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COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS
Strategic topic management
in agile organizations
Issue 6
IT’S ALL ABOUT
CONTENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Strategic topic management in agile organizations 04
Key ndings
What drives the change? 07
External and internal drivers of change towards Topic-based Strategic Communication
What is Topic-based Strategic Communication? 10
Introducing a new approach for corporate communications to manage topics and contents
Newsroom structures 14
Organizational forms, expectations, and success factors
Newsroom processes 19
Coordination, meeting structures, and tools
Newsroom staff 22
New skills, roles, and responsibilities of newsroom employees
Four companies, four different approaches 25
Or: Why there is no such thing as a universal model
Conclusion and implications for managing topics in agile organizations 35
References & Further readings 37
Academic Society for Management & Communication 38
Imprint
Publisher: Academic Society for Management & Communication - An initiative of the Günter Thiele Foundation
Nikolaistraße 27-29, 04109 Leipzig, Germany | info@akademische-gesellschaft.com | www.academic-society.net
Authors and editorial team: Neda Ninova-Solovykh, Jens Seiffert-Brockmann, Sabine Einwiller, Daniel Wolfgruber, Karen Berger
Citation of this publication (APA style): Ninova-Solovykh, N., Seiffert-Brockmann, J., Einwiller, S., Wolfgruber, D., & Berger, K. (2019). It’s all about
content. Strategic topic management in agile organizations (Communication Insights, Issue 6). Leipzig, Germany: Academic Society for Management
& Communication. Available online at www.academic-society.net
Proofread: Edit my English.com
Pictures: Adobe Stock Fotos: 4zevar (p. 4/5), apinan (p. 7), ylivdesign (p. 10), Rawpixel.com (p. 19), sidop (p. 22), 32 pixels (p. 25/35)
Layout and graphics: ZITRONENGRAU Leipzig, Germany; Daniel Ziegele
Printing: MERKUR Druck, Leipzig, Germany
All rights reserved. © November 2019
Note: Throughout this report, all gender-specic terms are to be considered to refer to both the feminine and the masculine form – except when
referring to a particular person.
2COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
EDITORIAL
The digital transformation has increased demands and pressure but has
also brought about opportunities for corporate communications. Due to the
changing media landscape and the changes in stakeholders’ media use, corporate
communications must target stakeholders’ needs. It must operate quickly and
well-coordinated while simultaneously meeting the requirements for resource
efciency. Opportunities result from new ways of directly communicating with
audiences via owned media, which force organizations to think and work like media
producers and to efciently and effectively align their communication content.
Topic-based Strategic Communication is how many (particularly large) organiza-
tions address media change, the varied communication behavior of stakeholders,
and the requirements of cost-effectiveness. This requires a cross-functional, fast,
and exible collaboration of different communication units; to do so effectively
and efciently, many organizations have changed or are changing their internal
structures and processes. This is accompanied by a transformation towards
greater agility – a topic that was discussed in the previous issue of Communica-
tion Insights. Several organizations have established newsrooms that organize
and manage their topic-based communication, while others rely on strategic
topic planning and content production without having a physical newsroom.
Despite its relevance to communication practice, research on the management
of content and topics is scarce. The current publication helps to ll this gap by
unveiling how organizations manage topics in their strategic communication
management. It presents the results of a comprehensive study executed by a
research team at the University of Vienna headed by Dr. Jens Seiffert-Brockmann
and myself and supported by Neda Ninova-Solovykh and Daniel Wolfgruber. The
results are primarily based on 35 in-depth interviews with representatives from
fourteen organizations.
This study is part of the joint research project “Corporate communications
in agile organizations” initiated by the Academic Society for Management &
Communication and carried out by the Universities of Leipzig, Münster, and
Vienna. Many thanks go to Karen Berger from the Academic Society for her
essential support, and to all our interview partners who devoted their time and
energy to providing us with in-depth insights into their practical work.
We hope you will enjoy reading this sixth issue of Communication Insights and
will benet from it in your work.
Dr. Sabine Einwiller
Professor of Public Relations Research
University of Vienna, Austria
» It’s the topics – and
the stories told around
them – that inform, in-
spire, and integrate. Make
sure to manage topics
well so they can become
your strategic assets. «
3
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
STRATEGIC TOPIC MANAGEMENT IN AGILE
ORGANIZATIONS: KEY FINDINGS
Central contribution: This study is the first to explore
how organizations apply topic management as a stra-
tegic approach to corporate communications. Although
a growing number of companies have started to rethink
and reorganize their strategic communication manage-
ment toward stronger topic orientation, these develop-
ments have not been analyzed in a broad context so far.
The study not only offers insights into the working prac-
tices of numerous companies but also aims to systemize
and explain their different strategic approaches
focusing on the structures and processes implemented,
the tools used, and the demands placed on staff and
leadership. The research project is part of the larger
research program “Corporate Communications in Agile
Organizations” by the Academic Society for Management
& Communication.
Topic-based Strategic Communication (TSC) is the
management of narratives and media content that are crit-
ical to the corporate strategy and that dene the iden-
tity of the organization in the stakeholders’ perceptions.
(p. 10-13)
External & internal drivers: The evolution towards topic-
based communication is driven primarily by digitalization
and the subsequent changes in the media landscape and
in stakeholders’ media use; it is also driven by the need for
communications to become more integrated, networked,
efcient, and exible. (p. 7-9)
Three types: The ways organizations manage TSC vary
greatly, yet three broad types can be distinguished:
1) Topics are managed within traditional organizational
structures and processes (Traditional way). 2) Topics are
managed in a new cross-departmental function, which
adds new structures and processes to the old (Additive
TSC). 3) Topics are managed in a completely restructured
communication function, usually organized as a corporate
newsroom, that takes care of both long-term planning and
daily communication efforts (Integrated TSC). (p. 14-18;
see also the case studies on p. 25-34)
Roles & responsibilities: The strategy team is responsible
for aligning business and communication strategy; topic
managers are responsible for developing the topics and
4COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
messages; media managers are responsible for adjusting
the content to the channels; an editor-in-chief is respon-
sible for coordinating within the newsroom; and service
functions are responsible for producing videos, images,
etc. Quite often, one person may take on different roles
and responsibilities. (p. 22-24)
Collaboration & coordination: TSC requires close collab-
oration and coordination. This is achieved through a tight
schedule of meetings, from daily morning briengs to quar-
terly strategy meetings. In addition, internal networking
and informal exchange are key to gaining and exchanging
relevant information. Collaboration and coordination are
supported by digital sharing and communicating tools,
which foster transparency. (p. 19-21)
Competencies & mindset: Communications employees are
increasingly expected to have general competencies instead
of being experts, with an open mindset that fosters contin-
uous learning, collaborating, and sharing knowledge. Commu-
nication leaders need to enable and empower employees,
instead of managing and controlling them. (p. 22-24)
Change process: TSC is implemented through a change
process, where structures, processes, and organizational
culture change. In all the organizations studied, this change
process is ongoing. With such change com e s increased
agility, which is demonstrated in aspects as employee
empowerment, new leadership culture, col laboration, trial
and error, speed, exibility, transparency, open-mindedness,
network thinking, trust, and the use of new technologies.
