Skip to main content

Today, news and content are consumed, shared and created everywhere. The platforms on which content is published are just as diverse as the teams responsible for the content. To stay on top of things, media companies need a good content process. Traditional editorial teams with editors-in-chief, chief of staff or heads of department are therefore reorganising themselves more and more frequently with agile processes and topic teams in order to adapt to the decentralised, constantly changing news environment. But no matter how teams organise themselves and structure the content process: Everyone needs good planning, otherwise it will be chaotic and stressful.

A good content production process offers control

In order to meet the new requirements, media and broadcasting companies have adopted story-centred or topic-centred workflows. However, even these content processes must first be organised in a meaningful way in order to ensure clarity and control. So how can several people work on a product in a meaningful way?

For this, a single interface is needed that brings all assets and ideas together. Modern editorial systems such as Newsmind Stories support this process digitally. By bundling all content workflows in one place, editorial teams achieve greater transparency in content production and can ensure quality that resonates with users.

What does a topic-centred process look like in Newsmind Stories?

Here’s an example of a topic-centred workflow in Newsmind Stories:

It is based on centralised, digital access to assets and planning.
Through collaborative topic planning, topic teams are formed with clear roles and responsibilities that they can map digitally.
Team members receive their tasks within the system and begin their research, a.o.
They work on interconnected levels such as overarching theme, topic and story: a story is created from a topic and a topic from an overarching theme. In this way, teams bring consistency to publications and avoid redundant work. All information is clearly organised and always accessible.
Customised Kanban lists and dashboards provide an overview of all to-dos or the status of a topic or story.
Editing and finalising a medium-specific story is also possible within the editorial system. A simple interface with editor and multimedia collection supports this process. Once a story is finished, Newsmind Stories is also used for publication on the desired broadcast or digital platform.
Thanks to the direct integration with social media, teams can directly see what the publication will look like. Third-party systems such as special distribution systems can also be connected.

At a glance: Which are must-have functions for topic-centred work?

No matter which system is in use, editorial teams must always be able to map this digitally in order to be able to work clearly and efficiently:

  1. Link content and visualise it in tickets: Overarching theme, topic, story
  2. Configure roles and planning units to develop content
  3. Visualise and organise production phases, for example in a Kanban: ideas, backlog, research phase, production, quality check, approval.

From the content idea to publication, the phases can of course look different in every media company or content team. What is important is that the individual workflows can also be mapped digitally. This means that editorial software or newsroom software must adapt to the processes and not the other way round. This is the only way for companies to work efficiently and satisfactorily.

RECOMMENDED TO READ:

How can editorial teams use Newsmind Stories to find topics faster and simplify research? With AI-based monitoring of trends and news.