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Journalism Project Management Guide Chapter 1: Collaborative Projects
Journalism Project Management Guide Chapter 1: Collaborative Projects

Illustration: Louiza Karageorgiou for GIJN

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Project Management: Collaborative Journalism

It all began with the Associated Press, a not-for-profit news agency founded by six American newspapers in the mid-19th century. This collaboration allowed members to share content, which sometimes clashed with the traditionally exclusive nature of the industry. Fast forward to today, technological advances and the internet have made it easier for reporters around the world to work together. These partnerships allow organizations to maintain geographic exclusivity while covering domestic stories with an international perspective or addressing cross-border issues — a win-win situation for everyone involved. Today, we have quite a history in collaborative journalism already.

Role of Project Management in Collaborative Journalism

In addition to the substantive journalistic aspects of collaborative investigations, there is a whole package of work involved in terms of organization, planning, coordination, team and stakeholder management, budgeting, and risk mitigation that has to be done by the project manager. These projects often involve different team members with different skill sets working together. Cultures and characters can clash and conflicts can arise. To conduct a successful investigation on deadline, planning is required and if needed, a budget is to be found along the way.

In journalism, the focus is generally on the investigation and the results: the publications at the end or during the investigation and the impact of these publications. But achieving a goal and good results are not only maximized by the work of the journalists alone, the additional roles in the team are also of great importance. For example, an organization may have a photographer, editor, social media editor, marketing, promotion, and impact manager. A collaborative investigative team, small or large, may share these roles or hire a freelancer, but the most important non-investigative tasks are those of the project manager. If no one is coordinating the project, goals are not met.

But the nature of the news industry makes it hard to plan far in advance, budgets are often limited, and few reporters and editors receive structured project management training, says The Wall Street Journal’s Robin Kwong, who also authored a guide on the topic published last year by the Association for Project Management, which offers advice to journalists. The reason is that it wasn’t really needed in the past, explains Kwong. The same is true of collaborative journalism: it is only with the development of cross-border projects that the role has emerged in investigative journalism.

Project Manager

A project manager, as mentioned above, is mainly concerned with making sure that the team, the investigation, and its progress are going according to agreement and plan. The project manager is not so much telling the team what to do, but facilitating the team’s alignment and agreements. The project manager is there to make sure that the agreements made are documented, that they plan according to those agreements, and that they execute according to what they have agreed as a team.

The project manager helps the team to follow the guidelines that they have agreed during the project: processes that need to be followed to get to the final publication. The project manager guides the team through difficult times and conflicts and makes sure that the team celebrates successes. In short, the project manager is the guardian of the team, supporting the people and the project.

Rather than dictating a direction, the project manager is a leader, guiding the team through the challenges that investigative journalism knows only too well. Leadership, in this role, mainly consists of giving the team freedom within the frameworks they have set themselves. Just like for the rest of the team, trust is essential here. The team needs to have faith in the project manager to give a mandate and be the leader they need.

The person in this role needs to have specific skills that are not usually taught in journalism school and preferably a great deal of patience. As project managers work on investigative journalism projects, it’s obviously important to understand the basics of investigative reporting, how the investigative process works, and the kinds of challenges that might come up. And, finally, the project manager’s name is usually not at the top of the publications. It is good to know that ego and striving for fame are counterproductive in this role.

Skills needed to be a project manager:

  • Practical, tech-savvy, and well-organized: the project manager is someone who knows how to keep 50 plates in the air at the same time and still smile. Templates and tools have no secrets and solving puzzles is a hobby; they are also highly organized, with a high sense of documentation hygiene.
  • Consensus builder, diplomat, and watchdog: the project manager has to make sure that the team agrees on many levels (see MOU) and sticks to it, but will notice and discuss changes if necessary — something between a mediator and a schoolteacher.
  • Facilitator, mediator, and translator: the project manager is the spider in the web, translating the needs of the team, the project, and sometimes individual members (meetings, updates, tools, etc.). Be careful not to become a secretary, be a leader!
  • Anthropological cat-herder with a bird’s eye view: the project manager is able to have personal relationships with the team members, but focuses on the bigger picture: the project. Be the lighthouse for the team.
  • Strategist, stakeholder manager, and networker: the project manager makes sure that the research and the team are well represented with key funders, newsrooms and possible outsiders (scientists, politicians, people with influence) who can help achieve the team’s goals.