(p. 14-18)
Conclusion and implications: The organizations that
participated in the study are generally very positive
about Topic-based Strategic Communication and its asso-
ciated changes. They report more transparency, efciency,
collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and communica-
tion effectiveness. However, the challenges should not be
underestimated. These challenges include increased yet fair
distribution of workload, performance evaluation, ques-
tioning of leadership, and motivating non-communication
employees to collaborate. (p. 35-36)
5
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Thirty-ve in-depth interviews with representatives of fourteen organizations based in Germany and Austria have been conducted by the University
of Vienna to discuss their strategic approaches to topic management.
Companies that participated in the study
METHODOLOGY
This issue of Communication Insights presents the ndings of the
research project “Management of Communication Contents and
Topics”. It was conducted by the University of Vienna in 2018-2019
and is part of the larger research project “Corporate Communica-
tions in Agile Organizations” initiated by the Academic Society for
Management & Communication in 2017. (see p. 39)
This research included the following steps:
1 The rst phase of the project was marked by a system-
atic literature review of both academic and practition-
er-oriented literature on content, messages, issues, topic
management, and corporate newsrooms. This provided an
overview of the existing knowledge on these concepts in
academia and the practical understanding and applications
of topic/content management and newsroom concepts. The
literature review also informed the process of developing
questions for the interviews in phase two as well as the
selection of organizations.
2 In the second phase, we conducted 35 in-depth inter-
views with representatives of 14 organizations based in
Germany and Austria from July 2018 to July 2019. To cover
a wide spectrum of approaches to Topic-based Strategic
Communication (TSC), organizations (mainly large private
companies) from different sectors and levels of advancement
in the eld were selected, creating a heterogeneous group.
Some of the organizations in the sample are considered
pioneers in TSC, with well-established structures in terms
of corporate newsrooms, while others were still in the early
stages of implementing relevant structures and processes.
To include a broad range of perspectives, we chose interview
partners who were employed at different hierarchical levels
and in different functions. Of the interview partners, eight
were top-level communication managers (heads of commu-
nication), 18 were part of middle management within TSC
(e.g., head of content management, head of production,
head of channels), and nine were employees without a
management function (e.g., topic and channel managers).
The interviews included questions about the process of
developing TSC, the goals and challenges, the organiza-
tional structures and workow management, and the tasks
and competencies.
3 Based on the interviews and material provided, we devel-
oped case studies for some of the organizations. Four case
studies are presented here. (p. 25-34)
Companies that participated in the study
Thirty-ve in-depth interviews with representatives of fourteen organizations based in Germany and
Austria have been conducted by the University of Vienna to discuss their strategic approaches to
topic management.
6COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
WHAT DRIVES THE CHANGE?
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL DRIVERS OF CHANGE TOWARDS TOPIC-BASED
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
Globalization, digitalization, outside-in orientation: rapid changes in the social communication landscape force companies to rethink
their approach to corporate communications and to react to the challenges posed by internal and external drivers of change. The following
chapter will outline these main drivers and how they require communications departments to become more efcient, effective, exible,
and agile as well as to improve their speed and coordination when managing topics.
External drivers of change
In the age of real-time, globalized, digital communication,
companies have come to understand that they need to evolve
in the ways they manage communication needs. Despite how
approaches differ in coping with the rapid changes in the
communication landscapes in recent decades, they all have one
feature in common: the topics and the corresponding content are
more than ever the center of organizational attention.
In the 20th century, media outlets and their main agents – jour-
nalists – had been the gatekeepers to and the agenda setters
of the public sphere. Companies allocated a certain amount of
resources to make their media relations thrive and to satisfy the
needs of journalists and media outlets. Public relations depart-
ments worked to earn their media presence.
7
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
The advent of internet and communications technologies
(ICT) has brought about a new era for corporate communi-
cations. Today, the digitalization of the public sphere has
opened up vast new realms of possibilities for companies to tell
their stories in channels and media they themselves own. As a
Director of Communications notes: “Our wiggle room is bigger
these days. Ten years ago, we had about 1,200 requests via email
and 400 via telephone every month. We put a lot of effort into
responding to these requests. Today it happens that I go an
entire week without talking to a journalist.” Gradually, compa-
nies are lling the void that journalists left and exploring the
new realms of digital communication.
The ongoing digitalization represents another major chal-
lenge. Reaction times have plummeted since the introduc-
tion of the internet. Where communicators used to orient
themselves towards the copy deadlines of mass media, they
have now entered a world with a constant ow of informa-
tion, 24/7. This whole process involved several developments,
including changing media usage, shrinking public attention
spans, the emergence of new media landscapes dominated by
tech giants, and globalized communication in real time. For
international corporations, the sun literally never sets; stake-
holders are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia, and
Europe, and wherever they are, they want to not only talk but
also have their topic heard and to join the discussion.
According to a Head of Media Relations, the conclusion is
apparent: If “you look at these challenges from a practical
point of view, you quickly arrive at the newsroom. Why? Because
newsroom thinking is topic-centered. That means it is not our
job anymore to ll channels just for the sake of lling channels.
Now we have our core topics, which we display on all channels,
in different stories, but with one core message. We need to tell
the same message with different voices, in different channels,
in different stories. Only a newsroom can do that.”
Internal drivers of change
Traditionally, corporate communications has been organ-
ized into stakeholder groups (like employees, journal-
ists, customers, and investors) and specic media (like the
employee magazine or the website). Communications with
customers has generally been considered part of marketing,
and investor relations has frequently been located in the
nance department. Such organizational structures create
silos that rarely integrate with one another. The result: one
function often does not know what another is doing. This
easily leads to message misalignments and even contradictions.
It also creates parallel processes and a doubling of work,
which is not only inefcient but may also annoy internal part-
ners, who receive a request one day from an editor of the
employee magazine and the next day from a press spokes-
person on the very same topic. One Head of Corporate Commu-
nications remembers the situation before a corporate news-
room was established at his company:
Tightly connected to the silo structure is the problem of
rigid hierarchies, which required employees to follow an
internal chain of command where every piece of content
had to be authorized by a supervisor. This slowed down the
publishing process and became a serious challenge when the
overwhelming speed of digital communication, especially on
social media platforms, required immediate responses.
At the same time, budgets have been limited, forcing
communications departments to work more efficiently with a
reduced workforce. In turn, reduced labor usually also means
new structures, as one senior manager points out: “In 2013,
a corporate program came into effect that meant that we
had to reduce 40% of our staff. Before, we had around 250
people. With 40% less personnel, you can hardly operate in
the existing structures. And that is why we decided to do away
with the classical structure of departments like press rela-
tions, sponsoring, internal communication, etc. and organize
ourselves differently.”
Rethinking corporate communications
All these internal and external factors demanded that corpo-
rate communications be reconsidered. Processes had to be
adapted to the new realities inside and outside the organ-
izations. As a result, communications departments needed
better coordination, more flexible structures and processes,
increased efficiency and effectiveness, and topicality – in
short, they had to become more agile. In terms of managing
topics and content, this has led many companies to adopt
Topic-based Strategic Communication in newly-established
newsroom structures.
