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News Alchemists #8: "Are you a journalist? You might be the product designer your users need."

Welcome back to the News Alchemists Newsletter 👋

What a joy to be back in your inbox – or to appear in it for the first time if you are one of more than a hundred people who signed up last week!

The feedback many of you shared – in public or with me directly – after the official launch of this newsletter was a real boost. We all need some hope in these tumultuous times: this newsletter wants to give hope to you but, let me tell you: you already gave hope to me with that feedback. Thank you.

Before we get to today's links, one quick note: many of you probably missed the many reads I shared on LinkedIn while I was testing this newsletter there. I'd tell you to find them all on the homepage but you probably don't have time to browse through 40+ links anyways, right? Not to worry: here are my 7 favourite links from the first 7 editions 📚

Time for the links. Enjoy!

🧞Pia Ranada is head of community at 🧩 Rappler in the Philippines. In this essay written in 2023 during her JSK Fellowship at Stanford, she argues that, as journalists, we must "do more in giving people agency over the problems we uncover. I think part of agency is strengthening bonds between people so they can effect change together."

🧞Liz Kelly Nelson, author of the Project C newsletter, led a collective effort in classifying the news ecosystem: "The result is an infographic that attempts to capture the full spectrum of where news content is being produced and distributed today." From legacy media, or 'Trad News', to news influencers and 'content creator-model journalists'.

You know when I talk about wanting to give you some hope through this newsletter? 🧞Rishad Patel of Splice delivers buckets full of hope in this fantastic post: "Product-market fit is what will build you viability — and revenue. Especially in a situation where you can no longer afford to depend on funding from the U.S. government. Forgive me if this sounds weird, but here we go: as a journalist, you’re uniquely positioned to thrive in this new landscape."

(I already told you a couple of editions ago to sign up for Rishad's Splice Frames newsletter. You haven't done it yet? Do it now.)

BuzzFeed is creating "a new social media platform built specifically to spread joy and enable playful creative expression." Why? Because social media has become overrun with SNARF. No, I'm not telling you what SNARF stands for – the other Peretti will explain.

This essay from 🧩 City Bureau's director of operations 🧞Harry Backlund is from 2019. But it's still so damn relevant. Based on the theory of human development known as 'Maslow's hierarchy of needs', it introduces the concept of a hierarchy of information needs, and suggests to use it as a framework to help news organisations prioritise information that communities need the most.

Allow me to savour this rare occasion to promote a media brand from my home country as a positive example: since 1993, 🧩 Internazionale has been translating the best of the foreign press into Italian. Throughout three decades of challenges, "Internazionale has evolved […] Yet, at its core, its relevance still rests on a fundamentally simple concept: the vast array of available information on the internet becomes unmanageable unless it is carefully filtered and curated."

Fascinating interview with 🧞Talha Ahad, CEO of 🧩 The Centrum Media, a Pakistani independent, video-first newsroom: "Monetisation is a big challenge for us too. I’m trying to run this project as a business, not as an NGO or a newsroom reliant on grant funding because I don’t think that model is long-term sustainable." 🎯 Interview by 🧞Laura Oliver for the Reuters Institute.

Want more? 📚 Check out the previous editions

Are you new here? You might find it useful to keep reading.

To everyone else: See you next week! 👋

Making the most of this newsletter

Raise your hand if you like a treasure hunt 🙋 I hope you did because in these emails the links that are worthy of your attention are more than seven:

When you see this emoji 🧩 before the name of an organisation, check them out. They are amazing orgs I want to highlight because their success provides a piece of the puzzle (see what I did there?), showing that it's possible to build sustainable journalism that creates value for people.

And when you see a 🧞genie before the name of a person? Click on the name and follow their work. That's someone we can all learn a lot from.

About News Alchemists and this newsletter

News Alchemists is a project I started last year, during a fellowship with the International Center for Journalists. I gathered some of the brightest minds in my network, and we met regularly over nine months to reflect on what our industry needs to do to heal the broken relationship between journalism and the people we aim to serve.

The challenge can be daunting, as there are no easy fixes. But I believe we can succeed if we stay hopeful, nurture our sense of purpose, and learn from one another. That's what gave me the idea of creating this newsletter, as I explain in more detail here.

Wanna tell me what you like and don't like about the newsletter?

Do it, please! I love all kinds of feedback: what you like, so I can do more of it; what you don't, so I can do less of that; or any other suggestion to make this newsletter more useful and more accessible:

  • Hit the like button at the end of this post, or click on Comment to leave a public note;
  • If you are reading this in your inbox, just hit Reply and message me directly. I'd love to hear your thoughts and also any recommendations for interesting links I should include in the following edition.
  • If you like what you read, share this post on your social media of choice and encourage more people to sign up!

See you next week! 👋

Published by:

Mattia Peretti

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