If the product is news
The case for tighter newsroom and product collaboration – and a radical approach to building news organizations for the future
This article is part one of a six-part series. New installments will be published over the coming weeks, so check back regularly for the next entries.
News organizations across the world are facing several threats to their long-term sustainability, viability, and relevance. With the introduction of generative AI, digital consumption patterns and preferences are rapidly changing, and the platforms media traditionally relied on for audience discovery, like search and social media, are becoming less and less reliable.
Publishers face stiff competition from news aggregators like Apple News when it comes to user experience, convenience, and price; and competition from influencers and creators across the Web when it comes to news presentation, style, and trust. The increasingly hostile political climate continues to put trust in news at risk and the proliferation of mis- and dis-information, fed by generative AI, makes it even harder for news organizations to break through the noise.
And if all of that wasn’t enough, the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report, 2024 found that only a minority of people across the globe are willing to pay (17%) and the majority would not consider paying anything (57%) — a potential threat to the long-term survival of news business models currently shifting away from an over-reliance on advertising towards reader and subscription revenue.
While high-quality journalism will continue to be a differentiator and separate quality news sources from the rest, it is not enough. News organizations will increasingly need to become rigorously focused on their audiences — providing real solutions to their everyday problems, desires, and needs.
With funding nearly always limited or a restraint, news organizations will need to be thoughtful about how to test and validate ideas with their audience before pouring more resources into projects. They’ll need to be attuned to who their readers, supporters, and followers are, to understand what they can offer that will be of relevance and of interest. They’ll need to consider the experience of interacting with their journalism and ways that audiences can engage with and support it. Publishers will need to get more experimental about what “journalism” even means, rethinking traditional storytelling tools, delivery methods, and story formats.
This means that, in order for newsrooms to truly be successful in this next era, to compete for attention, and to be relevant to people’s lives — they can no longer operate as if news is not a product. And news organizations can no longer treat product teams as sidecars to the news operation.
The power of product is not fully being realized in most news organizations
Over the last decade, many modern news organizations have adopted product as a fundamental part of their business and product management as a legitimate role and function. The News Product Alliance’s The State of Product Management in Journalism: 2025 Census reported that nearly two-thirds of its respondents reported that their organizations now have a formal product role or team. These teams vary in size, structure, remit, and overall maturity but are generally viewed as sitting at the intersection of news and business, with a relentless focus on understanding and meeting audiences’ needs through digital features, products, and experiences.
While it’s become an established and expected part of news organizations, there’s still a lack of clarity about what exactly “product” is, what they’re ultimately responsible for, and where it should reside within the organization.
But wherever the product team is placed, in conversations conducted with newsroom and product leaders at various news organizations globally, there seems to be a consensus that the largest gap in misunderstanding continues to reside between product teams and the newsroom. And due to this continued misunderstanding, there’s often a “power struggle” dynamic between the two teams, hindering the effectiveness of both.
What’s hindering this collaboration?
True integration and collaboration within news organizations remains a challenge to progress. There’s a continued question of “ownership” and who’s ultimately responsible for outcomes that can cause tension between both news teams and product teams. This lack of understanding from both sides can lead to some mutual feelings of disrespect. Product people often feel as if their expertise and skill sets aren’t valued by the newsroom, and newsroom staff often feel like product people don’t respect and value the craft of their work.
But, all hope is not lost. There are news organizations across the globe aiming to tackle this divide, trying experimental projects, roles, and organizational structures with the goal to bake this collaboration into the organization’s DNA. And some are already seeing fruitful and inspiring results, potentially paving the path for what news organizations of the next decade might look like.
In a series of interviews conducted over the winter and spring of 2025, product and newsroom leaders at news organizations across the world shared how they’re navigating this complicated relationship. In the coming weeks, in partnership with the News Product Alliance, we’ll share case studies from news organizations who’ve given insight into how this marriage could actually work.
About the author
Mariah Craddick is a product strategist with deep experience in the news and media industry. She’s currently leading product strategy at The Atlantic with a focus on driving subscription growth and enabling retention through feature adoption and delightful subscriber experiences.
Previously, she led teams as product manager at The Wall Street Journal, McClatchy, and Crain Communications, playing a key role in building features that drive readership and engage subscribers. Prior to her product management career, she held several roles across the newsroom – from writing for the legendary Ebony and Jet magazines to executing social media strategy at Crain’s Chicago Business.
This “If the product is news” blog series published via the News Product Alliance is part of a larger research study and project she conducted as part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY’s Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership which she completed in June 2025.