» We had internal communications and
we had external communications, and it
was apparent that many colleagues suffered.
One day we realized, it all makes no sense.
We are doing things twice and three times,
we had to change something.«
8COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
• Digitalization, the battle for attention, mounting time
pressure, and changes in stakeholders’ media use are
important external drivers of changes in corporate
communications. Stakeholders expect organizations
to provide them with relevant information that suits
their information needs, instead of assailing them
with over-the-top advertising messages.
• Internally, parallel structures, silo-thinking, scarce
resources, and rigid hierarchies have rendered past
approaches to organizing communications ineffec-
AT A GLANCE
tive. These demands and pressures drive reorganiza-
tion and a focus on the content – or topics – instead
of the channels.
• Digitalization entailed new possibilities for companies to
become publishers of content themselves.
• These factors have led many companies to adopt
newsroom-like structures to better cope with such
challenges and to introduce a Topic-based Strategic
Communication approach.
Drivers for Topic-based Strategic Communication
External
factors
Internal
factors
∙ Digitalization
∙ Speed
∙ Changes in media use
∙ Rising expectations
∙ Battle for attention
∙ Parallel processes
∙ Scarcity of resources
∙ Silos
∙ Rigid hierarchies
∙ „Content is king“
Drivers for Topic-based Strategic Communication
Need for more agility
Better coordination, exibility, efciency & effectiveness, velocity
Solution
TOPIC-BASED STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
9
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
WHAT IS TOPIC-BASED STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION?
INTRODUCING A NEW APPROACH FOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS TO MANAGE
TOPICS AND CONTENTS
Topic-based Strategic Communication (TSC) helps to meet the communication challenges faced by organizations in our present-day
information society. It puts content at the center of every communication effort and follows the guideline ‘content rst, channel second’.
This chapter explains the concept of TSC and how to develop relevant content and topics.
The power of storytelling
Over the course of millennia, people have come to understand the
importance of storytelling and the power of harnessing stories. In
our modern information and communication society, organizations
are essentially storytellers (Boje, 1991). Stories are about a core
idea, told through events or experiences related to that idea. To
captivate audiences, stories must be interesting and relevant to
those who are listening. Therefore, companies need to understand
what constitutes an interesting topic. So many communicators ask
themselves: What makes a topic relevant to us and to our stake-
holders? Here are some answers from our interview partners:
“A topic needs to be derived from the corporate strategy, and it
must be relevant.” (Head of Content Management)
“A topic is a topic for us if it is relevant to our stakeholders
and relevant to our strategic point of view. A topic can then
be a certain project, a technology, or a product – a topic can
take many different forms.” (Member of Strategic Communi-
cation Management)
“To me, a topic is something that is relevant but also current,
because not everything that is relevant is also current. That is,
relevant for humans maybe, but also for our company, because
we only talk about topics with which we can make a meaningful
contribution.” (Communication Manager)
Topic-based Strategic Communication:
A new approach
Clearly, relevance is the litmus test for what constitutes a topic in
corporate communications. Topics have always been important:
companies have long scrutinized topics that provide a threat or
an opportunity and that need to be addressed, either immedi-
ately or at a later point (Issues Management). Similarly, content
has always been present when companies talk about products,
services, and themselves. However, modern TSC is different from
“traditional” media relations, public relations, and communica-
tion management in three important ways:
1 Storytelling is now a core discipline in the communi-
cations department. Previously, companies put their
products and services at the center of communica-
tions, praising their qualities and benets to customers.
Instead, communication about products and services need to
t into a bigger picture, one provided by visions, missions,
and strategies. Another Head of Communication states: “We
provide products of fantastic quality to customers. But prod-
uct-centered communication does not work anymore. Today,
we tell the story in terms of productivity, modern workplace,
how we help people, users, our customers, in order to become
more productive. That is our mission, and we do not do things
that do not contribute to our mission.”
10 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
2 The process of topic identication is largely strategy-driven
and systematic. This means that the communications depart-
ment develops core topics from the corporate strategy and the
company’s vision as the basis of further developing a topic
hierarchy. At OSRAM (see case study, p. 26-27), their topic
wheel embodies the company’s topic hierarchy, as Johanna
Gebert, strategic communication manager, explains: “The inner
ring of the wheel consists of our four areas of competence. The
middle ring represents the focus topics, into which we translate
our competencies. And at the outer ring are all our sub-topics
that relate to these overarching topics.”
3 The entire process itself is much more strongly integrated and
coordinated than before. Since stories need to be consistent,
the organization must engage in active process management
by drawing up new rules and principles. While some companies
enable their employees to take control of the process them-
selves – i.e., the company is “letting go of the communication
process”, as one expert phrases it – others create project teams
to more actively accompany and steer the process.
Currently, more and more companies realize that the communica-
tions department is not the single source of information or creativity
in terms of planning communication activities. “Content is king” is
not an empty phrase, but rather an essential part of the corporate
reality that is increasingly determining the strategic communication
management process (Mast, 2019). With regard to TSC, this has two
important implications:
Communications employees must be open to more coopera-
tion with colleagues from other departments who specialize
in certain topics or who have interesting inputs due to their
operational involvement in different business areas. They
also need to listen better to what happens outside the
company and what is relevant to society and stakeholders.
Functional changes are also implied. When TSC becomes
a company-wide matter, communication units acquire
an important steering function in terms of information
collection and content coordination. This has enormous
potential to bring communication closer to the strategic
management of the company.
Developing relevant topics
Topics are at the core of communication. Communications
departments take on the work of collecting, prioritizing, and
coordinating these topics. This requires great networking
efforts and close alignment with corporate strategy, which
provides the opportunity of bringing communication closer to
strategic management.
The topic development process is multidimensional and highly
dynamic. The graphic on p. 12 gives an overview of the key
sources and multiple levels of “topic genesis”. In general,
topics can be found in the internal and external corporate
environments and are derived by combining a top-down and
a bottom-up approach. This results in a topic architecture,
which forms the basis of TSC.
A few examples from the expert interviews Our research-based denition
DEFINING TOPIC MANAGEMENT
1 “For us, topic management is a systematic development of topics in the
sense that it is dened by a core story, its messages, its distribution, and
the orchestration of these messages in the different owned and earned
channels. It is a holistic approach.”
2 “We understand topic management as a form of agenda setting, i.e. how
can we more actively set the topics we want to set.”
3 “To us, topic management is to think about communication from the
viewpoint of topics. That means we have a global topic architecture with
our core topics, which we want to distribute across our global channels.
Starting from this viewpoint, we dene our activities. That is exemplary
topic management to me: prioritizing topics and driving those topics
beyond isolated activities together with all our communicators worldwide.”
» Press releases would talk about
trivial stuff, like ‘Look, our product now
has three percent less power consumption.’
Nobody cares about that anymore.«
Synthesizing the interviews results,
we have dened Topic-based Stra-
tegic Communication as the system-
atic management of strategically
critical narratives, stories, and media
content that dene the identity of
the organization in the eyes of its
stakeholders and publics.
