FT Strategies

📰 "Local coverage is driven by shared experience." About 5 years ago, the brilliant Mandy Jenkins - then GM for CompassLocal at McClatchy Media - told me this, and it's stayed with me ever since. Mandy, who passed away way too early in 2023, had this rare ability to cut through industry noise and articulate what actually matters in local journalism. FT Strategies and Knight Foundation released "The Local News Playbook," and it essentially builds the blueprint around what Mandy understood instinctively. The key insights: 🏘️ Deep community embedding wins. Local news organisations (LNOs) that truly integrate themselves into the fabric of their communities build trust and long-term relevance that can't be replicated by parachute journalism. 🤝 Direct relationships matter most. Two-way conversations with audiences (not just broadcasting at them) are becoming central to sustainability. 📊 Relevance beats scale. Stop chasing audience size. Local publishers differentiate through depth and meaning, not reach. 💰 Diversify or die. Financial resilience requires multiple revenue streams and disciplined thinking about value exchange - no single funding model saves everyone. 🎯 Mission + money + discipline. The resilient outlets combine clear purpose, commercial focus, and operational rigour. 🤖 AI as a tool, not a saviour. Data and AI can unlock personalisation and efficiency gains, but only with proper governance and transparency. 🔄 No universal solution exists. There's no single path to sustainability - the ecosystem's health depends on strengthening value flows between all actors: journalism support organisations, funders, policymakers, and platforms. ⚙️ And finally and crucially, the Value Loop is everything. Relevance → attention → revenue → capacity. This cycle is strongest where content, capital, time, soft capabilities, and technical capabilities all flow and reinforce each other. Worth reading if you're building, funding, or supporting local news. Well done to the authors!

⭐ In this month’s newsletter, we explore why relevance, not just scale, is becoming the defining factor for sustainable success in news and media. While much of the industry focus has centred on reach, distribution and AI-driven scale, our latest research highlights a different priority. In an environment shaped by abundance and overload, audiences are looking for content that feels meaningful, trustworthy and genuinely useful in their daily lives. Drawing on insights from 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟮, supported by the Google News Initiative, and 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, produced in partnership with the Knight Foundation, we examine how standout creators and local publishers are building distinctive propositions rooted in audience needs and converting that relevance into commercial outcomes. AI plays a critical supporting role, extending capacity and enabling greater focus on originality and connection, rather than replacing it. Read the full update below 👇

🌎 FT Strategies and the Knight Foundation are delighted to launch their new report, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, which examines how local news organisations can build financial resilience while remaining deeply rooted in the communities they serve. At a time of growing economic pressure, audience fragmentation and platform disruption, the research examines what distinguishes local news organisations that are succeeding today. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁? 🔹 How sustainable local news creates value: why relevance, community trust and audience time are the foundations of financial resilience. 🔹 The Local News Value Loop: a practical model showing how engagement, revenue and organisational capacity reinforce one another. 🔹 The five value drivers of sustainability: community connection, direct relationships, revenue balance, mission alignment and intelligent innovation. 🔹 What distinguishes resilient local news organisations: how different models succeed across markets, ownership structures and stages of maturity. 🔹 Guidance for publishers, funders and policymakers: practical priorities for investment, capability-building and fair value exchange across the local news ecosystem. The playbook is designed for publishers, funders, policymakers and ecosystem partners working to strengthen local journalism as a lasting civic institution. 👉 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/eTZSzKwc We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this research: George Adelman, Brundan H., Joe Miller, Sahas Bhatia, Shaun Lee, Amalie Nash, Angilee Shah, Ariella Cohen, Charlie Beckett, Cheryl Phillips, Ciel Hunter, Emily R., Eric Ulken, François Nel, Imtiaz Patel, Jeff Elgie, Jim Egan, Jim Friedlich, Joshi Herrmann, Juan Andrés Muñoz, Judi Terzotis, Julia Wallace, Jung Shin Ho, Katherine Ann Rowlands, Kyle Villemain, Lauren Gustus, Lukáš Fila, Marie Gilot, Nic Dawes, Nicolás Ríos, Richard Gingras, Simon Galperin, Steven Waldman, Styli C., Tim Franklin, Warwick Sabin. #LocalNews #LocalJournalism #MediaSustainability #MediaPolicy

What will “news” look like for most people by 2030? The brilliant team at FT Strategies has just launched their new report: Next Gen News 2: Anticipating the audiences of 2030 and the strategies to meet them A few takeaways that stood out for me: - The good news is that 'next gen' audiences are engaged (many interacting with news daily) BUT feel overwhelmed by the volume and friction of the information environment. - The report identifies seven “modes of engagement” from these readers: Discovery (scroll / seek / subscribe), Consumption (substantiate / study / sensemake) and Socialize (now clearly bi-directional). - The practical (and challenging!) implication for news producers: stop assuming one “best” format. Design content and products to match your audience's 'modes'. - And importantly: they surveyed 5,000+ people across Brazil, India, Nigeria, the US and the UK - meaning that there is real data + charts you can actually use (plus a diary study and global producer research to pressure-test what works). Explore / download the report via https://lnkd.in/eCNs_WA4 — with sections for Modes, Key Insights and Case Studies. The report was researched and produced by FT Strategies & Knight Lab, and was supported by the Google News Initiative. #journalism #news #media #audiences #product #trust #strategy

