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THIS WEEK’S TL;DR:

Learn how Poynter’s coaching and consulting work supports journalists and leaders; explore Poynter’s members-only webinar series featuring experts in AI, ethics and reporting; get Kelly McBride’s practical advice for staying on top of your reading without feeling overwhelmed.

Navigating Pressure and Change: Inside Poynter's Custom Work

We recently sat down with Kate Cox, who leads Poynter’s consulting and coaching work, to better understand what she’s hearing from journalists and newsroom leaders right now. One thing became clear quickly: People across the industry are under pressure, and the challenges they are facing are complicated and increasingly unique.

Some organizations are trying to maintain trust with audiences while adapting to new technology and changing workflows. Others are struggling with burnout, leadership transitions, audience strategy or how to do ambitious journalism with fewer people and constant change.

As a former editor in chief of a small nonprofit newsroom, Kate knows firsthand what that balancing act feels like. Today, she helps journalists, newsroom leaders and organizations navigate those same pressures with practical support tailored to their needs.

The work can scale from one-on-one coaching sessions to newsroom-wide strategy and training. Sometimes the solution is surprisingly simple. Kate recently described a newsroom that brought in Kelly McBride to lead a 90-minute ethics session designed to help longtime staff and newer employees build a shared framework for decision-making during a period of change and uncertainty. The session gave the team a common language for navigating difficult conversations and helped create greater alignment across the newsroom.

Other times, the work involves helping leadership teams rethink workflows, priorities or audience strategy.

Right now, many of those conversations center on emerging technology and how organizations adapt to it responsibly.

“We’re talking to organizations an awful lot about how to discuss AI when people are very divided on using it,” Kate said. “The feelings about it are deeply held, and the conversations can be thorny and tricky.”

What makes the work especially valuable is that organizations do not need to arrive with a perfectly defined problem.

“You don’t have to know what you need,” Kate said. “Part of our work is helping people figure that out.”

Whether the challenge is burnout, leadership transitions, newsroom change or new technology, Poynter’s consulting and coaching team helps organizations move forward with greater clarity and confidence.

Reach out to Kate Cox to schedule a conversation and learn more about how Poynter can support your goals.

FROM THE INSTITUTE: Learn directly from Poynter’s leading faculty and industry experts

Want to hear directly from the experts shaping conversations around AI, ethics and reporting? That’s part of what Poynter membership offers.

Poynter members get exclusive access to a quarterly webinar series featuring trusted journalism leaders and industry experts. This year’s lineup includes sessions on using AI responsibly with MediaWise director Alex Mahadevan, navigating ethical dilemmas with Kelly McBride and strengthening reporting craft with Kristen Hare.

Each live webinar delivers practical guidance, real-world examples and ideas you can apply immediately in your work. Membership also includes access to Poynter’s top courses, members-only resources and early event access — all for $75 a year.

Every time the Pulitzer Prizes are announced, like they were on Monday, May 4, the meter on my list of things to read jumps up. A lot.

As a journalist and a writer, reading is vital to my overall work performance. But I’ve found that the busier I get, the less of it I do. And then the less I read, the more mentally unprepared I feel to tackle my work. Then I become less efficient with my writing and anxious about my ability to make news judgments. It’s a vicious cycle.

Here’s a three-step mental trick for journalists to think about staying on top of the reading pile: Think of your reading the way you might think of a balanced diet.

First, identify the major categories you want to hit every week. For me the list looks like:

1. Daily news

2. A weekly sample of the work produced by the newsrooms I am consulting with

3. NPR’s biggest and most popular stories (because I’m their public editor)

4. One or two expertly crafted opinion essays. I’m particularly interested in writing that explores powerful moral dilemmas in both factual and emotional terms

5. A great investigation

6. News about the industry

7. Fiction or non-fiction that fertilizes my brain

Whew. That’s a lot. But writing it out helps me identify what not to read. It also helps me realize that nagging sense of being behind on my reading is possibly unreasonable.

Second, I review my subscriptions every three months or so. I look at all the news apps, newsletters and magazines I’m paying for. Each one must fit one or more of these categories.

Finally, I ask, When am I going to read this? Sometimes the answer is a set time. I spend 30 minutes reading or listening to new articles every morning, usually NPR because it checks at least two boxes. And every night before I sleep I read fiction or non-fiction books.

But for the rest of the categories, I identify ideal opportunities. Every afternoon my mind wanders and I want to scroll videos.  When I’m disciplined, I scroll my client’s news sites. Just before I head out every night, I look at the industry emails I subscribe to and skim 3-4 of them.

I save up long investigative stories to read on planes and in waiting rooms. I try to read two magazine articles every weekend during a mid-day break.

Do I do all this? Hell no. But I have a clear idea of the kind of reading that prepares me to do my work. And sometimes, when I’m feeling uninspired or unprepared, I think about what’s missing from my reading diet. Then I dose up on that particular mental nutrient.

I don’t think I read any more since I’ve developed this mental hack. I just feel a little less overwhelmed.

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