(Seiffert-Brockmann & Einwiller, 2020)
11
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Management
Members / Employees
EXTERNAL CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTINTERNAL CORPORATE ENVIRONMENT
Topics/Projects
Ambassadorship
CORPORATE STRATEGY
Core topics & Key messages
Emerging
issues
OPERATIONAL LEVEL
(Day-to-day actions, projects, events, occasions)
Sub-topics
COMMUNICATION LEVEL
Communication messages & activities
Global trends
Accidents/Crises
Topics/Projects
Interactions
External
stakeholders
Topic development: Internal and external sources
Topics from the internal and external corporate environment are derived by combining a top-down
and a bottom-up approach. This results in a topic architecture, which forms the basis of Topic-based
Strategic Communication. (© Seiffert-Brockmann & Einwiller, 2020)
Topic development: Internal and external sources
Topics from the internal and external corporate environment are derived by combining a top-down and a bottom-up approach. This results
in a topic architecture, which forms the basis of Topic-based Strategic Communication. (©
Seiffert-Brockmann & Einwiller, 2020)
Topics originating from the internal corporate
environment
Internally, topics can be selected and developed in a short-,
mid-, or long-term process, which corresponds with the level of
origin and the abstractness of the topics. The main drivers here
are management from a top-down perspective and employees as
bottom-up topic initiators.
The top-down topic cascade starts from the highest management level
Strategy level: The corporate strategy constitutes the starting
point for the communication strategy, which lays out the
overall topics of strategic importance. It contains the main
focus topics and the key messages that provide the guiding
communication framework. These topics are long-term and
general in nature, and they are usually revised annually at
most. Thus, they stay on the top of the topic architecture.
Typical examples include: digitalization, environment and
sustainability, social engagement, or safety.
Operational level: Building on the main strategic topics, the
topic architecture contains numerous sub-topics that aim to
put the general topics in concrete terms. They originate from
the day-to-day operations of the company and its business
divisions; therefore, the sub-topics are largely related to the
actual activities and special competences of the organization.
At this level, various projects, events, and occasions are not
necessarily assigned to a certain topic but are a xed part of
the communications calendar and therefore automatically lead
to concrete communication actions.
Communication level: At the lowest level of the topic
architecture, the sub-topics produce visible output in the
form of communication measures via different channels.
These can be grouped in topic-oriented projects or executed
as individual activities.
Employees are valuable sources of bottom-up driven topics
Topics can emerge in bottom-up processes, and companies are
increasingly attempting to enable and motivate their employees to
participate actively in the topic development process. Still, initia-
tives of this kind usually inuence the lower levels of topic develop-
ment and only in exceptional cases reach the strategic level, which
is regarded as a responsibility of management. As a general rule,
bottom-up ideas are assigned to already-existing topics.
Topics and projects proposals: In their everyday work,
employees (especially those outside communications) experi-
ence situations, engage in projects, and trigger different ini -
tiatives that may have high communication value. For example,
one interview partner reports that a group of part-time female
12 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
employees had started an information exchange via email in
order to keep their colleagues on maternity leave updated.
From a communications perspective, this was relevant for
the social engagement and employer branding. In addition,
employees can report on their working processes as well as
on personal and team achievements, adding valuable insights
to the collection of topics at the operational level.
Ambassadorship: Employees can become active communica-
tors; by engaging in social media in particular, they can not
only promote certain topics to a broader audience but also
bring in new topics from outside the company. This may play
an important supportive function in the outside-in approach,
which many companies already consider vital for TSC.
Topics originating from the external corporate
environment
In TSC, the outside-in perspective is mainly driven by the external
environment. Here, the ability to listen to, monitor, and respond
to external developments is a decisive success factor for compa-
nies implementing TSC. External drivers can be divided into two
groups: emerging issues and stakeholder inputs.
Emerging issues: These are events that happen inde-
pendently of specic stakeholder groups and still impact the
company’s affairs. Accidents, critical situations, and crises
inuence topics at the operational level, as they require
expert assessment and timely reaction, with subsequent
communication measures following. At the same time, major
global trends (demographic and climate changes, resource
efciency, electric mobility, smart technologies, etc.)need
to be constantly monitored and recognized on the highest
level. After their strategic potential and relevance to the
core business are closely examined, certain trends are
adopted as strategic corporate topics to reect positively
on the company’s public appearance. Through consistent
TSC, companies can help set the agenda for future discus-
sions and even become opinion leaders.
Stakeholder inputs: External stakeholders can also have
a say in the topic development process. At the operational
level, topics that are high on the stakeholders’ agendas,
particularly common projects, can provide signicant
impetus. At the communication level, direct and social
media-mediated interactions should be attentively analyzed
for potential topics of strategic interest.
Which topics are worth communicating?
When selecting from a plethora of topics that continuously come
up, organizations must take on the difcult task of nding a
balance between topics that are relevant to them and topics that
interest broader audiences. Here, three elements are key:
1 The company’s business value and its positioning are the
central point of reference.
2 Topics need to be closely aligned with stakeholder interests
and needs.
3 To ensure attention to a topic and its related messages,
thematic relevance, topicality, and a degree of attractive-
ness and innovation are key.
Topics are worth adopting when they are high in business,
stakeholder, and news value.
• Topic-based Strategic Communication (TSC) harnesses
the power of storytelling. For corporations, it is essen-
tial to identify topics and stories that arouse stakeholders’
interest while conveying the organization’s key messages.
• The entire process of topic management has become much
more systematic and strategy-driven, aligning the commu-
nication strategy with the corporate strategy.
• There are different ways – bottom-up and top-down – to
derive relevant topics for TSC. The topic development
process should take external issues and stakeholders’
AT A GLANCE
expectations into consideration as well as corporate topics
and employee input.
• Topics worth communicating are news highly valued by the
business and its stakeholders.
• Communication departments engaging in TSC cooperate very
closely with other corporate and business units and coor-
dinate their topics and stories. They should achieve a high
level of integration to ensure consistent communication
throughout the organization.
13
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
NEWSROOM STRUCTURES
ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS, EXPECTATIONS, AND SUCCESS FACTORS
Introducing Topic-based Strategic Communication (TSC) into organizations is accompanied by a change process. Existing structures and
procedures need to be analyzed and adapted, or new ones have to be put in place. Many corporations chose to introduce a Newsroom
Light or a full-edged Corporate Newsroom. This chapter explains the different organizational forms, expectations of newsrooms, and
success factors for implementation.
Organizational forms of Topic-based
Strategic Communication
In essence, there are three distinct approaches to organizing
content and topic management: the traditional model, the News-
room Light, and the Corporate Newsroom (see graphic, p. 15).
Traditional model
The “traditional model” was rst implemented before
the advent of Internet communication technologies,
where corporate communications was largely compartmentalized
into communication sub-units such as media relations, public
relations, public affairs, and so on. Accordingly, communicators
worked almost solely in their eld of expertise, and teams oper-
ated largely independent of each other.
The digital age has challenged this traditional model for the
reasons discussed in the section titled “What drives the change?”
(p. 7-9). Organizations are reacting to new communication
technologies by adapting their communications structures and
processes to t the new reality. At the same time, pressure on
communications departments has been mounting for them to
organize their operations more efciently and effectively.
