‘We Recognize the Leadership Role Media Plays’; Sustainability Remains a Hot Topic

by Media

As sustainability continues as an important business initiative and hot topic, B2B, niche and association coverage of it will need to heat up as well. The LinkedIn platform has seen a 77% increase in engagement for sustainability content over the past couple years. “This tells us that sustainability topics are gaining collective mindshare with the audience, making them a powerful means for driving creative impact.”

The American Society of Landscape Architects’ Landscape Architecture Magazine won two Neal Awards this year—one for Best Profile Article for a story titled In Their Elements (they also had a finalist) and one for Best Overall Art Direction/Design. ASLA CEO, Torey Carter-Conneen (pictured), has spoken often about what their members are doing in response to climate change.

Last year Carter-Conneen spoke how landscape architects reduce residential energy use by designing at the community scale. And this May he moderated a panel titled “Greening the Built Environment—How Can the Buildings and Construction Sector Decarbonise?” sponsored by the US Green Building Council.

The magazine covers sustainability often now. One recent article focused on wildfires in California’s wine country and what landscape architects are doing to prepare for them. “Because of that fire and others like it, Baker says, people in the region are more open to new ideas. ‘People are really getting ready for change; they’re looking for it, they’re asking for it.’”

As with other topics, change will come faster by involving many voices.

“We know that the journalism and information space as a whole is looking for spaces for sustainability, so if we don’t have unique and diverse voices in these rooms, how do we know what to solve for?” asked Sherrell Dorsey, founder and CEO of The Plug, now hosting TED Conferences. “How do we think creatively about the solutions on the table?”

Here are some examples of initiatives taking place:

Set deadlines. Questex recently unveiled Quest Zero, its “roadmap to reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions” for both the company and its events. “Our team is passionate about this topic; we are proud of the strategies we have put in place, and we are committed to transparent and accurate reporting,” said Paul Miller, CEO, Questex. They’ve committed to create healthy spaces that make a positive impact on the communities they touch, joining the Net Zero Carbon Event initiative alongside vendor partners and colleagues to be Net Zero by 2050. “We ask our event participants to join us in this commitment to make our community and our world better.

Set goals. In 2021, Bauer Media published its Sustainability Playbook, which also touches on the impact of industries beyond media, including online casinos in Japan. Included are ways they are “Influencing Sustainability” in their Lifestyle, Outdoors, Automotive, Fashion & Beauty, and Audio brands. “Sustainability has become a key strategic focus for us because we recognize the leadership role media plays in driving sustainable behaviors,” head of strategy Kaushala Ratnayake said. “Shifting towards a sustainable publishing industry is not something any company can do alone, so we really invite this movement towards working with publishers that have clear sustainability goals and targets.”

Educate staff. The BBC has offered bespoke sustainability training for editorial roles to over 1,000 staff across all divisions. It has led to a much deeper understanding of the issue of climate change and its relevance across the organization.

Offer incentives. The American Chemical Society’s Scientific Advancement division is leading the ACS Campaign for a Sustainable Future Initiative. The multifaceted initiative will include a campaign promoting sustainability, increased advocacy for sustainability research funding, and expanded efforts to modernize the chemistry curriculum for 2- and 4-year colleges to include a focus on sustainability. There will also be a prize for international collaborations. “The impact that we’ll have is creating a future chemistry enterprise workforce that’s trained in sustainability concepts,” ACS COO LaTrease Garrison said.

Assist journalists. The Oxford Climate Journalism Network (OCJN) is a new program at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Its mission is to help journalists and editors develop their coverage of climate change, and support leaders in identifying the issues involved in reporting on the climate crisis. The network is free to join and is open to working journalists, employed or freelance, covering any beat, not just environment and climate.

Create specific jobs. Recurrent—their publications include Popular Science, Field & Stream, Saveur, etc.—has three pillars on their homepage: Editorial First, Audience Obsessed and Sustainability Focused. “Coverage across Recurrent brands emphasizes products, technologies, and policies that could shape a more sustainable future, for the longevity of the planet and its ecosystems.” Last June they established two new roles—VP of sustainability and sustainability commerce editor—to solidify the company’s commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives.

Set ad guidelines. Conde Nast has new advertising guidelines in place as part of its sustainability commitments. It will now only accept ads from energy companies that promote renewable energy products. The company also aims to be entirely carbon neutral by 2030 and use only renewable energy in its offices globally by 2025.

World map from people's crowd on white.

