This is a huge conceptual change for people familiar with reporting and editing roles. We're used to buying "products" either online or in retail stores. Tech experts describe an application or service as a "product." All that makes sense. But , historically, we did not think of news this way,
Global Product Marketing - Product Introductions for Consumers.
Product managers are responsible for overseeing a news product that is an editorial successand commercially successful and that is constructed efficiently and operates well.
The news you publish, in aggregate and in time is also produced in different varieties as a physical item (a newspaper) or as a digital service (a application or website) which you can sell or offer to a target market of consumers.
In the age of the "personal news cycle" in which a wealth of information and constant connectivity allows every person the ability to control her news consumption our news products have to be effective and focused to achieve success. They should know their users and what they are looking for and how they will use it.
This is what is a product manager is. This job that has been the core of the tech world for a long time has been increasingly taken on by news agencies.
Product managers are accountable to think about what customers (your readers or viewers) want from the entirety of that product; what their experience like, and how it can be more useful or convenient for them. This means they are responsible for simultaneously considering the business and marketing strategy, the technological execution, and yes the direction that the editorial team takes in the news. Product managers are adept at combining these three elements to develop a plan that manages a news item that is both a commercial as well as an editorial success. It's also highly efficient and works well.
The American Press Institute recently invited more than 40 managers of product from top news organizations to one of our Thought Leader Summits to discuss this ever-important job. From that day of intimate conversations, we've collected in this white paper the best techniques and lessons that all news organizations can learn from.
This whitepaper is for those in the field of product management seeking out new ways to improve their practices and ideas; managers who want to ensure their business has the right processes in place to handle the value and experience users get from news journalists, developers, marketers and everyone else who contributes to the creation of content or products and wants to play a bigger role in making them successful.
The ideas as well as in some cases the words themselves, are drawn from the a few dozen attendees at our summit. While we don't claim that everyone at the summit agrees with all the views or ideas within the white paper, they in all deserve credit for the wisdom contained within.
As an API consultant, Sarah Milstein was responsible for coordinating the summit and the recruitment of participants. She is VP of programs for O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, with a diverse background in journalism, lean startup methods as well as product development.
