Focus

your niche, topics you prioritize and what sets you apart

Focus is the niche a newsroom chooses: the topics it covers closely and the angle that sets it apart from others. For a media organization, a clear focus shapes what gets resources and what gets left to someone else. A team might pause here when coverage feels spread thin or hard to describe.

Questions to explore

// use these as prompts in a workshop or on your own. There are no right answers.

Which topics do we cover better than anyone else around us?
What are we currently reporting on out of habit rather than strength?
Who would notice if we stopped covering a particular subject?
How do we decide what falls outside our focus?
Where could a sharper focus help us, and where might it close off useful coverage?

Expert voices

// notes from the journalists and AI experts who helped shape this kit

“Ask a journalist what they are known for, then what they wish to be known for one day. The answers reveal which aspect of AI will repel them most and which will convince them to try it.”

Jasper Steinlein, DW

Things to consider

A narrow focus can build depth, but it also sets a limit on what you cover.
What sets you apart is easier to defend than what you do the same as everyone else.
Focus is a choice about what to leave out as much as what to keep.

using this card

Pull Focus when it is relevant and set it aside when it is not. Pair it with the other Organisation cards, lay them out on a table, and use the questions above to get everyone on the same page. Capture what you discuss on sticky notes or in a shared doc.