‘The Feedback… Was Eye-Opening to Me’; Done Right, Surveys Can Beget Real Change

by Media

Like anything else these days, surveys can be personalized. One of the reasons the Financial Times’ survey on their newsletters did so well last year—78,000 responses—was that they “tried to match readers’ motivations for subscribing with the content and form of the newsletter.” Organizations surveying their own employees has also grown in popularity, with success there perhaps relying on employees seeing actions resulting from them.

“We survey our staff every year, and we take it very seriously,” said Dan Fink, managing director of Money-Media, a Financial Times company, chief strategist at sulla guida pubblicata da Cryptonomist and one of the winners of our IMPACT Awards last year. “We have a very specific process that we use, so that we get a very high response rate and then take specific actions. It was feedback from this staff survey six years ago that originally prompted our action on DEI. That’s the reason we are ahead of the curve. Being a company that responds to the priorities of its staff also supports a strong culture.”

In the just-released Qualtrics’ 2023 State of HR Report, I read this: “Our research shows organizations are surveying employees with increased frequency. Over half (57%) of the HR leaders surveyed reported they’re running employee feedback programs every quarter at a minimum.”

Fink went on. “The feedback we got on those surveys was eye-opening to me. I was probably a little too idealistic in my mind and just believed the world was maybe functioning better than it was… When I started looking at what steps we could take as an organization, I found that there were really a lot of tools we could use to improve our diversity. And I became a champion of it myself. But it was my staff and the feedback that I got on those original surveys that prompted me to recognize that this was a bigger issue than I had understood it to be.”

The report warns, however, that not every organization pays as much attention to feedback as Money-Media has. “While this signals progress, organizations must also work to understand and establish the right cadence of listening for their unique cultures, history, and readiness; one that will influence and change the behaviors of its leaders—for the better. Ultimately, with more frequent employee feedback in hand, leaders can make more strategic, agile, and data-driven decisions.”

Here are six tips for creating a better survey. The first three come from an article in Inbox Collective discussing the survey that the FT sent to its newsletter readers:

Make at least part of it (preferably the first part) easy to fill out. When the Financial Times embarked on a newsletter survey last year, they “created a one-click feedback mechanism that was actually embedded into the bottom of the newsletter, providing an opportunity for our readers to give feedback at the point where they finished reading,” wrote the FT’s Sarah Ebner, executive editor and head of newsletters, and Michael Hoole, research manager.

Add an incentive. The FT entered those who completed the whole survey into a monthly prize draw to win $100 of book vouchers. “It turns out that FT readers love books! In order to be entered into the prize draw, respondents had to fill out the whole survey (which opens in a separate tab), but we’ve found they’re happy to do so for the chance to win a prize.”

Leave a place for verbatim comments—towards the end of the survey. These can often be the most helpful parts of survey responses. “Not only did we get some brilliant (and very amusing) comments along the lines of ‘X writer is a genius, give him a pay rise,’” wrote Ebner and Hoole, “but we have also had useful remarks suggesting that: ‘Certain parts of a newsletter are confusing. The email is too long or too short. Some readers would prefer more insight and fewer links. Promoting Premium content in Standard newsletters is extremely frustrating for readers who can’t access this exclusive content.’ From this feedback, we’ve been able to make several changes to improve our newsletters for all readers.”

Ask for member/subscriber/employee input. They will have a good sense of the issues that might be front of mind. “Involving members will help them feel engaged as volunteers, and if they’re invested in the data, they may be more likely to share the survey with their partners who aren’t members to get more participants,” writes Kristin Richeimer, president and owner of e7m International Consulting, in Associations Now last week.

Build off of previous questions. “Logic-based questions can also be useful to include in these surveys since they allow [organizations] to dig into certain areas to learn more about non[subscribers and non]members,” Richeimer writes. “An example of a logic-based question could be: ‘You indicated that you have never considered joining the organization. Please rank which of the following reasons apply.’”

Ask for future participation. “About 9% of survey respondents have indicated that they would be happy to answer further questions from the FT,” Ebner and Hoole wrote. “We have already used some of these extremely engaged participants for feedback on a newsletter redesign—we’ve found that it’s helpful to have readers who can act as a sounding board for new ideas.”

Business people illustration

‘Innovation Needs to Be Embedded’; As Times Change, Are Our Ideas Keeping Up?

by Media

“Different actors require different approaches, and my job is to accommodate them,” Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan said recently, when asked about his process. “I like to read through some of the scenes with actors early on, just to put the words out into the room—see what they sound like.” (He even mentions letting star Cillian Murphy “explore the voice he’d be using.”) Are media organizations letting enough innovative ideas out into the room to see what they sound like?

