Unlock the potential of audience-centered news products with this immersive, four-part workshop series designed specifically for North Carolina local news organizations. Through hands-on, interactive sessions and mentorship support, participants will master the skills and frameworks needed to align their content and products with real audience needs, creating lasting value and sustainable revenue. Guided by industry experts through the News Product Alliance, participants will gain practical insights on audience research, product strategy, and business alignment, ensuring their products resonate with communities and drive meaningful engagement.

Perfect for editorial, product, and business teams, this program empowers news organizations to transform how they connect with audiences—leading to stronger relationships, increased loyalty, and diversified revenue streams.

We will accept up to 7 newsroom teams at no cost to the newsroom. We encourage applications from newsrooms that primarily serve an underserved community; newsrooms led by BIPOC leaders; newsrooms that are nonprofit or independent; or newsrooms that have a demonstrated commitment to building audience-centered products. Selected participants will be part of a cohort of mission-driven news organizations, fostering a learning environment where participants can share diverse perspectives and drive meaningful change within their communities.

Program Timeline:

• Application Deadline: January 3, 2025
• Selection Announcement: By mid January
• Program Kickoff: February 10
• Workshop 1: February 12 – Why Audience-Centered News Products Are Key to Saving Local News
• Workshop 2: February 19 – Understanding and Centering Audience Needs
• Audience Research Experimentation: February 20 – March 18
  • Coaching Call 1: Review User Research Briefs
• Workshop 3: March 19 – Turning Research into Insights
• Workshop 4: March 26 – Connecting Audience Needs to Your Business Strategy
  • Coaching Call 2: Early April – Focus on Business Needs
• Reflection Circle: Mid-April – Sharing Insights and Next Steps
• 6-Month Post-Program Survey: October – Follow-up on implementation, outcomes, and further support needs. 

Application Process

Applications:

To ensure we can tailor the program to each participant’s needs, we ask news organizations to share key information during the application process. This includes:

• An overview of the organization’s mission and audience, particularly how it serves its community.
• Specific goals or challenges related to audience engagement and product development.
• Information on how the organization envisions implementing audience-centered strategies.
• Identification of the 2-4 team members who will participate, including their roles and how they’ll apply program insights within their organization.
  

Please fill out this application by January 3, 2025. 

We encourage applications from newsrooms that primarily serve an underserved community; newsrooms led by BIPOC leaders; newsrooms that are nonprofit or independent; or newsrooms that have a demonstrated commitment to building audience-centered products.

Program Overview

This program consists of four interactive, 2-hour workshops designed to equip participants with essential product management skills and strategies for creating audience-centered news products that drive engagement and revenue for local news organizations. Each workshop builds upon the previous one, combining theory and practical exercises to enhance participant understanding and application. Additionally, participants will have two coaching calls and a final reflection circle to solidify and apply their learning to their unique contexts.

Workshop 1: Why Audience-Centered News Products Are Key to Saving Local News

February 12

This workshop introduces participants to the foundational concepts of product management and its critical role in transforming the news industry. Through a focus on the product development cycle and audience needs, participants will gain an understanding of how centering audiences can create value and drive sustainable revenue.

Outcomes

• Understand the role of product management within the news industry.
• Explore the product development cycle and its stages.
• Learn why audience needs should be at the core of product strategy.
• Apply tools like the Value Proposition Canvas to identify audience value.
• Review examples of successful local news products that balance audience and revenue needs.

Workshop 2: Understanding and Centering Audience Needs

February 19

This workshop dives into the methods for understanding audience needs, including research techniques to identify and prioritize user problems. Participants will learn to craft problem statements, conduct user research, and choose the right methodologies for their organization.

Outcomes

• Learn how to develop research questions and hypotheses centered on audience needs.
• Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research methods and their applications.
• Gain skills in planning and executing user research effectively.
• Develop a user research brief using a provided template.
• Identify best practices for recruiting participants and gathering actionable insights.

Coaching Call 1: User Research Brief Review

3-Week Audience Research Gap

Participants will develop user research briefs to gather insights from key audiences and align audience needs with organizational goals.

Workshop 3: Turning Research into Insights

March 19

This workshop helps participants turn audience research into actionable insights using human-centered design and roadmap planning. Participants will learn to interpret user needs, understand audience segments, define objectives, and develop a product roadmap that prioritizes audience value.

Outcomes:

• Transform user research findings into clear insights by identifying user stories and key audience segments.
• Apply human-centered design thinking to problem-solving and product development.
• Develop product goals and objectives using frameworks like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
• Create a product roadmap and prioritize initiatives using templates and methods like RICE and Eisenhower Matrix.
• Revisit and refine the Value Proposition Canvas to align insights with product goals.

Workshop 4: Connecting Audience Needs to Your Business Strategy

March 26

In this final workshop, participants will connect their audience-centered strategies with business goals, exploring revenue models, competitive analysis, and market positioning. This session emphasizes the creation of a Lean Canvas to integrate product and business needs.

Outcomes:

• Identify and analyze different revenue models in the news industry (B2C and B2B).
• Conduct a SWOT analysis to assess organizational resources and strengths.
• Perform a competitive analysis to evaluate market positioning.
• Understand market dynamics like the attention economy and consumption patterns.
• Build a Lean Canvas or Business Model Canvas to align audience insights with business strategy.

Coaching Call 2: Focus on Business Needs

Participants will reflect on their Lean or Business Model Canvas with their coach, and identify unique areas of their business model to improve or lean into. 

Reflection Circle

DATE TBD

Participants will share their experiences, insights, and next steps in implementing audience-centered products.