Brand transformation · editorial products · audience
I made the newsroom visible.
I arrived in June 2025 to a strong newsroom whose people and depth were largely hidden behind an institutional digital front door. I rebranded WKAR News and Election 2026 around the journalists: their faces, voices, subject expertise and deep-dive conversations now connect with listeners and readers across the website and The Signal newsletters. I also introduced digital analytics to editorial planning, brought the digital team into newsroom decisions and made the full staff part of the digital process. Around those changes I built new editorial products, enterprise hubs, freelance and student contribution systems, and expanded local-politics capacity. The digital audience roughly doubled.
I rebranded WKAR News and Election 2026 around the journalists—their faces, voices, expertise and deeper conversations. Then I brought analytics and the digital team into editorial planning, made the full staff part of the digital process, and carried that strategy across the website, The Signal and Signal+. The digital audience roughly doubled.
Four case studies in turning editorial strategy into products and operating models a team can sustain.
+101.6%
Daily-average active users on wkar.org. The growth inflection follows my June 2025 arrival and the shift into digital-first distribution.
8.4%
Click rate on Sunday Signal across 30 original sends, roughly 7× the media-publisher median. Resends excluded.
3
Editorial products launched inside one year: The Signal, The Signal+ and Election 2026.
The visible newsroom
People should know who is doing the work.
Before, the institution was visible and much of the expertise sat behind it. I put journalists’ names, faces, beats and recurring roles into the front door—so readers and listeners can recognize the people covering their communities and build a relationship with their work.
The operating change
Six systems I put into operation.
Swipe to browse all six systems →
01
Audience operating system · +101.6%
Analytics moved into daily editorial planning. A shared calendar now decides the right platform, edition and release sequence, while distribution extends into Reddit, Facebook and local communities.
02
People became the brand
I rebranded WKAR News and Election 2026 around named journalists, visible expertise and recurring voices across the website, newsletters and broadcasts.
03
Enterprise reporting hubs
I initiated Michigan’s Data Center Divide and Michigan’s Mall Meltdown: coordinated reporting with dedicated digital pages, audio, search strategy and follow-up.
04
Politics capacity
I hired a dedicated local politics reporter and connected local reporting with Capitol coverage across radio, digital, television, streaming and newsletters.
05
Resilient freelance model
After federal funding cuts, I put a repeatable assignment, ownership and contribution system in place to protect reporting capacity.
06
MSU talent pipeline
I brought Capitol News Service students into WKAR coverage, put them on broadcasts as story experts and teach judgment, framing and multiplatform execution.
The products in use
A newsletter built around journalists.
The module system turns staff biographies into a living editorial promise: readers see who knows the subject, what that journalist is watching and where to find the deeper conversation. The week ahead, public meetings, enterprise work, Election 2026 and station programs connect inside one reader habit; Signal+ extends that spine into Wednesday.
The work
Four case studies · 2025 to 2026
The Signal
Identified the audience opportunity, conceived the product, shaped its identity and editorial architecture, and led a three-week build before systematizing production.
Newsletter · Product · Editorial systems
Election 2026
A dedicated election destination connecting local questions with statewide reporting, built around a clear strategy, content architecture and service promise.
Strategy · Content architecture · Service
Audience & Growth
During the digital transformation the audience roughly doubled and recent monthly users reached about three times NPR Studio’s typical-station benchmark. The floor moved, not just the peak.
Analytics · Benchmarks · Method
The Newsroom
A visible, talent-led operation built through hiring, coaching and clear ownership—including a freelance reporter system that protected capacity after federal funding cuts and a full-time local politics reporter hired to expand in-depth election coverage.
Talent · Hiring · Freelance