This Week: Growing, Shifting, and Saying "No"
It started with a simple question from a friend: "How do we get more people reading your work?"
That conversation led directly to something I'm genuinely excited about—this week, we officially launched our referral effort. If you've found value in Backstory & Strategy, now's your chance to share it easily and unlock some solid perks along the way. But that conversation also got me thinking about the deeper tensions between growth and authenticity, which, as it turns out, ran through everything we tackled this week.
Chasing Revenue Without Losing the Plot: A deep dive into that question every nonprofit media leader faces: how do you grow without compromising what made you worth reading in the first place? I've been on both sides of this one.
Can We Talk About Mission Drift?: You know that slow creep when an organization starts chasing shiny objects instead of doing what it said it would do? We unpack what that looks like and why it's so damn hard to catch early.
AI in Journalism: What Actually Works (And What Doesn't): Everyone's got AI opinions. But what tools move the needle in a newsroom, and which ones are just burning through your budget? We tested some stuff.
How We Said "No" to a Big Check (And Why It Was the Right Call): Sometimes the hardest call is turning down money that doesn't fit. Here's how we walked away from a significant opportunity and why it felt right.
Looking Ahead: Mind the Gap
Next Wednesday launches a new series called Mind the Gap, starting with the foundational tension I've seen derail more organizations than any other: Mission vs. Money. We're not just talking theory here—I'll share the framework we use to navigate these decisions and why most organizations get this balance catastrophically wrong.
As always, thanks for reading. Your engagement drives everything I do here.