However, not all companies have embraced the same model or
approach to topic management. Every organization has to come
up with an individual solution that is suited to the challenges
and problems that are unique to it. Still, in the 14 organizations
14 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
studied in this research, two major concepts emerged that can
be distinguished from one another and from the traditional
approach to corporate communications: the Newsroom Light and
the Corporate Newsroom.
Newsroom Light
The Newsroom Light model tries to integrate two
conicting motives. On the one hand, communicators
in these organizations are aware that old structures can no longer
adequately meet today’s communication challenges. On the other
hand, for various reasons (e.g., organizational culture, resources,
size, low public prole) full-edged structures of TSC as found
in Corporate Newsrooms cannot feasibly be introduced. There-
fore, the Newsroom Light concept attempts to marry the best
of both worlds, updating the existing corporate communications
structure by introducing additional structures and processes in
addition to the traditional ones.
Two subtypes of the Newsroom Light model can be distinguished:
1 A separate, discrete unit assumes the role of a steering
committee, which is largely occupied with coordinating and
integrating communication efforts across the organization.
This can be achieved when at least one representative from
each relevant sub-unit of communication is delegated to be
part of the newsroom team. This team can be seen as the
decision-making authority in topic selection and manage-
ment. Here, the relevant topics are collected, discussed,
and evaluated, but the real production and distribution
processes are left to the individual communication units.
2 Representatives of the different communication units assume
topic- or channel-centered duties in addition to their primary
responsibilities. A “light” version of a newsroom (usually not
physical in form) is implemented, which addresses planning,
conceptual, production, and distribution tasks as well as
focuses on medium- to long-term topic management. Here,
topic expertise, the respective elds of communication, and
communication channels play an important role in deter-
mining who will work on which project.
To summarize: while the traditional silo structure is not aban-
doned in the Newsroom Light model, the boundaries between the
silos are softened, and a great deal of importance is placed on
information exchange and cross-functional collaboration.
Corporate Newsroom
The Corporate Newsroom model completely adopts
topic-centered communication. All corporate commu-
nications must contribute to the company’s mission, and all
messages need to relate to the core topics derived from corpo-
rate strategy. The focus in the Corporate Newsroom model
shifts from a channel-dominated distribution of content to a
holistic approach where communication must be orchestrated to
be successful. Ideally, Corporate Newsrooms do away with silo
structures and rigid job descriptions, and these principles are
TRADITIONAL TOPIC
MANAGEMENT
1
STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS
AGILITY
2
3
NEWSROOM LIGHT
CORPORATE NEWSROOM
Traditional
conventional
structures and processes
Communication of
focus topics
(Medium- and long-term)
Additive
additional
structures and processes
Topic planning
Topic advising
Agenda setting
(Medium- and long-term)
Integration
completely new
structures and processes
Topic-based
Strategic Communication
Management
(Short-, medium and
long-term)
Three ways to organize strategic topic management
To implement a more-advanced approach to Topic-based Strategic Communication, both structural
and procedural changes are necessary. This also increases the level of agility.
Three ways to organize strategic topic management
To implement a more advanced approach to a Topic-based Strategic Communication both structural and procedural changes
are necessary. With this, also the level of agility increases. (©
Seiffert-Brockmann & Einwiller, 2020)
15
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Reasons for implementing a newsroom
Reasons for implementing a newsroom
Speed and topicality
Consistency
Digitalization
Active agenda setting
Reputation
Establishing new formats
Globalization
Professionalization
Expectations of newsrooms
Expectations of newsrooms
Storytelling
Integrated communication
Creating added value
Efciency and synergies
Inuencer Relations
Improved performance
Stakeholder orientation
Holistic approach
Consistency and continuity
applied to the entire communication department. While exper-
tise in certain topics and mastering content production skills are
still highly valued in corporate newsrooms, every employee is
expected to consider all potential communication channels and
to be able to utilize them all. Consequently, in theory there are
no specialists, either for topics or for communication channels.
This means that employees’ “proles become wider, because one
has to do more tasks and be a generalist’’ as one communication
manager notes.
Reasons for implementing a newsroom
The reasons for introducing Newsroom Light or Corporate News-
room structures are depicted in the gure above, which clearly
shows that speed and topicality are the main drivers of the change.
The need to communicate faster is a major factor in all the compa-
nies that participated in this study. This need for speed is fueled
by the insight that organizations must react to the challenges of
digitalization and globalization and to the requirement to appear
consistent in public. Active agenda-setting is an important moti-
vator, especially for those with Newsroom Light approaches.
Expectations of newsrooms
When new structures are introduced, many expectations
arise. We asked the communication experts about their
expectations when the new approach was adopted and a
clear picture emerged (see gure above):
Storytelling is by far the issue mentioned most often.
All organizations recognize the importance of narrating
content in stories. Through stories, the organization
makes itself visible as one interview partner remarks:
“With our topics, our stories, our view, we position
ourselves in public, make the stories of our employees
and our projects more tangible and perceptible.”
A second important expectation focuses on integrated
communication and adopting a holistic approach
of corporate communications. According to a Chief
Communication Ofcer, corporate communications
is in a unique position: “The only corporate function
that really considers topics holistically and connects
them with each other is communications. To fulll that
task, from strategic planning
to operational execution, is a
great challenge.” Integrated communication is an inevitable
consequence of today’s social environment, which mandates
the “integration of messages and topic clusters and inter-
linking with brands, over time and from local to global”, as
another Head of Communication agrees.
Three more objectives appear to be important: creating
added value, realizing more efcient operations and
synergies, and a more thorough stakeholder orientation.
In terms of stakeholder orientation, one Head of Media
Relations describes this development as a sheer necessity:
As a result, creating added value is an important expec-
tation that is both outward- and inward-looking, as it
provides external stakeholders with worthwhile offers and
demonstrates internally that the communications depart-
ment generates returns on investments.
16 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
How important are elements of agility for different types of newsrooms?
How important are elements of agility for different types of newsrooms?
Reputation
Newsroom
Light
Corporate
Newsroom
Internal exchange and synergies
Autonomy
Speed
New work models and structures
Task forces
Independence
Flat hierarchies
Trial and error
Flexibility
The graph shows which elements of agility are considered important in the interviews with the experts
from Newsrooms Light and Corporate Newsrooms. (The bigger the letters are and the longer the lines,
the more important consider newsroom communication managers the aspects of agility.)
» By now, publics roam through innumerable
channels and they expect channel-specific
offers that are tailored to their needs and
interests. Stakeholder expectations have
changed dramatically.«
The graph shows which elements of agility are considered important in the interviews with the experts from Newsrooms Light and Corporate News-
rooms. (The bigger the letters are and the longer the lines, the more important consider newsroom communication employees the aspects of agility.)
Newsrooms - The road to agility?
When we analyzed the interview data and compared the managers’
perceptions, it became clear that the different newsroom struc-
tures reect the level of agility (see gure below). Compared to
the Newsroom Light approach, the Corporate Newsroom relies
much more on at hierarchies and exible processes and work
environments, as well as on independent project teams. Even
though newsroom light companies do not usually feature at
hierarchies, they strongly aspire to implement them. Hence,
while corporate newsrooms live at hierarchies, newsroom light
companies mostly just talk about them.
