shop, that leadership can find itself looking for a new job. The culture of US public media is very worker lead, which can be a good thing, but that culture doesn't like surprises. I hope for this audacious move that this doesn't spell the start of cultural issues.

PLUS California's new digital privacy chief says that email identifiers are a bigger threat to privacy than cookies. Ruh-roh! Journalism.co.uk highlights three audio apps that make it easy to create podcasts using "your listeners' voices". More Facebook news. It is changing the way it measures ads. A poll says that Americans think the social network is contributing to a mental health crisis and should be regulated. Job alert for US-based folks working in audience and engagement.

Chicago Public Media, parent of one of the most prominent public radio stations in the country, WBEZ, has signed a letter of intent to acquire a legacy newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times. The move would further transform the city’s news environment, recently shaken by a hedge fund’s acquisition of the Chicago Tribune and buyouts that dramatically cut staffing there.

Soltani called email-based identity tech "more privacy-invasive than even cookies.” Now he's in charge of enforcing California's privacy laws.

The Accelerator taught them the concept of agile, which allowed them to test hypotheses and adjust their courses of action based on results of each test. Now, if the team is going to change something, team members set goals and ways to measure the results.

There is more to audio storytelling than Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Three podcast creators experiment with lesser-known but clever apps

Facebook is expanding its investment in audio initiatives with the launch of a new “Audio” destination in its mobile app in the U.S., where users will be able to discover in one place all the audio formats Facebook now hosts, including podcasts, Live Audio Rooms and short-form audio. The company says it’s also making its […]

Facebook has announced changes to the way it measures estimated audience size.As part of the changes, which were made on 30 September, if a person does not have their Facebook and Instragram accounts linked in Facebook’s Account Center, those accounts will be considered separate people for the purposes of ad planning and management.Previously, if a […]

Americans: Facebook Contributing To National Health Crisis, Should Be Regulated Like A Drug - 10/11/2021

Job Alert - US based