This intensive, one-day newsroom management course is designed for senior editors and managers seeking to navigate the complex challenges of the evolving media landscape.
It condenses the core strategic and operational content of the six-week module ‘Managing Newsroom Evolution‘ into a comprehensive schedule.
Over the course of the day, participants will explore the imperatives of digital transformation, master techniques for content prioritisation and team leadership, and learn to manage converged news operations, all while maintaining high ethical standards and fostering an inclusive newsroom culture.
We recommend that participants read the resources listed below before attending this refresher.
One-day intensive: Modern newsroom management
- 09:00 – 10:30: Digital transformation and strategy
- Focus: Understanding the shift from traditional to digital-first newsrooms. Developing a strategic vision for all digital production.
- Group activity: Develop a three-point digital-first mandate for your newsroom.
- Resources (4):
- 10:30 – 10:45: Break
- 10:45 – 12:30: Content strategy and online prioritisation
- Focus: Mastering online content management. Techniques for prioritising news flow, optimising the website’s front page, and using value matrices to maximise content impact.
- Group activity: A value matrix case study: decide content priority for five hypothetical stories.
- Resources (6):
- 12:30 – 13:30: Lunch
- 13:30 – 15:00: Team leadership and breaking news management
- Focus: Practical skills for leading a newsroom: running effective news meetings, strategies for motivating journalists, and structured approaches to handling breaking news situations efficiently and ethically.
- Group activity: Role-play a breaking news situation and structure the editorial and deployment response.
- Resources (5):
- 15:00 – 15:15: Break
- 15:15 – 16:45: Convergence, projects, and ethical leadership
- Focus: Implementing a converged newsroom strategy, the basics of project management for media organisations, planning specialised coverage (like elections), and leading an inclusive newsroom.
- Group activity: Design a multi-platform workflow for a major election coverage project.
- Resources (10):
- Introducing a converged newsroom strategy
- Creating a converged news operation
- Convergence workflows, roles and responsibilities
- Basics of project development for a media organisation
- An example of the media project management process
- The skills and techniques of media project management
- Social media in news production and news dissemination
- Planning tips for effective election coverage
- The role of the news producer
- Ensuring female representation in news leadership and coverage
- 16:45 – 17:00: Final plenary and questions
