Why Black-owned newsrooms are focusing on product strategy
For independent newsrooms across America, developing products that connect with audiences and align with revenue strategies remains challenging. Those issues are compounded for Black-owned newsrooms, which face systemic issues related to access to institutional and commercial funding while serving audiences that may be less able to financially support their news sources.
That’s why the Black Media Product Strategy program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY focused on training teams from Black-owned newsrooms in how to develop product strategies for digital transformation and sustainability. The tuition-free program was a collaboration between Newmark’s professional training arm, J+, and the Black Media Initiative at the Center for Community Media, with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
In total, 25 journalists from 12 independent, Black-owned newsrooms in 10 states studied with product experts, most of them Black as well, for 12 weeks. The virtual, hands-on training focused on product thinking, product development, prototyping, design sprints, metrics and revenue.
Many of the newsrooms focused on developing new products like newsletters, podcasts, social media campaigns and live events, while also exploring new revenue models, redesigning websites and conducting audience research.
For Nehemiah Frank, founder and editor-in-chief of The Black Wall Street Times in Tulsa, the program’s focus on Black-led news outlets was part of the program’s appeal. “Because the program specifically targeted African Americans, we knew we’d be more comfortable learning in a space with other Black publishing teams who’ve had similar experiences — both in the professional and communal setting, which sometimes requires non-traditional approaches to reaching our target audiences,” Frank said.
Along with redesigning their funding model, Frank said that the biggest takeaways from the program were switching to a new CMS — the publisher-oriented Newspack — and being able to explain to his team, with graphs and data, that a new product strategy was necessary for the outlet.
“If we are to compete against established news sites with bigger budgets, we have to be more innovative in news delivery, which is what we’re testing,” he explained.
For Wichita-based news outlet The Community Voice, BPMS gave the newsroom the space to focus on a complete rebranding and redesign of both their print and digital content. Publisher Kurt Oswald says that the outlet hopes to evolve its current newsletter products to connect with audiences. “Building a reader base that is involved, interested and engaged will make it easier to generate revenue through digital sales as well as through donations and memberships,” Oswald said.
Oswald also said that the program helped them understand that the challenges they faced — issues like audience outreach, client relations, reporting and revenue — are industry-wide concerns.
He says that there have been times when the newsroom has been tempted to revert back to “the way we’ve always done it” when new challenges arise. But he advises all other newsrooms who are considering implementing products strategy to not give up.
“Be dedicated, think out of the box and stick to your decision for longer than a minute,” he said. “Too many times things are tried expecting or anticipating immediate results and when that doesn’t happen in a month something else is tried. If it was a good idea to begin with, you need to stick it out and wait for the ROI.”
Both The Black Wall Street Times and The Community Voice offer their audiences something they can’t get anywhere else — hyperlocal news that is focused on how stories “affect the Black person, child, family, community,” according to Oswald.
Frank says that he hopes his outlet will help his audience make more informed decisions. “My community sees The Black Wall Street Times not only as a trusted source for information, but as a way to mobilize — be it marching to the polls or in protest,” he said.
