Changing Newsroom Culture

Create a digital-first strategy at The Journal News to shed the habits of the old print days, change the culture of its newsroom, and positively impact the mindsets of all those who worked within it.

When The Journal News moved to a new office building, they designed a newsroom where everyone could see engagement metrics, with the staff desks arranged around a large-screen display of Chartbeat Publishing. What editors wanted was actionable information on the top-performing online stories, readers’ habits, and traffic sources.

The Journal News got “a jolt of energy.” The physical prominence of Chartbeat Publishing in the newsroom keeps the staff excited about the work they’re doing every day, and allows them to constantly adapt and optimize their homepage. What used to be a strong bias for print yielded to a full-on embrace of digital, a dramatic newsroom culture shift. There’s even been some friendly competition among reporters to rise to “top authors” in the Chartbeat dashboard.