Commiserate with — and get inspired by — other industries

The creative design industry is encountering many of the same changes as news media. A sudden drop in support from major corporations after a ballooning investment in strategic design a few decades prior has left design leaders adrift. 

Now, networks of fractional design leaders have emerged with the goal of making fundamental changes to how design leaders engage with the business community going forward, writes Robert Fabricant for Fast Company.

“It’s fascinating how the interview with Niketa Patel for CUNY’s leadership programs is in line with how creative/design leadership is also in a moment reinventing itself right now — i.e., dealing with imposter syndrome, leaning into the leadership community, platforms or ‘executive networks’ beyond programs and collectively rethinking their purpose/mission,” says API’s senior applications engineer Stephen Jefferson. 

Patel, the senior director of leadership programs at CUNY, discussed the transition from the platform era to the AI era on The Journalism.co.uk Podcast. 

“We’re seeing leaders who are more like futurists who are thinking about innovation; diversity, equity and inclusion; and empathy in new and different ways and prioritizing things a little differently, which I’m glad about,” Patel said.

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

» Constructive dialogue can be the bridge to understanding and empathy (Mississippi Today)

Nonprofit Mississippi Today is partnering with graduate students at the University of Mississippi to highlight the work of the National Week of Conversation, which includes training, toolkits and events on building bridges of understanding and empathy. The news organization is co-hosting a free virtual webinar offering tools to be a better listener and engage across differences. 

» Join us: Frameworks to focus your election coverage. How can newsrooms best deploy their resources in covering elections including local races for mayor, city council, school boards and others that affect people deeply and daily? How might they better allocate finite resources? In the second of our series of webinars with the Associated Press, API’s Samantha Ragland and Emily Ristow and Trusting News’ Joy Mayer will lead a discussion and Q&A on Thursday, April 25 at 1 p.m. Eastern. Register to participate.

Culture & Inclusion

» Journalism students see an industry in crisis. It’s time to talk about it (The Conversation)

Journalism students often find themselves in a difficult position — they want a future in the industry but are bombarded by news of layoffs and closures. Students have concerns about burnout, precarity, work-life balance and how long a journalism career might be viable. This challenge provides an opportunity for students, instructors and news leaders to proactively collaborate on what they want the future of journalism to look like.

» Join us: Trauma-informed leadership for post-pandemic news leaders

At its core, trauma-informed leadership recognizes and respects human experiences. Post-pandemic news organizations require us to re-order our skillset, moving “soft” skills to the top. While the soft skills of leadership are difficult, API believes these skills will help retain critical perspectives and pivotal voices. In this workshop — led by Sam Ragland, API’s vice president of journalism programs — we’ll invite caring, coaching and connecting to the table. Join us Wednesday, May 1 for this free session.

Community Engagement & Trust

» Seven things journalists can do to counter news avoidance (Reuters Institute)

More than a third of people globally say they sometimes or often avoid the news. Nic Newman and Ellen Heinrichs addressed seven emerging strategies to address news avoidance. One idea: prioritizing constructive, non-aggressive discussions of polarizing topics. 

» New from API:  How The Keene Sentinel learned valuable lessons from a health-related podcast

Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: The Keene Sentinel added video and transcripts to a local health podcast to make each episode as accessible as possible. The newsroom formed a larger production team to produce the videos, and followed a marketing plan to get the word out to as many people as they could.

Revenue & Resilience

» Is the Texas Tribune an example or an exception? A conversation with Evan Smith about earned income (Nieman Lab)

It’s still early in the emergence of the nonprofit news sector, says Texas Tribune’s founding CEO Evan Smith, which explains in part why so many are struggling to bring in sufficient revenue. Nonprofit startups may feel it’s not worth trying something that’s not certain to exceed, but Smith encourages taking risks and innovating from the start to build their audience and new sources of revenue.

» 404 Media and the hopes of worker-owned journalism (Columbia Journalism Review)

Worker-owned journalism outlets are sprouting up across the country, and subscriptions and ad revenue are providing what’s needed to run them — for now. The revenue model for eight-month-old 404 Media has allowed four journalists to recoup their initial investments, support what it takes to run the site and pay themselves. 

» Three learnings from place-based ecosystem funding (North Carolina Local News Lab Fund)

Lizzy Hazeltine, director of the North Carolina News Lab Fund, reflected on how establishing a sense of place can encourage newsroom funders and leaders. “When national funders support local news and community organizations, local leaders have the capacity and resources to experiment, expand diversified revenue models, and generate more local support,” she wrote.

What else you need to know

🤝 CalMatters acquires The Markup (CalMatters)

👭 ONA is the new home of Digital Women Leaders, expanding access to mentorship for current and aspiring journalism leaders (ONA)

🗒️ TikTok Notes starts rolling out as a new rival to Instagram (The Verge)

🤐 NPR editor who penned scathing piece criticizing the public broadcaster resigns (CNN)

🗳️ Communications workshop webinar: Covering elections and voting in 2024 (The Elections Group)

Weekend reads