📉 One of the most persistent myths in our industry is that younger audiences are disengaging from news. The data in 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟮 tells a different story. Across five markets, more than half of next-generation audiences engage with news at least daily. The challenge is not attention — it is overload. What has changed is not whether audiences value news, but how they manage it. Faced with an endless stream of information, younger audiences are actively deciding: 🔹 when news deserves their attention, 🔹 how deeply to engage, 🔹 and which sources they trust enough to return to. This has important implications for publishers. If audiences are already engaging frequently, growth will not come from simply producing more content or pushing harder on distribution. It will come from reducing friction, earning trust, and designing experiences that respect audiences’ time and cognitive load. Explore all the insights and recommendations from FT Strategies and Northwestern University Knight Lab's Next Gen News 2 👉 https://lnkd.in/e4xYxypR #NextGenNews #NewsPublishing #AudienceEngagement #FutureOfNews

📊 What a fantastic day at the Google Publisher Summit in Austin, Texas, where Lamberto Lambertini and Jeremy Gilbert launched 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟮 — presenting new insights into how next-generation audiences discover, engage with and make sense of news. This is a must-read report for all publishers looking to: 🔹 Understand how next-generation audiences discover, consume and share news today. 🔹 Explore how audiences move from discovery to deeper engagement. 🔹 Learn how audiences balance frequent news use with information overload. 🔹 See how emerging and established producers are adapting formats, platforms and workflows. 🔹 Apply practical insights to editorial, product and distribution strategy. Explore the research and recommendations here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ek5qQw6a Wth special thanks to the report contributors: Joe Germuska, Jeremy Gilbert, Lamberto Lambertini, George Montagu, Fraser Harding, Kelly Ann Coney, Karen Eisenhauer and Liat Fainman-Adelman. #NextGenNews #NewsPublishing #AudienceEngagement #FutureOfNews

🌎 Today, FT Strategies and Northwestern University Knight Lab have launched 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟮, our latest global research into how next-generation audiences discover, engage with, and make sense of news in an algorithm-driven landscape. The findings show that next-gen audiences engage with news frequently, but on their own terms — actively shaping their information environments and deciding when (and how) to go deeper. The report also introduces an expanded Modes of Engagement framework, offering practical insights into how audiences discover, consume and share news — and what this means for publishers’ editorial, product and distribution strategies. Explore the full report and recommendations here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eDBN5rgP With special thanks to our report contributors: Joe Germuska, Jeremy Gilbert, Lamberto Lambertini, George Montagu, Fraser Harding, Kelly Ann Coney, Karen Eisenhauer, Liat Fainman-Adelman and to Spotify, The New York Times, The Guardian, Local News International, Morning Brew, Inshorts, The Verge, Particle, Aos Fatos, The Daily Aus, Soch By Mohak Mangal and Hasan Abi for offering real-life examples of how news is being designed, distributed and experienced by next-generation audiences.

🌟 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 is taking place on 11 February in London and we're delighted to unveil our latest speaker roster! This year's summit brings together deep expertise across editorial leadership, data and visual journalism, investigative reporting and digital transformation. Our latest confirmed speakers include: 🔹 Danuta Breguła-Poniatowska, Managing Director, Ringier Axel Springer Polska 🔹 Alan Smith OBE, Head of Visual and Data Journalism, Financial Times 🔹 Rozina Breen, Director of Editorial, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting 🔹 Alexander Varov, CEO, NetInfo 🔹 Nadia Gancheva, Chief Content Officer, NetInfo 🗣️ More speakers to be announced soon. Throughout a day of thought-provoking keynotes, practical case studies and panel discussions, speakers will unpack how news organisations can adapt editorial strategies, strengthen trust and respond to rapid technological and audience shifts with AI firmly in focus. This invite-only event is now full. If you would like to enquire about being added to the waitlist, please contact [email protected]. #NITDA2026 #NewsInTheDigitalAge #MediaInnovation #Journalism #FutureOfNews

Phileleftheros Media Group, Cyprus’ leading news institution, proudly marks 70 years of trusted journalism as it enters a new era of growth and innovation. Building on a rich legacy across print, radio, and digital platforms, our vision is to evolve into a modern, multi-platform media ecosystem of both national and regional significance. As part of this exciting journey of digital transformation, we are delighted to be collaborating with FT Strategies, the media consulting arm of the Financial Times, to develop a detailed roadmap that will guide the realization of this vision — all while preserving and strengthening the trust that has defined our brand for decades.