NPA trains Product Thinkers in partnership with Mizzou

NPA partnered with the University of Missouri School of Journalism

The News Product Alliance (NPA) recently wrapped up an exciting collaboration with talented students from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism. With guidance from our NPA team, these emerging journalists not only embraced the challenge but also showcased their potential to innovate in the news industry.

In our rapidly evolving digital media world, the role of news product practitioners can't be understated. News Product professionals bring a unique blend of expertise that navigates the intersection between business, audience, and tech, always with a keen eye on journalism ethics. We're inspired by the enthusiasm and potential we see in Mizzou's students, which they displayed during their internships in news product and audience!

This enriching partnership began with a comprehensive two-day training session in February 2023 at the University of Missouri. Our Executive Director, Feli Carrique, led this educational charge, marking the commencement of an inspiring journey towards reshaping the future of news product management.

NPA Executive Director, Feli Carrique, leads a session at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in February 2023.

“This training was a game-changer for me,” said Emily Hood, an RJI Fellowship recipient and NPA-Mizzou program participant. “NPA training and resources gave me frameworks to plan my internship project and make sure I had the information I needed from stakeholders to properly prioritize.”

The two-day training offered a comprehensive overview of news product topics, starting on the first day with the product development lifecycle, audience research methods, personas, and an introduction to design thinking, which concluded with a cool-down activity and Q&A session. The second day dove deeper into identifying problems, setting outcome-based goals, developing roadmaps, and setting success metrics. Further sessions involved brainstorming, prioritization exercises, and a closing session on narrating your journey as a product thinker and advocating product thinking within a newsroom setting.

“The NPA brings years of experience of practice and training these skills and our students receive a professional workshop experience – one tailored for professionals not abridged for students,” said Damon Kiesow, Knight Chair of Journalism Innovation at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

“The training works because the skills of news product naturally align with the research, reporting, and critical thinking inherent in journalism. Beyond the workshops, students get the opportunity to network with the trainers, participate in the NPA Slack community, and attend (or teach) at the NPA summit. It is a huge advantage for students who are interested in audience engagement, strategy, and innovation in news in general.”

Notably, in April, several Mizzou students participated in the 2023 NPA Summit's student newsroom, where they worked alongside an editor to create content based on NPA Summit sessions, workshops, and masterclasses.

NPA hosted coaching and training sessions around diversity, equity, and inclusion principles to support students as they enter newsrooms and navigate the systemic inequality that is often present. The sessions, held in April and May, were led by Emma Carew Grovum, co-founder of the News Product Alliance and founder of Kimbap Media.

As part of this partnership, the NPA also provided an orientation for the host newsrooms in April. The training provided the fundamentals of news product content and news product thinking in the newsroom. The NPA team created this training exclusively for the mentors from the host newsrooms. 

The Mizzou students recently wrapped up their newsroom internships, and the NPA has continued to provide support in our exclusive Slack channel, including a cohort-wide coaching session with the NPA team.

Emily Hood, the program participant wrapping up her internship at the Star Tribune, led the creation of an analytics bot for the newsroom.  

“Newsroom staff do not have a way to easily access data about story and author performance,” she said. “The goal of this bot was to provide analytics in Slack, where most of the newsroom was already communicating every day, and provide context to help raise data literacy.”

Alumni of the program are still benefitting from their experience with the NPA curriculum. “The most impactful part of the training from last summer was teaching me the basics of product thinking,” said Sydney Lewis, a current student at Mizzou who is also currently an intern at the Star Tribune.

Over the last year, Sydney built upon her news product foundation, even volunteering as a facilitator at the 2023 NPA Summit. This summer, Sydney is working on the Star Tribune’s push notification strategy.

“I’ve approached it with an audience-centered, data-guided mindset which Emma Carew Grovum and Feli Carrique taught me how to do last year. I defined OKRs for my project, built a product roadmap, and made plans for how my work will sustain itself once my internship is over,” she said. “I wouldn’t have known how to do any of that without their teaching and guidance.”

“We are proud of our partnership with the University of Missouri School of Journalism and supporting the next generation of news product thinkers,” said Feli Carrique, Executive Director of the News Product Alliance.

“Product tools can be immensely powerful in the hands of young professionals, as they enable them to deliver diverse and innovative products that deeply resonate with their audiences, all while helping drive sustainable business solutions for the organizations they work for.”