The gap begins to close considering the need for internal exchange
and synergy creation. A work environment of trial and error is impor-
tant to both approaches; however, it is embraced much more by
Corporate Newsrooms. Similarly, both newsroom types rely on the
implementation of new work models and structures and see the need
for operational speed. This indicates that companies incorporating a
Newsroom Light model reect on further developing their structures.
Success factors for implementing a newsroom
Experts agree that atter hierarchies play an important role in
successfully establishing TSC (see gure on p. 18), regardless of
which approach is used. Trust of and among employees is indispen-
sable, as is internal cooperation, communication and networking,
and a clear focus on target audiences. Minor differences can be
found in the level of motivation (or lack thereof) between the two
approaches and in the urgency of legitimacy and support for the
newsroom. Newsroom Light companies report more struggles in
securing employee engagement and more emphatically highlight
the importance of support by the top management. Accordingly,
these companies demonstrate a greater need to persuade their
workforce to embrace the change process.
17
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Success factors for implementing a newsroom
• There are three distinct approaches to organizing topic
management: the traditional model, the Newsroom
Light, and the Corporate Newsroom. Whereas the tradi-
tional model upholds the silo structure of the different
communication teams, the newsroom models blur or
even abandon team boundaries and increase cross-func-
tional collaboration.
• Employees with different backgrounds cooperate closely
in a virtual or physical newsroom to identify relevant
topics and plan communication activities together.
• Newsroom models adopt a topic-centered approach.
That means that the focus shifts from a channel-domi-
AT A GLANCE
nated view to a content-dominated view. Topics come rst,
the appropriate channels second.
• The need for velocity and topicality are the two reasons
mentioned most often for introducing a Newsroom Light or
a Corporate Newsroom.
• Newsroom concepts go hand in hand with agile work
models: at hierarchies, exible processes, independent
project teams, and a new corporate culture.
• Key factors for successfully implementing a newsroom are
at hierarchies, trust, internal cooperation, communication
and networking, plus a clear focus on target audiences.
Success factors for implementing a newsroom
Reputation
Newsroom
Light
Corporate
Newsroom
Communication
Internal cooperation
Internal network
Target audience focus
Persuasion
Motivation
Trust
Flat hierarchies
Legitimacy and support
The graph gives an overview of the different factors responsible for a successful newsroom implementation and the extent to which they are considered
important by experts from Newsrooms Light and Corporate Newsrooms.
18 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
NEWSROOM PROCESSES
COORDINATION, MEETING STRUCTURES, AND TOOLS
Apart from implementing new organizational structures, adapting agile processes is key when setting up a newsroom. Communication
departments need to decentralize power, hand decision-making to the project groups, and set up cross-functional teams. The following
chapter will, therefore, explore new meeting formats for strategy decisions and for managing workow, the new role of project teams,
and adequate digital tools to support processes.
Meetings as the focal point for coordination
and strategic decisions
Meetings are the focal point of all coordination efforts in news-
room structures, although the function of meetings has somewhat
changed in comparison to the pre-newsroom era. As companies
adopt more agile methods and atten their hierarchies, meetings
have developed into a new form of gathering where employees of
different levels have the chance to actively participate. Jointly
they decide upon, prioritize, and coordinate communication efforts
and strategies. The trend towards co-creation and involving ever
larger groups of people is one reason why ‘soft’ skills and leader-
ship skills are ranked so highly among professionals.
One topic manager describes the new meeting atmosphere as
following: “I am daring to speak now. These meetings really
became much more transparent. Before, we had these morning
calls, it felt like in church. There was dead silence, nobody dared
to even cough. It felt like Sunday service, with the press ofcer
reading the press statements out loud and that was it. But
now, you go in and it is a discussion. As simple as that. It is a
wonderful development.” This open and participatory nature is
not only true for daily routine meetings but also for long-term
strategy gatherings.
19
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
At another company, the strategy meeting is not at all an
upper-management event, as one representative emphasizes:
“Twice a year we have a strategy meeting. Not only is the CEO
present and the Head of Corporate Communications, but the team
leaders and content managers also participate to look at the
communication strategy and adapt it if necessary.”
Managing the workow:
Editorial conferences and morning briengs
The same change can be observed at the steering level. In topic
conferences and editorial meetings, editors jointly control
and manage the ow of content, prioritize topics, distribute
resources, and pitch new projects within the strategic frame-
work set by the strategy meeting. These meetings occur between
weekly and monthly, depending on the organization. The daily
morning brieng is the stage for operational coordination,
providing knowledge to all employees on a daily basis.
Yet another form of meeting has increased in importance since
the introduction of newsroom structures: the personal one-to-one
conversation or four-eye-meeting. One side effect of silo struc-
tures is that sub-units are not only differentiated by content
or channels but also physically separated. In open-plan ofces,
colleagues and team members sit only a few meters apart and
are not ensconced in their ofces. Information ows more freely
through the department and communication is easier, which is
reected in the increase of ad-hoc meetings and four-eye-con-
versations in corporate newsrooms.
More responsibility for the project team
The coordination process revolves around the project team. In
an ideal full-edged corporate newsroom, project teams are
recruited from a staff pool and they dissolve once the project or
task is nished. One cannot overemphasize the consequences of
this new approach; apart from a few sensitive issues (like CEO
statements) senior management no longer exercises full control.
Decision making and responsibility are delegated to the project
teams. This development has a logical consequence: when
control mechanisms recede as rigid hierarchies are dismantled,
a new mechanism needs to take its place – one that is based on
trust and responsibility.
As highlighted above, the need for trust increases with organ-
izational agility. Trust decreases costs, since it makes control
superuous; on the other hand, it assumes that employees act
responsible and have the relevant expertise and competencies to
make the right decisions without consulting senior management.
A senior expert stresses the importance of trust: “Regarding our
daily business, there is a huge amount of trust that we as profes-
sionals manage topics ourselves in a self-organized, self-responsible
way. Previously, we had to write an email to the boss and he had
to approve. We do not need to do that anymore. We know what to
do, the press ofcer knows what to do, which channels have to be
served, who we need to involve.”
In essence, the corporate newsroom is based on a system of trust,
where the regular workforce is the pillar on which the entire struc-
ture rests. Employees work responsible and largely self-organized;
top management is backing off from direct interference and is
concentrating on developing the communication strategy and
enabling their staff. However, this realignment is not without risk.
Without proper knowledge of management systems and permanent
employee training, this participatory process is at risk of failing.
The organization can only sustain at hierarchies and agility if all
employees possess comparable amounts of expertise and roughly
the same basic set of competencies.
Editorial and collaboration tools
Agile departments need the right tools to organize their processes
appropriately. It is thus no surprise that all the companies in
our sample use digital tools – such as Trello, Slack, Sharepoint,
and Scompler – to support their newsroom operations. Due to
the specics of each company, the editorial tools vary widely.
However, they all fulll a variety of tasks that make them indis-
pensable in today’s newsroom structures (see gure on p. 21).