Not Set in Stone

A recurring discussion in collaborative journalism is whether the role of project manager should be combined with another role within the team. There can be a risk of conflict of interest: when are you talking as an investigative journalist with a personal point of view, and when as a project manager with an overview of the interests of the whole team and project?

And there is a continuing conversation about the name of this role. For a long time, the terms ‘project’ and ‘management’ were not really accepted in journalistic environments because they were associated with business and corporate roles. Journalists seem to be more comfortable with ‘editorial coordinator’, ‘collaboration officer’ or ‘producer’ (television). But now that both the meaning and content of project and management are becoming more familiar, the term project manager, and therefore the use of the term project, is more common. Collaborative manager is a nice equivalent.

The implementation of the role can be fluid (from just a few hours per week to full time, from the start or building up the project) and depends on what the investigation and the team need to get the best results. Sometimes a team realizes that they need a project manager after they have started their investigation, in some cases there is an existing structure offered when working with investigative organizations such as OCCRP or ICIJ. It is not set in stone when, how, and if a project manager is active in an investigative team, although more and more collaborative investigators share that having a project manager is a valued addition to the team.

Collaborative Projects

In the business world, a project is typically defined as a temporary undertaking with the aim of producing a unique product, service, or result. In journalism, we see the same: projects are time-limited, are not part of the regular business process of the newsroom, and have defined start and end dates and an allocated budget. A project is initiated to achieve a specific goal that is outside the scope of typical day-to-day business operations. This means that the project team may include people who do not normally work together and require resources that are outside the scope of day-to-day operations. A project is not routine.

A project includes:

  • Time limits: a start and end date;
  • Work that is not part of the day-to-day business in a newsroom;
  • Specific team members working together (that may not work together normally);
  • Specific funds or a budget to spend;
  • Specific goals or a unique end result.

Cross-border journalism is a specific form of projects that is best known today. But there are many different types of collaboration. Some collaborations occur between only freelancers, only newsrooms, or a combination.

Tips and tricks on how to organize project management tasks:

  • In a small team (two to nine people) you may not want to add a project manager, but stay agile. Is there a team member that is willing and able to take on these tasks? Be aware that having two roles with one person can become a risk, discuss with your team how to deal with that. A mentor in project management paid through a scheme can also help support the project or someone from one of the collaborating newsrooms may be available.
  • Is it better and more efficient for the team (no matter what size it is) to add a project manager? What are the exact tasks and how many hours per week or month should this person be available? Include these hours and costs in your budget planning.
  • Discuss the tasks, the role within the team and team members’ expectations towards the project manager. Discuss what the team needs from the project manager to maximize teamwork (reminders, personal calls, detailed planning, etc.).

More to read about how to find other journalists with whom to collaborate:

More to read about the role of project manager in investigative journalism:


Coco Gubbels profile picture

Coco Gubbels became aware of the need for and added value of project management in investigative journalism a few years ago. As a former freelance investigative journalist and practicing project manager in the corporate world, she noticed how collaborative journalism was maturing, but journalists were still lacking the necessary skills. 

She now combines her passion for investigative journalism and her profession as a project manager in her one-woman organization PM-IJ: Project Management in Investigative Journalism. As a freelance project manager, she coordinates large international investigations, coaches and trains coordinators and mentors cross-border teams. She is the founder of a peer support group on LinkedIn to create a network of collaborative managers to learn and share experiences.

 

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