By: Megan Peterson
The latest PRSA Detroit event, featuring a panel of Crain’s Detroit Business news staff, was one for the books. Hosted at Lawrence Technological University, the seven panelists broke down the new Crain’s Detroit Business model, which is three-pronged.
- Focused beat writers. This makes perfect sense. Going forward, each beat writer will have one beat. This way, they can focus on the news in their wheelhouse and be able to do more in-depth pieces. Currently there are six core beats the publication is focused on including health, sports, real estate, healthcare and others. As Fournier put it, with six beats and six dedicated journalists, there’s no ‘mushy middle.’ This is NOT to say the publication exclusively focuses on six sole topics however, the publication will still be inclusive of all things Detroit business-related.
- Breaking news, as its own entity. This is a positive shift! Just as beat reporters can focus on their individual beats, breaking news reporters can now be proactive to what’s happening in the metro Detroit area minute-to-minute.
- Member service. Throwing the “subscriber” model out the window, Crain’s focus is on harvesting members. This approach includes serving up content that is a pay-to-play model, which I’m willing to bet, you’ve already seen, whether you realize it or not. This is an investment opportunity for organizations/clients who have a content development strategy that allows for it! (For example, when you see these types of stories in the eblasts, they are blue.)
Many thanks to PRSA Detroit and Crain’s Detroit Business (see panelists below) for a great event!
- Ron Fournier, Publisher/Editor
- Mike Lee, Managing Editor
- Kristin Bull Director, Crain Custom Content
- Lisa Rudy, Director of Sales
- Beth Reeber Valone, News Editor
- Amy Elliott Bragg, Special Projects Editor
- Bill Shea, Enterprise Editor/covers the business of sports
Pictured is the panel (LtoR), Ron Fournier, Mike Lee, Kristin Bull, Lisa Rudy, Amy Elliott Bragg, Beth Reeber Valone and Bill Shea.
Megan Peterson is a Senior Account Executive at Franco, where she works on automotive and B2B accounts. She can be reached at [email protected].
