Launching the Product Expansion Program
At the News Product Alliance (NPA), our support for our community is constant and consistent. That is why today we are happy to announce an exclusive opportunity for the alumni of the Product Immersion Program at the Newmark J-School at CUNY.
We are introducing a new initiative that will continue the mission of the Product Immersion Program. The initiative, called the Product Expansion Program, is designed to support change makers as they bring product practices to life in their news organizations. The Product Expansion Program is a collaboration made possible with the support of Google News Initiative and will be delivered along with the Newmark J-School at CUNY.
The NPA and Newmark J-School Product Expansion Program will take place in two parts.
The first, is a series of workshops to promote the implementation of product philosophy in newsrooms.
The second, is four mentoring circles for product professionals to address individual challenges. Alumni will be supported by mentors from the media industry.
The workshop series
Have you faced challenges trying to get your newsroom to adopt a product philosophy? Are you struggling to build the business case for Product or generate a clear roadmap to move forward? Or maybe… you are not even sure where you are at?
The “Implementing product philosophy in your newsroom” is a series of workshops that will be delivered over five days. It aims at giving participants practical tools to advocate for and implement a product-thinking approach in their newsrooms.
During five online sessions, participants will learn to analyze the context they are in, understand how to promote cultural transformation, build a business case for product thinking, and reframe their product strategy. At the end of the workshop series, participants will present their plans to move forward and receive feedback from their trainers.
Selected participants are encouraged to invite one senior executive from their organization to join them in the workshop, so that they can together implement what they learn from the workshop in their newsroom.
The trainers for this program are:
Emma Carew Grovum, NPA Director of Programs and founder of Kimbap Media
Rebekah Monson, Co-founder and COO of Letterhead
Kamala Sripada, Managing Editor, Glance US Newsroom
Susannah Locke, Editor of Special Projects at Vox.com
Anita Zielina, Media Strategist and Chair of the NPA Board
This workshop will have two editions with different dates and times to make it accessible for all participants and time zones:
Workshop series - first edition - Tuesday May 31st; Wednesday, June 1; Thursday, June 2nd; Wednesday, June 8th; Thursday, June 9th from 1pm to 3pm ET.
Workshop series - second edition - Monday, June 27th; Tuesday, June 28th; Wednesday, June 29th; Wednesday, July 6th; Thursday, July 7th from 6pm to 8pm ET.
(You can calculate your local time here)
Mentoring Circles
Mentoring circles are designed to help change makers explore a challenge related to professional development focused on product. They will do so with the guidance of a mentor and learning from their alumni cohort.
If you’ve identified a clear challenge hindering your professional development and feel like you’ve gotten to a point in your career where you need support to move to the next level, this space is for you.
Mentors will lead the Mentoring Circles and will provide mentees the opportunity to reflect on an individual challenge they face. Over four months, they will create a plan to address this challenge.
Mentees will be grouped into four thematic areas: managing people and leadership; transitioning into a product role and developing as a product thinker; planning and goal setting; and addressing roadblocks and creative problem solving.
The mentors for this program are:
Gia Castello, Program Manager for Knight Fellowships at the International Center for Journalists
P. Kim Bui, Senior Director for Product and Audience Innovation at the Arizona Republic
Upasna Gautam, Product Manager for Core Programming at CNN.
Andrew Losowsky, Head of Community Product at Vox Media
Frequently Asked Questions
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This program is only for alumni of CUNY’s Product Immersion Program. Participants from the pilot, and the first, second and third cohorts are eligible to apply.
In the case of the workshops, each alumni participant will be given an invitation to share with a leader or executive from their news organization. This person does not need to be confirmed during application, but will need to be confirmed at least 2 weeks prior to the workshop beginning.
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The workshop is aimed at participants interested in promoting a cultural shift towards a product framework in their newsrooms. If you have already started and faced roadblocks, or if you haven’t been able to begin this conversation, this workshop will give you concrete tools to move forward.
If you are a bit further down the line and have already identified an individual challenge related to your career in product, then the mentorship circles are for you.
You can also apply to participate in both the workshop and the mentorship circles. Since the workshops will take place before the mentorship circles, you will have more tools and ideas to work on your individual challenge.
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You will need 10 hours to attend the online workshop on the dates specified above, and some extra time to work on the strategy roadmap you will present on the final day.
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You will need one hour per month, between July and October, to participate in the mentorship calls, and some extra time to reflect and work on your individual challenge.
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No, the program is free for all selected participants.
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Applicants for Workshop A will be notified by May 23rd.
Applicants for Workshop B will be notified by May 30th.
Applicants for Mentorship circles will be notified by June 14th.
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Sure! This workshop is being specially designed to provide concrete tools to bring a product philosophy into your newsroom or continue to develop a product approach in your organization. With five trainers with diverse experiences, we aim to give you ideas and strategies that will help you accelerate change within your organization towards a more sustainable and user-centered business model.
The Product Expansion Program is created in partnership with Newmark J-School at CUNY and thanks to the generous support from Google News Initiative.
