The Industry Resume: What the 2025 Impact Report Actually Tells Us
Most impact reports are just an exercise in accounting. Looking closer at the backstory of API’s 2025 Impact Report, you find a roadmap for what newsrooms are actually capable of achieving.
In a piece I wrote a while back, I argued that most Impact Reports are essentially tax returns. They are dry, backward-looking audits meant for compliance. A great report, however, should function as a resume. It ought to be a forward-looking statement of capability and potential rather than just a ledger of past activities.
As the VP of Product Strategy at the American Press Institute, I spent much of 2025 looking at the “backstory” of how newsrooms survive. It was a year defined by volatile conditions. Between the unknowns of AI, economic instability, and a growing distrust in institutions, the pressure was constant.
When I look at our 2025 Impact Report, I don’t just see a list of things we did. I see a resume for the industry. It is a roadmap of what newsrooms are now capable of achieving when they finally align product strategy with community needs.
Capability: Scaling Insight, Not Just Data
We often talk about “data-driven” newsrooms, but data without strategy is just noise. In 2025, API analyzed hundreds of thousands of articles and sources through our Impact and Trust Platform. The takeaway here isn’t the volume of the data, but the clarity it provided. We’ve built the capability to help newsrooms move from guessing what their audience wants to knowing exactly how to satisfy subscribers.
Take Newsday, for example. By using our Metrics for News tool, they found this massive, untapped interest in nostalgia and hyperlocal travel. For a long time, nostalgia was probably written off as “soft” content—the kind of stuff you do when there isn’t “real” news. But the data showed something else. It was actually a subscription powerhouse. It ranked in the top 90% of coverage that generates new paid members. That insight allowed them to double their conversions on travel content by leaning into the specific nostalgic angles that evoke deep memories for Long Island residents.
Capability: Repeatable Transformation
One of the proudest bullet points on our 2025 resume is the fact that more than 200 news organizations have now participated in the Table Stakes program. From a product perspective, this means we’ve “productized” cultural change. We aren’t just giving advice. We are providing a steadying force that helps leaders think boldly about workplace culture and revenue diversification during times of great instability.
I’ve seen this transformation firsthand in our cohorts. There is a specific moment when a newsroom leader stops saying “we can’t do this because of our print schedule” and starts saying “our digital data shows we have permission to experiment.” At Newsday, this shift led to adding seven new staff positions to build out initiatives the data proved their audience actually wanted.
Capability: Building Belonging through Product
Product strategy in 2025 isn’t just about UI or UX. It is about trust. The report highlights our work in strategic collaborations and creative pathways for impact. When newsrooms use tools like Source Matters or join a learning cohort, it isn’t about checking a box or following a manual. It’s about practice. They are learning how to actually show up and stay connected to their communities in ways that stick.
The 2025 Impact Report is proof that even when the tech shifts faster than most of us can keep up with, there is a path through it. At API, we aren’t just observing these trends; we’re operating as a solutions lab. We’re building the practical tools that help newsrooms meet this specific moment.
Let’s Talk Shop
If you want to see where local news is headed, the full “resume” is here.
And if you want to get into the weeds on API’s mission—or just want to geek out on the product strategy I’m working on—reach out. I’m always down to talk about the backstory of what we’re building next.
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