I predict that 2018 is the year when newsroom culture will finally be a priority. That means leadership teams who are concerned about whether or not their journalists are fulfilled by their work and contributions. That means editors and managers who are actively looking out for the well-being of their teammates. That means breaking down outdated silos and finding ways to truly work collaboratively across teams.
Why do I think this is really going to happen? Because I’ve seen panels popping up at journalism conferences about self-care and burnout. Because I’ve watched newsrooms across the country take small steps toward purging sexual harassers from their ranks. Because I recently joined a gathering of more than 100 journalists and technologists for two days of discussion around how to make newsrooms better places to work.
We all agreed that the work we’re doing as journalists is more important now than ever. We agreed that investigative work matters, that beautiful storytelling matters, and that finding sustainable business strategies matter. But we also agreed that it matters whether or not journalists know how to grow in their current positions. And it matters whether or not people actually enjoy showing up to work every day. And it also matters whether people feel safe and supported in their newsrooms.
Journalism is hard work — we all know that. Most journalists and news technologists could be making far more money doing far easier work in another industry, and yet we stay. It’s time for newsroom leadership teams to step up and implement real strategies to support their journalists. Start that mentorship program you’ve been thinking about. Pitch a project that requires work across several teams. Do something nice for a teammate or colleague. Be a better citizen of your newsroom.
As we examine new and innovative ways to deliver our news, it’s just as important to examine the ways we collaborate to build our news reports. Are we constantly learning? Are we building strong relationships between reporters, technologists, designers, and editors?
In 2018, a healthy news organization is one where everyone is constantly pursuing greater heights, both individually and as a team.
Newsroom culture matters because every year we’re losing talented journalists to other fields, other pursuits — a trend that disproportionately affects women and journalists of color. Journalists leave the field because they aren’t empowered to grow in their careers, because they feel like “only lonelies,” and because they lack formal and informal mentorship. As our industry rapidly changes, traditional career paths have been broken: and it’s time for us to help each other chart our futures together.
Emma Carew Grovum is a product manager at The Daily Beast.
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
Joanne McNeil Gatekeeping the gatekeepers
Rachel Davis Mersey AI, with real smarts
Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Joyce Barnathan It will be harder to bury the news
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Dannagal G. Young Stop covering politics as a game
Errin Haines At the ballot, it’s time to count black women
Susie Banikarim R.I.P. Pivot to Video (2017–2017)
Molly de Aguiar Good journalism won’t be enough
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Edward Roussel Eyes, ears, and brains
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Kristen Muller The year of the voter
Eric Nuzum Beyond the narrative arc
Michael Kuntz The only pivot that might work
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Sally Lehrman Trust comes first
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Matt Thompson Here come the attention managers
Tim Carmody Watch out for Spotify
Jamie Mottram From pageviews to t-shirts
Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Tamar Charney We get serious about algorithms
Kinsey Wilson Facebook and Google: Help out or pay up
Cristina Wilson The year of the Instagram Story
Monique Judge Letting black women tell their own stories
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Publishing less to give readers more
Pablo Boczkowski The rise of skeptical reading
Mandy Velez texting is lit rn, fam
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Marie Gilot No assholes allowed
Alastair Coote The year of self-improvement
Justin Kosslyn The year journalists become digital security experts
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Jim Brady With the people, not just of the people
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Ruth Palmer Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Dan Shanoff You down with OTT? (Yeah, DTC)
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism
Jesse Holcomb Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán The editorial meeting of the future
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
Cindy Royal Your journalism curriculum is obsolete
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Dheerja Kaur Fun with subscription products
Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
Damon Krukowski Reviving the alt-weekly soul
David Skok Finding an information-life balance
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The Snapchat scenario and the risk of more closed platforms
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Richard Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Michelle Ferrier The year of the great reckoning
Emily Goligoski Looking beyond news for inspiration
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Borja Echevarría TV goes digital, digital goes TV
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
Hossein Derakhshan Television has won
Mariano Blejman News games rule
Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Gordon Crovitz Serving readers over advertisers
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Helen Havlak Keywords, not publishers, power the world’s biggest feeds
Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer Skepticism and narcissism
Raney Aronson-Rath Transparency is the antidote to fake news
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Manoush Zomorodi Self-help as a publishing strategy
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
Jacqui Cheng Retailers move into content
Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
Jared Newman Venture funding and digital news don’t mix
Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Rodney Benson Better, less read, and less trusted
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Jennifer Coogan The future is female
Amy Webb Listen to weak signals
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Mario García Storytelling finally adapts to mobile
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
Nikki Usher The year of The Washington Post
Caitlin Thompson Podcasting models mature and diversify
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Will Sommer The year local media gets conservative
Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
P. Kim Bui The reckoning is only beginning
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Marcela Donini and Thiago Herdy Collaboration is the way forward for Brazilian journalism
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
Raju Narisetti Mirror, mirror on the wall
Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
AX Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
Lucas Graves From algorithms to institutions
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Adam Thomas Sharing is caring: The year of the mentor
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them