News Product Resource Library

Learn how to align business, technology, audience and editorial needs in media with over 200 free resources curated by our community of experts.

The Resource Library was developed in partnership with the Google News Initiative, as part of our shared goal of empowering news product professionals and developing news product talent to create ethical and sustainable digital media businesses around the world.

Resources

7 Product Requirements Document (PRD) Templates for Product Managers | Aha! software
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The article from Aha! explains the importance of a good product requirements document (PRD) and provides a template to guide you in creating one. A PRD outlines the goals, features, and specifications for a product, serving as a blueprint for development teams. The template includes sections for executive summary, background and context, objectives, scope, deliverables, constraints, and more. It emphasizes the need for clear and concise language, defining user personas, prioritizing features, and involving key stakeholders. A well-crafted PRD helps teams align, make informed decisions, and ensure successful product development.

03/01/2024

  • Date: 03/01/2024
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
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7 Product Requirements Document (PRD) Templates for Product Managers | Aha! software
Recommended on the NPA Slack

The article from Aha! explains the importance of a good product requirements document (PRD) and provides a template to guide you in creating one. A PRD outlines the goals, features, and specifications for a product, serving as a blueprint for development teams. The template includes sections for executive summary, background and context, objectives, scope, deliverables, constraints, and more. It emphasizes the need for clear and concise language, defining user personas, prioritizing features, and involving key stakeholders. A well-crafted PRD helps teams align, make informed decisions, and ensure successful product development.
  • Date: 03/01/2024
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
  • Source: www.aha.io
  • Level of complexity: Intermediate
  • Type: Guide
  • Theme: Requirements Management
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SWOT Analysis: Examples and Templates [2023] • Asana
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The article provided by Asana is about SWOT Analysis, a useful tool for evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a business or project. The main thesis of the article is that conducting a SWOT Analysis helps teams understand their current situation, make informed decisions, and develop effective strategies. It explains the four elements of SWOT analysis in detail and emphasizes the importance of SWOT analysis as a guiding framework for strategic planning and problem-solving. The article also provides practical tips on how to conduct a SWOT analysis and use the insights gained to drive success.

02/24/2024

  • Date: 02/24/2024
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
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SWOT Analysis: Examples and Templates [2023] • Asana
Recommended on the NPA Slack

The article provided by Asana is about SWOT Analysis, a useful tool for evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a business or project. The main thesis of the article is that conducting a SWOT Analysis helps teams understand their current situation, make informed decisions, and develop effective strategies. It explains the four elements of SWOT analysis in detail and emphasizes the importance of SWOT analysis as a guiding framework for strategic planning and problem-solving. The article also provides practical tips on how to conduct a SWOT analysis and use the insights gained to drive success.
  • Date: 02/24/2024
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
  • Source: asana.com
  • Level of complexity: Intermediate
  • Type: Guide
  • Theme: Product Strategy
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New guide helps publishers build custom GPTs for local news
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This article provides a helpful guide on how publishers can create custom GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) for local news. GPTs are powerful language models that can generate human-like text. The guide is designed to assist publishers in tailoring GPTs specifically for local news, helping them to enhance their content creation and delivery. By following the guide, publishers can leverage GPTs to automate routine tasks like summarizing news, generating headlines, and creating engaging content. This leads to more efficient news production and better personalized experiences for readers. The guide includes step-by-step instructions and best practices for building custom GPTs.

Joe Amditis

11/21/2023

  • Author: Joe Amditis
  • Date: 11/21/2023
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
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New guide helps publishers build custom GPTs for local news
Recommended on the NPA Slack

This article provides a helpful guide on how publishers can create custom GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) for local news. GPTs are powerful language models that can generate human-like text. The guide is designed to assist publishers in tailoring GPTs specifically for local news, helping them to enhance their content creation and delivery. By following the guide, publishers can leverage GPTs to automate routine tasks like summarizing news, generating headlines, and creating engaging content. This leads to more efficient news production and better personalized experiences for readers. The guide includes step-by-step instructions and best practices for building custom GPTs.
  • Author: Joe Amditis
  • Date: 11/21/2023
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
  • Source: medium.com
  • Level of complexity: Intermediate
  • Type: Article
  • Theme: Product Design
  • Language: English
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A Lookback at The Atlantic’s Paywall Launch
NPA Original Content

The Atlantic implemented its first metered paywall in 2019, which has evolved since then to become a more dynamic and responsive product. This endeavor required a comprehensive, cross-functional approach involving design, product, engineering, and customer support teams. The Atlantic's journey provides an informative exploration into the design philosophy, technical challenges, project timelines, quality assurance strategies, and future plans related to implementing a paywall. Launching the paywall in 2019 required a comprehensive, cross-functional approach involving design, product, engineering, and customer support teams. This case study aims to provide an overview of how The Atlantic initially launched its paywall, maintaining a user-centric approach while achieving business objectives.

