This resource will help news organizations be more strategic, efficient and effective, reducing strain on founders, journalists and operations professionals alike

Monday, July 15. It wasn’t the call I was hoping for.

“Your recertification is denied.”

In one of my non-news related jobs, we are required to keep in compliance with a local regulation to keep a major government contract. We had a site visit to renew — pretty simple and standard, really. Or so we thought. 

The auditors determined that we had missed one particular requirement. One thing that was very minor and we thought was resolved while the auditor was still there. Nope! It was still wrong when he arrived. No appeal process. Six months to apply again. 

Now we’re lost in the minutiae of business licensing and government regulations to make sure we can keep the contract, which is required for the organization’s survival. 

The challenge

Most news organizations may not have to worry about government contracts, but there are always potential places to slip up — payroll, taxes, requirements for grants, advertisers, insurance, for legal compliance — and screwing one up can expose an organization to existential risk. Not to mention, all of these can give the CEO gray hair and keep them up at night, when they instead should be having nightmares about journalism and revenue. 

So how can we make our lives easier as business and organizational leaders?

That question is at the core of why I pitched my RJI fellowship project. I am creating a comprehensive guide and free tools for better strategic operations for independent news organizations. This resource will help news organizations be more strategic, efficient and effective, reducing strain on founders, journalists and operations professionals alike.

You’ve likely heard the term “culture eats strategy for breakfast”? Well I learned through experience that operations are the legs of that breakfast table. The foundation of any strategic, business, revenue, programmatic or journalistic endeavor crumbles quickly without a strong operational foundation. It’s a pyramid.

News requires more than just reporters. A robust information ecosystem needs sustainable, resilient organizations that can invest in meeting community needs. However, operations are usually the last thing anyone wants to address — but if they’re insufficient, every organization will fail. Excellent operations provide the necessary foundation to build strong, resilient, successful, and impactful organizations.

We need to understand what strong operations look like for independent news organizations. 

Thanks to others in the field (especially all the folks at LION), organizational resilience has become a significant part of the conversation in independent news. I plan to focus my resource on HOW we can build that organizational capacity and resilience for small and medium-sized independent news organizations, both for-profit and nonprofit. I want to understand what strong operations look like at news organizations and build tools for all of us to use.

How you can help

I’m asking for your contribution: 

• What is your biggest pain point regarding operations at your organization? 
• What takes up your time? 
• What is the one thing that, if fixed, would make your organization run more efficiently or save you the most time and headache?

I’m also looking for people who want to share their challenges and successes with me to help inform my work. What have you learned as a leader? What do you want to share with the world?

I’ve developed a short survey — let me know where you are doing well, and where you best want to improve. 

P.S. We figured out the certification issue and didn’t lose the contract. Now we’re back to managing all the other crises at the organization. One day at a time!

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Cite this article

Myers, Kate (2024, Aug. 6). Building operational tools for independent news organizations? Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/building-operational-tools-for-independent-news-organizations/