The Lean Newsroom: A Manifesto for Media Change

Most journalists today have accepted the need for change as digital and mobile technologies have disrupted traditional business models and changed the way people consume news and information. But organizational change is difficult; even the best ideas and intentions are often not successfully executed. This book offers leaders and managers a roadmap for understanding the obstacles to change in their organizations and how to overcome them. It helps organizations better understand how to position themselves strategically to serve the new-media marketplace by understanding what news consumers and advertisers want and how they want to engage and collaborate with media organizations.

Carrie Brown is the founding director of the social journalism Master’s program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. This program prepares students for careers in engaged journalism, with an emphasis on learning how to listen, understand community information needs, build relationships, and produce tangible impact. Her research centers on how news organizations can adapt to the changing media landscape.

Jonathan Groves is an associate professor and chair of the Communication Department at Drury University in Springfield, Mo. He spent 14 years as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Arkansas and Missouri before becoming the first doctoral fellow at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Reynolds Journalism Institute. He has consulted with several organizations undergoing change efforts, and his research focuses on newsroom change and engagement.