A question of platform
Plus: Keeping headlines simple and a leading journalism and media leadership course opens for 2025 applications
Good evening,
So I’m a day late with this - missing my own self-imposed deadline of a Wednesday afternoon. Dad duties and other things meant this digest had to be delayed. But I hope it will be worth the wait.
We’ll start with a look at what is the platform for local news? It’s a hot topic in both the independent/start-up media world but also the established ones. If there’s one thing journalists like to moan about and discuss it is the content management system used. I’ve had experiences of many of them (they all essentially boil down to a multitude of boxes!) but it’s how they sync up with everything else that provides the power behind them.
Substack has been the recent darling of the media world and I’ve highlighted the great work of
on a number of times in my digests. Michael is predictably modest in this piece from Ian Burrell in The i who explores whether Substack is going to save local news.I think it’s created a new route, as opposed to transforming it, because previously firing into life a Wordpress blog, buying a domain, hosting and that level of perhaps technical intimidation was still a barrier to entry to start publishing. Substack is more akin to the social media platforms which have put publishing in the palm of everyone’s hand and encouraged journalists, like Michael, to take an idea and road test it in a lean way. There’s a virtual session taking place on Monday 23 September which features
and and Jonathan Heawood from the Public Interest News Found speaking about the use of Substack for local news.But Substack is facing a problem when publications reach a certain size or want to become more of a network - as Mill Media is doing. They’ve announced they are exporting their mailing list and heading for pastures new on the Ghost platform (one I know well, as it was the CMS of choice when I was editor-in-chief of InYourArea).
It makes a lot of sense. Substack is not the best for unlocking further revenue opportunities outside of the subscription model and it takes a cut - so if you’re comfortable you can re-create the experience with a reinvestment of that cut then once you’ve reached a certain scale.
While there’s a huge focus on newsletters we also shouldn’t write off the humble website platform. As the Island Echo shows, they’ve recently refreshed their site, taken on staff and are smashing out around 3million page views a month on the Isle of Wight.
Whatever the CMS, it comes down to having a clear mission and content does play a part.
My three top tips for a content management system
Make it accessible on the go. Can you file from mobile? Or at least get the content in to get a story ready for someone to eyes over? Even in the soaking rain at BBC Radio 2 In The Park on Sunday then getting a breaking news story live was feasible with Wordpress even on a relatively patch 4G signal.
Consistency of use. Is everyone on the same page with setting up and laying out stories? Does someone know a much faster way to do something and then everyone can benefit? And ensuring there is consistency to how this is done in terms of sections/categories/tags/other elements on the page. This builds over time to improve search authority but also becomes reliable and helps readers to navigate.
Don’t be afraid of automation. I think this is where we’ll see one of the biggest uses of AI, to speed up the layout and setting out of digital content. If it can second guess which picture or related story you’re going to need, then great - time saved.
Another piece that caught my eye in the past week was from Nieman Lab about the need for simpler headlines.
Not just for the sake of editors but more importantly for readers.
This comes from a study carried out on reader behaviour showing how they gravitate towards simpler, cleaner, headlines. When you’re proud of a piece of work you’ve done as a journalist there is a tendency to over-write - both in length of piece but also in the headline and lead text. Keep It Simple Journalists was the motto.
And that’s likely why you’ll often see explainer content - on the why, the what and the how regularly over-performing because it drives click-through from any platform.
Finally, I’ll finish with the University of Central Lancashire’s journalism leadership and innovation course has opened up applications for the 2025 cohort. You can find full details here.
Full disclaimer, I’ve done this course and taught on it too - it’s a unique course and if you’re at a stage of your career where you’re looking to develop yourself and explore new avenues then it could be right for you. I’ve written a bit about the journalism innovation side of the course.
That’s all for this week’s What I’ve Been Reading Digest. All feedback as ever, ed@almaonline.co.uk.
Have a great rest of the week and keep going.
Ed
Some gold in here this week Ed. I'm reading the syllabus for the course between writing this.