How the Wall Street Journal is Creating an Audience-Focused Product Culture PLUS AI Tools for Moderation and Paywall Optimisation

I've just started work for my research proposal for my master's degree, and I have zoomed in on studying 'boundary-crossing' strategies for product managers that support innovation. Boundary-crossing is the work that product managers across departments in their organisation and also at the boundary between the firm and its environment, learning what customers want and working with other external stakeholders such as suppliers as well as knowing what competitors are doing.

The top story today is about how the Wall Street Journal is creating a silo-busting product culture in which cross-functional teams work on products. There is some excellent thinking both from an organisational and cultural standpoint. It makes so much sense, and I think for many organisations, the question becomes how to adapt this to the scale that they are working at.

Wall Street Journal's Approach to Creating

2021-07-02. The culture of working in silos has often been a major stumbling block for traditional news media houses in their digital transition process.

Cross-functional collaborative work is key but so is user research. This is one of those pieces to bookmark and use to guide your thinking.

Using AI to Sift Through Hundreds of Thousands of Comments

In this special series that focuses on journalism rather than algorithms, we look at how the Austrian publisher Kronen Zeitung uses machine learning to moderate user comments and grow engagement

A great example of how to use machine learning to automate a task and deliver value to publishers and audiences.

Pandemic Hits Major London Ad Business: The Tube

Exclusive:

record low level of London journeys during Covid crisis drives down commercial income

Advertisers Move to Android after Apple Privacy Move

Advertisers have begun shifting their spending patterns in the months since Apple began requiring apps to gain iPhone and iPad users’ permission to track them.

UK: Reach to Hire 76 Sports Journalists to Cover Wider Range of Sport

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.

Canada: Globe and Mail's AI Paywall Tool's Success

An artificial intelligence system has helped Canadian publisher The Globe and Mail generate millions of dollars in incremental revenue, increased subscription conversion by 51% bringing in 170,000 subscribers, and more than doubled email registrations. It has also increased return visits and engagement among registered users, according to Sonali Verma, Senior Project Manager, G&M. The suite …

Many event-based entrepreneurs who made it battle-scarred through 2020 are thinking of membership. The best pivoted early to virtual events and, whilst we all know there are downsides, found a sweet spot of larger attendee audiences with greater global reach. One asked me quite reasonably, ‘so what’s the difference between a video interview of an …

The wave of media consolidation is cresting again. The latest example is BuzzFeed’s acquisition of Complex Networks.