The main reason for using digital tools is to improve the
or ganization of work processes. In order to avoid the silo
structure, every communication manager needs to keep up-to-
date on the operations of other employees. Thus, the primary
function of these tools is to display processes and workows,
to make them transparent, and to enable exchange between the
different staffers – in short, to provide operational support. This
entails further collaboration to establish systems of evaluation,
knowledge management, or quality control. The following quote
expresses the ideal usage of digital tools in companies: these
tools “provide maximum transparency on what everybody is doing.
Our teams use it as a working platform, to post updates about
the things they are working on so that everybody can know. That
is especially helpful for new employees in the sense of knowledge
management, they can get up to speed without having to ask
dozens of people—you simply read. So, technology helps!”
In order for digital tools to support processes in the newsroom,
the technology must be thoroughly and extensively used. The tools
must ensure that everybody has access to the latest information.
Comparing companies with a Newsroom Light approach and those
with a Corporate Newsroom approach shows that tool usage is
more frequent in the latter. Given that the opportunity to create
a physical corporate newsroom is not available to every company,
an intensied use of digital tools might sufce as the rst step to
creating a virtual corporate newsroom.
20 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
• Meetings are the focal point of all coordination efforts
in newsroom structures. There are many different meeting
formats, ranging from long-term strategy meetings to
daily stand-up meetings. Often, agile formats or tools are
adopted.
• In newsrooms, employees with different expertise and
independent of their hierarchical status come together to
jointly prioritize relevant topics and stories, and to coor-
dinate communication efforts and strategies. Newsroom
workers acknowledge the new openness, the higher level
of transparency, and growing possibilities to participate.
AT A GLANCE
• Open workspaces can better facilitate the ow of information
and communication among employees.
• Decisions are no longer made only by team leads or senior
managers but also frequently by the responsible project team.
This, however, requires an atmosphere of trust where top manage-
ment backs off and gives project teams more responsibility.
• Digital tools help to better organize processes and ensure
that all team members have the latest information. They
are often a rst and indispensable step to creating a virtual
corporate newsroom.
The wordclouds show the importance of digital tools in Corporate Newsrooms and in Newsroom Light approaches. Whereas tools in both
newsroom types are equally important to visualize processes and workows, Corporate Newsrooms apply tools more often to facilitate holistic
working and improve transparency.
Functions of digital tools in Newsroom Lights vs. Corporate Newsrooms
Newsroom Light
Topic identication
Collaboration
Operational functions
Work support
Exchange
Evaluation
Holistic working
Transparency
Display processes and workows
Corporate Newsroom
EvaluationKnowledge management
Quality control
Communication platform
Collaboration
Exchange
Work support
Holistic working
Display processes and workows
Transparency
Operational functions
The wordclouds show the importance of digital tools in Corporate Newsrooms and in Newsroom Light
approaches. Whereas tools in both newsroom types are equally important to visualize processes and
workows, Corporate Newsrooms apply tools more often to facilitate holistic working and improve
transparency.
Functions of digital tools in Newsrooms Light vs. Corporate Newsrooms
21
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
NEWSROOM STAFF
NEW SKILLS, ROLES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NEWSROOM EMPLOYEES
The implementation of Topic-based Strategic Communication (TSC) and the accompanying corporate newsroom structures lead to a
fundamental change in the roles and competencies of the communication staff. While specic communication expertise, e.g., with
regard to certain channels, is still irreplaceable, employees in the communications department need to be able to perform a wider
set of functions and fulll an increasing number of different roles. The following chapter discusses the new roles and competencies
needed by newsroom staff.
Wanted: Jacks of all trades
Traditionally, communications workers have been separated
into content managers and channel managers, who report to
their team manager who in turn reports to the head of the
communications unit. The departments were thus compartmen-
talized into silos that focused on a specic area of expertise
and that were managed in top-down hierarchical structures.
This compartmentalization proved to be a serious challenge
for companies. “Everything happened in silos,” as a global
communications manager recalls, “nobody talked to anyone.
We had the press relations team, brand communications, other
teams – but nothing was interconnected. But of course, in such
a huge company as ours, it is essential to talk to one another
about content, about topics.” Now, the speed and complexity
of modern corporate communications require that employees
master a wider range of roles, skills, and competencies.
Even though the boundaries between corporate communications roles
have begun to blur, the roles themselves are still very much recogniz-
able. This means that content manager, topic manager, and channel
manager are still relevant job descriptions. What is new is that these
roles are increasingly performed by one person, as a Head of Commu-
nications explains: “In an ideal world, everybody does everything. We
are almost there, that everybody wears two hats. Channel responsibility,
or distribution, and content responsibility.”
The data reect this statement. Content and channel managers
are by far the most often-mentioned roles, and they occur with
each other much more frequently than with any other role. Never-
theless, responsibility for channels and content often coincides
with team leadership, the managing editor role (which often
rotates within companies), and the classic press ofcer position.
22 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Open-mindedness, responsibility, and systematic
thinking: Key skills of newsroom staff
Experts mentioned a wide array of desirable skills and charac-
teristics when asked about the core competencies and traits of
today’s communicators. With regard to traits, open-mindedness
was the top priority, followed by the expectation that employees
demonstrate a sense of responsibility. Both features are a logical
prerequisite for newsroom staffers, since constantly working on
new topics and channels requires a certain sense of curiosity. As
one Head of Corporate Communications explains, “You simply have
to learn to look outside the box. You need to have an open mind for
the needs of other channels in order to solve problems together.”
Consequently, open-mindedness and a thirst for new knowledge
are the traits that ensure that the communications unit does not
revert to silo formation, where everybody only develops his or her
signature skills.
Similarly, taking over responsibility is necessary because
employees are expected to work independently and with minimal
supervision. As a senior expert points out, responsibility is key
to agile working: “Agility to me means a lot of responsibility,
ownership culture, taking possession of topics and pursuing them
resolutely.” However, while responsibility is special in the sense
that experts single it out explicitly, it often co-occurs with other
feats such as systematic thinking, exibility, endurance, speed,
creativity, and a sense of team spirit.
Mentioning systematic thinking frequently reects an integrated,
holistic approach on the structural level. Employees need to be
aware of structures and processes, keeping the whole operation
in mind while performing their job. As the quote demonstrates,
these traits neatly align with agility as a concept.
Skills prole of newsroom communication managers
Hard
skills
Soft
skills
Systematic thinking
Cross-media experience
T
opics and media knowledge
Processing text and images
for multiple channels
Conceptual strength
Sense for stories
Analytical skills
Open-mindedness
Self-responsibility
Commitment
Decision-making ability
Flexibility
Team spirit
Creativity
Cooperativeness
Desire for new knowledge
,
change and further
development
In the future, all-rounders with general knowledge and experience in various elds will be in much greater
demand than specialists. Continuous learning – also from each other – is a key prerequisite for change.
In the future, all-rounders with general knowledge and experience in various elds will be in much greater demand than specialists. Continuous
learning – also from each other – is a key prerequisite for change.
Skills prole of newsroom communication staff
23
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
• The speed and complexity of modern corporate commu-
nications require that employees master a wider range of
roles, skills, and competencies. Where dedicated experts
were previously employed for highly specic tasks, the clear
trend is toward all-rounders with diverse sets of skills.
