Could a newsroom function without an editor-in-chief? Neue Narrative shows it can. The team is self-organized, with a flexible role system where each member takes on multiple responsibilities, both big and small, contributing directly to the magazine’s production.

For small editorial teams, it can be useful to take inspiration from this approach. After all, in many cases, it’s simply unrealistic to fill all the traditional newsroom positions.

About Neue Narrative:

• Neue Narrative emerged in 2018 from the Berlin-based think tank The Dive.

• The magazine is published three times a year and focuses primarily on the topic of New Work.

• In addition to the magazine, there are other products, such as a tool platform, audio trainings, and a New Work glossary.

• Neue Narrative is a GmbH with responsible ownership. This means that employees have decision-making power, the company cannot be sold, and profits are not distributed but reinvested or donated.

The Purpose of the Flexible Role System:

• When we think of the traditional role structure in newsrooms, we immediately think in terms of positions: editor-in-chief, desk editor, editors, reporters, and a few others. That’s how we were taught.

• The editorial team at Neue Narrative operates entirely without formal positions. Instead, it works in a self-organized way, with specific and flexible roles that can change over time.

This is How the System Works:

• Every editorial team member at Neue Narrative holds multiple roles, sometimes very detailed. The number of roles can vary, typically between 3 and 15.

• Some examples of smaller and larger roles include: “Teasers and Headlines,” “Research Rocket,” “Fact-Check,” “Sparring / Text Structure,” “Product Owner,” “Process Owner,” and many more.

• Roles are created when there is a need and removed when the need no longer exists. In the meantime, they are continuously adjusted. They are therefore designed to be as precise as possible.

• In a traditional newsroom, a chief editor or some editor might be responsible for teasers and headlines. At Neue Narrative, the role is assigned to the person who can do it best.

• Each role is clearly defined. It includes a name, a purpose, and three to five accountabilities (responsibilities).

• For example, the Product Owner role looks like this:
  • Purpose: “We have developed the best edition of Neue Narrative so far.”
  • Accountabilities: “Ensures that the product aligns with the purpose,” “Keeps an overview of the big picture,” and “Constantly develops ideas to improve the product and contributes them as suggestions.”
• It’s by no means the case that Neue Narrative has no hierarchies. However, positional hierarchies are replaced by competence hierarchies: the person holding a role ultimately has the decision-making authority. After all, the tasks of a chief editor are still necessary – but they are broken down into roles and distributed meaningfully across the team.
• For this system to work, the team needs constant reflection and feedback so that every member can assess their strengths and weaknesses as accurately as possible. Flexibility is also key, as roles are regularly reassigned, newly created, or adjusted in terms of their purpose or accountabilities based on need.
• Who holds which roles and the competencies associated with them is communicated transparently and clearly to everyone at Neue Narrative.

Lessons Learned

• Making roles explicit helps even small newsrooms: In small teams, staff often already hold many different roles. Becoming aware of this, writing down the different role profiles, and making them transparent can be extremely helpful. It makes it easier to estimate your own workload, identify gaps in role distribution, and optimize workflows.

• Roles help with recruitment: Knowing which roles exist in the newsroom also makes it clear which roles are underfilled or causing dissatisfaction. For example, if journalistic quality suffers because you are (necessarily) also handling accounting, you might not need another reporter or editor. Instead, you could hire someone to take over the unpopular “accounting” role.

• Schedule time for reflection: It is important to regularly take time to reflect. What is going well? What isn’t? Which roles need to be adjusted? Which new roles are needed – or have already emerged on their own? This is the only way to continuously develop the structure and keep it flexible.

This case study first appeared in our beabee newsletter, where we share practical tips and guides on community journalism every month. Subscribe here: Sign up

Do you have your own experiences or use cases that we should include? Just send an email to svenja.schilling@correctiv.org.