Speaking about what makes an effective employee onboarding program, Qualtrics’ 2023 State of HR Report states that “right now, there’s an experience gap. Our research showed that, compared to employees who have been with their current employer for more than six months, new starters have a more negative employee experience… To close this experience gap, organizations must redesign their candidate and onboarding experience programs to ensure they meet the expectations of incoming talent.”

The employee onboarding strategies that worked in the past may not work today, the report adds, but then kind of just tails off. This is one example where innovation is called for—especially as organizations deal with remote work issues. But are we getting it?

“I think the industry has a systematic problem with innovation—too much with too little focus,” Lucy Kueng, senior research fellow at Reuters Institute, told WNIP for their report. ”Innovation needs to be embedded in a smart and strategic process, and then setting up the process to match the outcomes needed.”

In a recent media organization survey, only a fourth of respondents currently have a framework in place for innovation and new ideas (26%, up from 20% in 2021), while one-third are working on developing a process to support and grow innovation and new ideas (32%, up from 27% in 2021). That still leaves 42% with no process for innovation in place.

With all that said, here are five suggested paths to innovation:

Allow and stimulate a risk-taking environment. “Create a culture to build trust and collaboration, and breaking down silos…” Tim Hartman, CEO of GovExec, once told us. “Think ambitious experiments and trust each other. If you look around and don’t see that, you have a problem.”  Advises Thomas Seymat, editorial projects and development manager at Euronews: “I would strongly recommend setting up structures or pathways internally for people with innovative ideas where they can find the support of people who ‘have done it before.’” Oscar winning director Sam Mendes often establishes a “safe room” to try to bring out great performances. “I will find out what the actors need,” he said. “My language to each of them has to suit their brain.”

Bring people together, strategically. At BIMS in February, Gemma Postlethwaite, CEO of Arizent, said they have replaced the term “office” with “studio” as a destination for clients to make meaningful connections. What are those meaningful connections? We’re challenging team leaders on how we are going to develop our talent”—especially when it comes to strategic planning and responding to ChatGPT… “What are the meaningful ways to bring people together, to create innovation?” Wrote Fast Company: “If you are going to require employees to come into an office, make sure employees understand what is valuable about that…. Make sure the office environment actually improves productivity. And if you expect innovation, collaboration, or solidarity, make sure you have some way to measure the impact.”

Democratize data. “Make sure data in its various formats is accessible at a company-wide level.” At Industry Dive, the audience and marketing team creates actionable dashboards for the editorial team. “This not only helps us measure more of the things that matter to our audience, but it makes it really easy for our editorial team to get actionable insights that they can make decisions on and can really inform what they’re doing,” said Davide Savenije, their editor in chief. Those insights can lead to innovative coverage of their many verticals.

Celebrate “good fails.” Even ideas that don’t take off can provide meaningful information. “Embracing failure is easier said than done,” said Anita Zielina, former director of news innovation and leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, told us at BIMS a few years ago.. “We like to win and are not so excited about failure. But the culture of failure empowers your team to experiment. If you don’t, you’re not going to have creativity in the room. Experimentation includes failure, and organizations need to live with that. There is no digital product development that doesn’t have unexpected turbulences. But it also allows for agility.”

Avoid the idea of the CEO as a singular leader who is the sole shepherd and generator of brilliant ideas. “Rather than being a ‘Moses’ proclaiming wisdom from a mountaintop, the CEO should be a ‘gardener’ who helps coordinate ideas and takes away roadblocks from experiments,” Zielina said. She encourages leaders to think about whether their organization is prepared for transformation. They must focus on which audiences they want or need to reach, and how to ensure that appropriate resources are prioritized. Integral to this is a “talent pipeline” as well as clarity about the type of work culture you want to instill.

 

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SIIA Statement on KOSA and COPPA 2.0

by Policy
Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy, Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) released the following statement following the passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) through the Senate Commerce Committee today.

“We appreciate the intent of sponsors to enact policies that protect children and teenagers online, but are concerned that both bills, as written, will unintentionally harm these vulnerable groups. In particular, we are concerned these bills will place an undue burden on schools by giving students the ability to delete important educational records such as grades or parent contact information without the knowledge of the school which could impact things like school and nutrition funding harming all students in the community.

Our members are dedicated to ensuring Americans have a comprehensive experience at all points in their educational journey and have full access to reliable, factual information no matter their age. The proposed text in both KOSA and COPPA 2.0 is at odds with those principles. We are concerned that certain provisions in this  legislation, as currently written, will unnecessarily prevent access to critical information.

Our members support protecting the privacy and safety of children and teens, and are working diligently to create safe and educational environments online. We hope policymakers will continue to refine language and that these bills can be passed with the support of all stakeholders.”