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Special Lecture on 'Product Strategy, Management and Innovation in Journalism'
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Muneef Khan
5:29
Hello and welcome to the special lecture on 'Product Strategy, Management and Innovation in Journalism' by Cindy Royal, Director, Media Innovation Lab, Texas State University.
Royal specialises in teaching the practical and theoretical concepts of digital media and is a recipient of the 2013 Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from Texas State.
5:35
Royal begins by talking about her business school background and her work in tech during her early days. “It started as a hobby and the internet my be important in the way we communicate,” she says  while talking about her journey through a PhD in media and innovation.
5:36
Some of the classes she takes at Texas state are web design, coding java and mobile app design.
5:38
Interview with Cindy Royal on Women, Technology and Journalism
5:39
"The world is changing in how we communicate. What used to be video and television is now perpetuating on the web in different ways,” says Royal, while emphasising on how video has become accessible to all, thanks to smartphones.
5:40
“Idea of journalists is changing now, it is no longer typewriters and video cameras, now people work on strategy, social media and coding. We need to change our impression about these roles in media organisations,” says Royal on the evolution of journalists.
5:41
Royal asserts that media products have changed from newspaper and television to Tiktok, bots, and that product management is the new journalism. "It could be an editor doing that function but it is still product management," she adds.
For media, it's platform or perish
5:42
"These product roles are important both within media and outside it,” says Royal while talking about how these skills come in handy outside the newsroom.
5:44
Talking about the concept of ‘Human Centred Designs’ in media organisations, Royal holds that product management is the intersection of tech – business and the user – and products should address the user's needs.
5:48
“Start with a piece of paper before opening a software,” says Royal to her students who seek to explore optimal prototyping for a user experience product.
5:50
When asked about the skill and competencies required in a product development environment, Royal emphasises that communication is the most important skill since there is an intersection of cultures.
5:51
5:52
“It is important to connect the product to the organisation's mission, understanding journalistic ethics are built in the product,” Royal says while talking about Facebook and the misinformation being spread on the platform.
5:53
Royal: "Diversity of staff in media organisations brings in different values in products."
5:56
Royal talks about the concepts of journalism ‘in’ and ‘as’ a product. “Journalism has to sit on some product – newspaper, podcast, website. Those products have to be managed, are we thinking about the user here? ”
5:57
5:58
“Journalists need to have crossover skills in this product world,” Royal says while speaking on the communication and tech skills required in the present-day scenario.
6:02
Royal addresses a question on product journalism and how it has benefited specially-challenged people by creating a product that is accessible to them. “That will be important for the audience and for careers, it might provide avenues for the people with disabilities and having diverse people on product teams only makes the product better. Product journalism will replace print journalism in the future, the ways in which they are reporting will change completely,” Royal says.
6:05
When asked whether product journalism will replace manpower, Royal says, "I think it will broaden the ways in which journalism will be done. There will still be people reporting and editing but it will be in a different context."
6:08
Are journalism schools in India equipping students with crossover skills?
Yes (33.3% | 8 votes)
 
No (20.8% | 5 votes)
 
A few (45.8% | 11 votes)
 
Total Votes: 24
6:14
"One of things that I recognised several years ago, is that I was using words that people knew of but weren't using in their lives. Words such as content management system and search engine optimization. We didn't have a shared language to enable strategic planning. The most basic foundation for delivering digital products is having a shared language," Royal says.
6:17
Royal says that one cannot discount the need of having a strong understanding of technology and culture.
6:20
Cindy Royal, Texas State University, Hacks Hackers/ONA Austin
6:22
Royal talks about how the media industry is ever evolving and new softwares are becoming relevant every year. "I don't get too caught up in one particular language, because everything changes quickly," she says.
6:26
Royal asserts that the word 'product' is not used across the world but extensive work is being done in the area of product management – globally – without using the same terminology.
6:28
Which of the following will be central to the news media industry in the future?
Reporters (23.5% | 4 votes)
 
Coders (17.6% | 3 votes)
 
Factcheckers (58.8% | 10 votes)
 
Total Votes: 17
6:29
"There has to be a human connection in reporting and that has to continue. This connection may be delivered through Tiktok or an Instagram story. Social media expands the idea of field reporting," Royals says while talking about human interaction.
"Product development has to happen in conjunction with the journalism that is happening in real time," she adds.
6:31
Royal says that her observation during the lockdown has shown that one does not necessarily need to be on the field to do meaningful journalism or reporting.
6:34
Royal talks about how she informed the students about the 'PhDigital Bootcamp' funded by the Knight Foundation, which trains faculty to teach innovative curriculum and to understand the digital world.
6:40
"Curriculum innovation is not for the faint-hearted," Royal says.
6:44
Addressing a question on how to maintain ethics while practicing product management, Royal stressed on the importance of feedback and noted how analytics is not completely reliable in judging human emotions.
6:53
When asked about covering stories that have social implications but might not do well in a business sense, Royal replied that in the long term a media company will benefit by doing consistent stories that have value for the society.
6:55
"Tiktok has brought Washington Post to the young people. This is the kind of strategic planning one needs to expand their audience engagement," Royal says.
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