🔶 News Alchemists #69: The hive mind that started it all

Hello from the third of six airports I'm visiting this month (🫠) and welcome back to the News Alchemists newsletter!

And a first welcome to new subscribers from Agência Mural, Daily Maverick, and all of you brave souls working independently.

I didn’t know it at the time, but it was almost exactly two years ago today when the idea for this newsletter started germinating in my head.

That first seed already had a lot of the features that today define this space we share every week:

• A collection of interesting links – curated not only by me in that case;
• A post on LinkedIn, of course;
• And many people with great ideas and experiences generously sharing drops (or entire seas sometimes) of knowledge and inspiration with each other.

I was a fellow with the International Center for Journalists at the time, and the original News Alchemists community was just taking its first steps.

The concept of people-centricity was starting to emerge – although I called it extreme user-centricity initially – but I didn't have a clear definition yet, and I needed more examples to understand it.

So I went ahead with the only way I know to conduct "research" as the non-academic collaborative spirit I am: I asked my network on LinkedIn for examples:

LinkedIn friends, hive mind 🐝: I have an article coming out soon in which I argue that if we want to find pathways for sustainability in journalism, we must start from updating our mission and embracing extreme user-centricity. I believe this process has started already: I'm not claiming this is an original thought no one had before. So I'm trying to collect examples, signals, of existing trends that are pushing journalism in the right direction.

I'm thinking for example of the focus on user needs pioneered by Dmitry Shishkin and embraced by many; the elevation of product thinking through initiatives like the News Product Alliance; the trend towards constructive journalism promoted by the Bonn Institute and many others; the focus on prototyping news futures for current news outsiders of the IN/LAB initiative led by Agnes Stenbom; the reader revenue models that offer financial sustainability while not locking quality journalism behind a paywall; and the list can go on for a while, these are just a few examples.

What other signals, examples, initiatives do YOU think should be promoted, showcased and embraced even more than they already are because of their potential to move the journalism industry in the right direction – however YOU define that? 💡

The responses turned the post into what people called “a diamond-hard thread” and “one of of the most useful threads I’ve read in a while” – with 75 comments from 38 people sharing a couple dozen links to great signals, examples, and ideas:

H hivemind: How to boost journalism's sustainability | Mattia Peretti posted on the topic | LinkedIn

LinkedIn friends, hivemind 🐝 : I have an article coming out soon in which I argue that if we want to find pathways for sustainability in journalism, we must start from updating our mission and embracing extreme user-centricity [Update: the article in question is here: https://lnkd.in/dKkTkWVK]. I believe this process has started already: I’m not claiming this is an original thought no one had before. So I’m trying to collect examples, signals, of existing trends that are pushing journalism in the right direction. I’m thinking for example of the focus on user needs pioneered by Dmitry Shishkin and embraced by many; the elevation of product thinking through initiatives like the News Product Alliance; the trend towards constructive journalism promoted by the Bonn Institute and many others; the focus on prototyping news futures for current news outsiders of the IN/LAB initiative led by Agnes Stenbom; the reader revenue models that offer financial sustainability while not locking quality journalism behind a paywall; and the list can go on for a while, these are just a few examples. What other signals, examples, initiatives do YOU think should be promoted, showcased and embraced even more than they already are because of their potential to move the journalism industry in the right direction – however YOU define that? 💡 | 75 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInMattia Peretti

Browse the thread and see which link(s) most pique your curiosity. There are some real gems in there.

Will you let me know what you find most interesting?

See you next week!

P.S.: Three generous donations over the last seven days helped cover 100% of the additional costs I incurred as a result of the growth of this community. You people rock. Thank you 🫶

And the most clicked link from the previous edition is... 🥁

The sign-up link to the Impact Network meet-up on Your impact questions answered: A roundtable.

Not just another panel: an open conversation centred on your questions about impact – from how to create an impact-first culture in your newsroom, to the endless pursuit of effective ways to measure the impact you produce.

📆 Online on July 1st at 3pm UK-time.

⇲ The LinkedIn Corner

A section of this email in which I highlight LinkedIn posts written by newsletter readers that, for different reasons, may not make it to the main section, but are still interesting to share. This week...

1. Ana Paula and the JournalismAI team announced the dates of the 2026 JournalismAI Festival: 17+18 November, in London and online.
2. Khalil posted a reflection on the underserved "Connect me" user need – and the "dark" user needs that are often prioritised in its stead.
3. Zakhar announced the keynote speakers of this year's Reinventing Media Business Forum (7+8 October in Riga, Latvia).
4. Sarah shared some examples of "belonging in action", building on her article from a few weeks back that I featured in #66.

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