Adriana Lacy

07/31/2023

  • Author: Adriana Lacy
  • Date: 07/31/2023
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
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A Lookback at The Atlantic’s Paywall Launch
NPA Original Content

The Atlantic implemented its first metered paywall in 2019, which has evolved since then to become a more dynamic and responsive product. This endeavor required a comprehensive, cross-functional approach involving design, product, engineering, and customer support teams. The Atlantic's journey provides an informative exploration into the design philosophy, technical challenges, project timelines, quality assurance strategies, and future plans related to implementing a paywall. Launching the paywall in 2019 required a comprehensive, cross-functional approach involving design, product, engineering, and customer support teams. This case study aims to provide an overview of how The Atlantic initially launched its paywall, maintaining a user-centric approach while achieving business objectives.
  • Author: Adriana Lacy
  • Date: 07/31/2023
  • Reading time: From 6 to 10 minutes
  • Source: News Product Alliance
  • Scale: International
  • Level of complexity: Intermediate
  • Type: Case study
  • Theme: Business Models & Monetization
  • Language: English
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5 tips so you can start building technical prowess, earn the respect of your engineers & drive successful products
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This Twitter thread offers advice on how product managers can build technical influence.

Upasna Guatam

06/08/2023

  • Author: Upasna Guatam
  • Date: 06/08/2023
  • Reading time: Under 5 minutes.
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5 tips so you can start building technical prowess, earn the respect of your engineers & drive successful products
Recommended on the NPA Slack

This Twitter thread offers advice on how product managers can build technical influence.
  • Author: Upasna Guatam
  • Date: 06/08/2023
  • Reading time: Under 5 minutes.
  • Source: twitter.com
  • Level of complexity: Intermediate
  • Type: Twitter thread
  • Theme: Product Design
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Choose Your Own Mad Libs (or, how you can plug data into automated stories and free up lots of reporting time)
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The article discusses how to use tools like MadLibs and automated data to make news articles more efficient. By creating templates with placeholder keywords, journalists can use algorithms to fill in the data and create personalized stories. The author argues that this approach can be especially useful for data-driven stories or articles with repetitive structures. They caution, however, that it is important for journalists to maintain narrative coherence and ensure the algorithm is transparent with readers.

Mike Stucka

03/21/2023

  • Author: Mike Stucka
  • Date: 03/21/2023
  • Reading time: Under 5 minutes
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Choose Your Own Mad Libs (or, how you can plug data into automated stories and free up lots of reporting time)
Recommended on the NPA Slack

The article discusses how to use tools like MadLibs and automated data to make news articles more efficient. By creating templates with placeholder keywords, journalists can use algorithms to fill in the data and create personalized stories. The author argues that this approach can be especially useful for data-driven stories or articles with repetitive structures. They caution, however, that it is important for journalists to maintain narrative coherence and ensure the algorithm is transparent with readers.
  • Author: Mike Stucka
  • Date: 03/21/2023
  • Reading time: Under 5 minutes
  • Source: source.opennews.org
  • Level of complexity: Beginner
  • Type: Article
  • Theme: Technology
  • Language: English
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View more resources in the library

Learning Paths

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1 - What is news product thinking?

Product management emerged in tech companies to put the audience — or the customer — at the center of decision making. In news organizations there are different kinds of end users: audience segments, advertisers, partners or even coworkers that use a tool or software we are developing. Newsrooms must connect their audience's needs to their editorial mission and develop a sustainable business strategy, while maintaining journalistic ethical standards. Product thinkers create a bridge so that revenue and editorial teams can align their interests. This learning path will help you to better understand what news product thinking is, and how you can get started.

1 - What is news product thinking?

Product management emerged in tech companies to put the audience — or the customer — at the center of decision making. In news organizations there are different kinds of end users: audience segments, advertisers, partners or even coworkers that use a tool or software we are developing. Newsrooms must connect their audience's needs to their editorial mission and develop a sustainable business strategy, while maintaining journalistic ethical standards. Product thinkers create a bridge so that revenue and editorial teams can align their interests. This learning path will help you to better understand what news product thinking is, and how you can get started.

  • Type: Article
  • Theme:
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2 - How to lead effective news product teams

Leading teams is always a challenge. It's hard to get everyone on the same page with the same priorities. It’s harder still to get aligned on the vision of the product you're trying to build. This becomes even more important as we deal with decentralized, multidisciplinary teams and diverse stakeholders in our ever-changing industry. The resources gathered here will help you learn how to become a more effective leader in the news product ecosystem.

2 - How to lead effective news product teams

Leading teams is always a challenge. It's hard to get everyone on the same page with the same priorities. It’s harder still to get aligned on the vision of the product you're trying to build. This becomes even more important as we deal with decentralized, multidisciplinary teams and diverse stakeholders in our ever-changing industry. The resources gathered here will help you learn how to become a more effective leader in the news product ecosystem.

  • Type: Article
  • Theme:
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3 - How to conduct audience or user research for news products

Understanding the end user is not only an important pillar of inclusive and ethical news products, it can also be good for business too. However, there’s an overwhelming number of methods, metrics, and frameworks for product management, not all of which are relevant to your project. How can you better understand your users in order to build valuable news products? The learning resources gathered in this path will help with that.

3 - How to conduct audience or user research for news products

Understanding the end user is not only an important pillar of inclusive and ethical news products, it can also be good for business too. However, there’s an overwhelming number of methods, metrics, and frameworks for product management, not all of which are relevant to your project. How can you better understand your users in order to build valuable news products? The learning resources gathered in this path will help with that.

  • Type: Article
  • Theme:
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