I'm pleased to release this report on the State of the News Product Community 2020, in conjunction with @newsproduct. We received 297 responses from news product professionals. https://www.masscomm.txstate.edu/media-innovation/milabjournal/newsproduct2020.html

The results indicate a young and vibrant community of innovators, working at key intersections in their organizations, in need of professionalization and career development support.

The community is diverse by gender, but needs improvement in ethnicity representation.

The respondents had a lot of journalism experience, but almost 2/3 of the respondents said their specific positions did not exist five years ago, and nearly 90% have been in their current role for less than five years.

Many describe their role as working at the intersections of organizational functions, but some still see themselves as support or in opposition to content-producing roles.

These results have vast implications for the future of media education, as well. This educated group did not agree that their educational background prepared them for product roles. Read the report for more details.

I'm continuing this research by doing interviews with news product professionals. There's lots more to learn about this emerging role and the people who perform it.