Wondering what 'Building Back Well' might look like for your news organisation? Then join the Spring 2021 meeting of the Digital Editors' Network on 29 April 2021

Covid-19 has sped up change in an industry that was already undergoing rapid transformation. Beyond the public health crisis, the pandemic is reconfiguring how societies work. For journalism, it also represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to hit the reset button. 

What are the key considerations for newsroom decision-makers to build back well? 

The Spring 2021 meeting the Digital Editors Network will host a set of facilitated virtual group discussions on People, Processes and Products with the aim of creating a set of questions and frameworks for attendees to take back to their respective newsrooms. 

In short, we’d like to co-create an agenda for decision-makers to consider as they seek to build back well.

The discussion leaders are:

• Jon Birchall is the Sport Audience and Content Director at Reach PLC, overseeing sports audience strategy across brands such as The Mirror, Manchester Evening News and Liverpool ECHO. He has previously worked at Manchester United and Goal. He is also an Associate Member of the News Media Coalition and has spoken expansively before about his insights into mental health within sports journalism
• Ruth Bushi is a freelance journalist and editor. She covers personal finance, higher education, parenting, mental health and more. My subject expertise is financial literacy – especially student finance and everyday money skills. Ruth is the former editor of The Push Guide to Which University (print book series) and author of The Student Moneymanual 2012-2019.
• Michael Byrne is the Group Fire, Health and Safety Manager for News UK 
• Olivia Crellin is Head of Multimedia for Open Democracy, who previously worked as a producer, reporter and documentary maker for BBC World News. She’s also the founder of the media diversity social enterprise PressPad.
• Shirish Kulkarni is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of experience working in the UK’s major broadcast newsrooms. His expertise spans innovation, storytelling, technology, inclusion, mental health and engaged journalism. He works as a freelance journalist, researcher and trainer, and as a Community Organiser at Bureau Local.

The discussion will be facilitated by the DEN co-convenors freelance John Crowley,  Beth Ashton, Head of Audience at the Independent, François Nel of the Journalism Innovation & Leadership Programme at UCLan and  Nick Petrie, deputy head of digital of the Times and The Sunday Times. 

You can register for one of the 100 spaces here: https://buildingbackwellden.eventbrite.co.uk. As is customary for DEN events, we’ll be observing the Chatham House rule.

The Digital Editors’ Network is a peer learning network that brings together online media managers from all sectors of the industry to discuss best practices and discuss industry trends. It was founded in 2007 by François Nel who has been joined by Beth Ashton of the Independent, freelance John Crowley and Nick Petrie of The Times & The Sunday Times in organising the twice-yearly events. To stay in the loop, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or add your contact details to our mailing list. 

If you'd like to contribute ideas, speak, host, sponsor or collaborate on a future DEN meetup or workshop, don't hesitate to contact any of the convenors directly or François Nel at digitaleditorsnetwork@gmail.com