Google hosts newsroom growth workshop in Bryanston
Google opened its Fourways offices to journalists and publishers for a practical training day focused on one question: how can newsrooms grow audiences and revenue without losing sight of editorial purpose?
The workshop, hosted under the Google News Initiative (GNI), blended tool demonstrations with real-world newsroom lessons from Daily Maverick staff. The message was consistent throughout the day: audience understanding is no longer “nice to have”—it is the backbone of editorial strategy, commercial sustainability and reader trust.
Turning search data into story opportunities
The morning session began with Google Trends, framed as a fast way to detect what audiences are actively asking and how interest shifts across regions and time. Marianne Erasmus emphasised that Trends is not a proxy for polling, but it can surface new angles, common questions and seasonal patterns that help editors plan emerging topics — who can then re-publish existing content that can be updated and re-published with new information when interest spikes again.
Daily Maverick speaker, Lerato Mutsila explained how they use trend signals to refine headlines and SEO strategies, increasing the likelihood that their reporting appears in relevant searches. The point wasn’t to chase clicks, but to ensure good journalism can be found when readers are looking for it.
What Google Search rewards—and what it doesn’t
A second segment unpacked how Google Search and Google News rank stories, highlighting seven factors that shape visibility: relevance, location, prominence, authoritativeness, freshness, usability and user interest. Participants were reminded that rankings cannot be bought, and that advertising relationships do not influence placement.
The practical takeaway for publishers: original reporting, clear headlines that match search intent, meaningful updates (not just re-posts), and a site that loads well on mobile all contribute to stronger discoverability.
From traffic to loyalty: measuring what matters
The workshop then moved into Google Analytics 4 (GA4), positioning analytics as a newsroom tool—not just a marketing dashboard. Trainers showed how GA4 tracks engagement signals like scroll depth, shares, subscriptions and registrations, enabling publishers to measure whether content is building loyalty and converting casual visitors into returning readers.
This theme expanded with News Consumer Insights (NCI), Google’s AI-powered reporting assistant for news organisations. NCI segments audiences into casual readers, loyal readers and “brand lovers”, underscoring a key insight: a small fraction of highly engaged users often drives a disproportionate share of traffic and revenue. The tool also offers technical diagnostics—page speed, SEO, accessibility—plus recommendations aimed at growing newsletters and strengthening reader relationships.
Revenue resilience starts with purpose
Beyond tools, Daily Maverick’s team offered a strategy lens: sustainability begins with clarity of mission. Using the Ikigai framework adapted for their newsroom, they argued that publishers should define what they value, what communities need, what they do best and what they can be paid for—then align editorial and commercial decisions accordingly.
On revenue, speakers outlined a diversification model built around three buckets—commercial, reader revenue and grants/philanthropy—with at least two streams per bucket. The aim is resilience: if one stream weakens, the organisation can adapt rather than collapse.
AI: speed with safeguards
Later sessions tackled AI with a clear boundary: use it to streamline workflows, not to outsource editorial judgement. Examples included AI-assisted summaries, research tools like Pinpoint, and “Gems” (reusable Gemini workflows) for repetitive tasks such as first-pass editing—always with humans reviewing outputs to prevent errors and hallucinations. Participants also received a practical prompting framework to get more accurate, fit-for-purpose results from large language models.
A hands-on close
The day concluded with for participants to test tools in an interactive “experience trailer”, including quizzes and practical exercises. Organisers positioned the Fourways session as part of a broader GNI pilot rolling out training across South African provinces and languages, aimed at strengthening community and local news capacity.
Bottom line: the workshop framed growth as a mix of smart discovery (Trends + Search), disciplined measurement (GA4 + NCI), diversified revenue, and cautious, transparent AI use—anchored by a newsroom’s purpose and public value.