• Traditionally, communicators have been separated into
content and channel managers. These roles continue in
modern newsrooms but can be performed increasingly by
one person. Most responsibilities rotate through the depart-
ment, with newsroom workers taking over different tasks
and responsibilities. To do so, they need a profound under-
standing of the organization and its environment.
AT A GLANCE
• Among the wide array of desirable skills, experts consider
open-mindedness, responsibility, and curiosity as top priori-
ties for engaging with new topics and integrating all relevant
stakeholders.
• Continuous upskilling and training are indispensable to keep
employees’ expertise on content production and project
management up to date. This happens not only in external
training but also increasingly in peer-to-peer learning schemes
within the organization.
Competence management in newsrooms
In terms of competencies (see gure on p. 23), all experts stress
the need for continuous upskilling and training on the job. Unsur-
prisingly, upskilling is most often related to expertise and to
general work competence. (Expertise includes both knowledge
about an issue and prociency in handling technologies and
methods.) To keep this expertise up-to-date, constant training
on the job is needed, which all companies in our sample offer
to some degree. Similarly, internal knowledge sharing was high-
lighted as an important effect of expertise and upskilling. Not only
do employees need to continue educating themselves, they also
need to act as internal advisers and teachers to their coworkers.
Competencies can be divided into two further clusters:
1 Content production skills: This entails digital competence in
particular. Due to the collapsing distinction among different
roles, competencies in all realms of digital media production
are in high demand.
2 Project management and knowledge management skills:
With at hierarchies and agile work styles, responsibility is
more evenly distributed across the workforce. Every member
of a project team must be aware of what ‘project management’
means and implies, since all members work together as
equals for the duration of the project. This also requires
developing leadership, so-called soft skills, and team spirit.
But most of all it requires the ability to approach projects in
a systematic, structured, analytical manner.
Furthermore, employees are required to develop and demonstrate a
sophisticated understanding of all relevant aspects of their job and
work environment – communications, channels, topics, issues, stake-
holders, and processes. They need to be able to explain how commu-
nication interact with the work of others. Only if employees think
for themselves can they work exibly and avoid costly redundancies.
The development towards agility also blurs boundaries between
roles and functions. Many companies still adhere to traditional role
distinctions in their communications departments (content manager,
channel manager, managing editor, team manager, etc.). However,
these roles are no longer tightly attached to specic persons. Most
responsibilities rotate through the department and thus, at least
in theory, everybody serves as managing editor for a time (except
departmental and sub-unit heads). As organizations become more
exible and agile, management asks its employees to follow suit.
24 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
FOUR COMPANIES, FOUR DIFFERENT APPROACHES
OR: WHY THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A UNIVERSAL MODEL
To be successful, topic management requires solutions tailor-made to the specic communication needs, corporate culture, and environ-
ment. Some companies have already made signicant progress and have even experimented with multiple models. The four case studies
presented here – OSRAM, voestalpine, Deutsche Telekom, and Siemens – introduce different practices and illustrate how diverse topic
management can be. They can serve as a role model for companies just starting the process. Above all, the case studies also seek to
motivate communications employees and managers on their way towards topic orientation.
For a better overview, each organizational form of Topic-based Strategic Communication (see p. 15) is exemplied by two company cases:
NEWSROOM LIGHT CORPORATE NEWSROOM
25
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
OSRAM is a leading high-tech global company based in Munich, Germany. The company is still associated with light bulbs, although
it sold its lamp business in 2016. Currently, OSRAM is positioning itself as a high-tech photonic company. Its products are applied
in highly diverse ways, ranging from virtual reality to autonomous driving and from smartphones to intelligent networked lighting
solutions in buildings and cities. Corresponding with its transformation, OSRAM has identied centralizing corporate communica-
tions as a vital strategic step.
OSRAM does not have a classical newsroom, either in terms of a
physical place or in terms of structures and processes. However,
they do have a well-dened strategic approach towards topics
and key corporate messages, developed in large part by Johanna
Gebert in her role as strategic communications manager. She
explains: “Topic planning is part of the strategic communications
planning and aims to generate higher transparency, better coor-
dination, and a consistent company positioning that reects our
corporate mission and vision. Communication on a random basis
cannot be of any benet, and thus we decided to manage our
communications by introducing stronger topic orchestration and
target setting.”
Centralizing communication
Two main reasons were given for initiating a collaborative
process towards developing a common understanding of topic
management. First, before 2017, communication teams used to
operate independently from each other. Project management
approaches were introduced, but there was room for improve-
ment. Second, it became increasingly evident that the disjunc-
tion of the business units resulted in inconsistent communica-
tions and competing messaging. Accordingly, corporate topics
were structured along their specic needs and target groups;
however, certain cross-cutting topics needed combined efforts
and stronger commitment. Therefore, it was a logical decision to
take steps towards integration.
Essentially, integrated communication was encouraged through
new procedures and content. This requires communication
experts in the business units to cooperate more closely with
the team at the Munich headquarters. Johanna Gebert gives
some further insights: “Our colleagues from the business units
who are responsible for trade media relations, for instance, are
now more closely involved in the activities of the core press team.
This does not mean that they do not have their specialized trade
media communication anymore, but in today’s structure we work
together on comprehensive topics of overall corporate relevance
much more intensively than before.” This is possible due to the
clear consensus on what the topics are and how each business
unit can contribute.
The Topic Wheel
In order to achieve better integration, Johanna Gebert and the
Strategic Planning team decided to introduce a clear topic struc-
ture building on OSRAM’s four key areas of competence that had
been distilled in a series of workshops. They aimed to provide a
guiding framework for communications planning and execution.
The rst step was to dene distinctive criteria for relevant topics:
they need to be important for the stakeholders and simulta neously
be fully consistent with and enhance the corporate strategy.
Then, a clear dividing line was drawn between the strategic and
operational levels as well as between top-down and bottom-up
approaches in topic generation. The result was the topic wheel.
The topic wheel consists of three rings: OSRAM’s four areas of
competence – Mobility, Safety & Security, Connection, and Health
& Well-being – are placed at the core and are regarded as long-
term strategic topics. Because these areas are relatively abstract,
the middle ring contains a number of focused topics that trans-
late these core competences into daily business topics and that
highlight their communication value. In the outermost ring, these
topics are further specied in the form of sub-topics.
In addition to the rings, four pyramids – one for each area of
competence – represent the company’s expertise in each corre-
sponding eld. These pyramids may include products, technolo-
gies, and leading projects.
Johanna Gebert further species: “Viewed as a whole, the topic
wheel is always only a snapshot of the topics that are currently
important.” Except for the core competences that have been key
to OSRAM for the last 100 years, all topics are regularly reviewed
in close collaboration with the business units that are the main
sources of information and topic ideas. Thus, the topic generation
process is primarily bottom-up and is centrally managed with a
medium- to long-term perspective. In addition, the operational
level can also contain smaller, short-term topics and projects
related to day-to-day business. Examples of these are different
occasions, conferences, and crisis situations where the communi-
cations teams need to respond ad hoc.
26 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Increasing exibility and responsibility
To further facilitate the coordination process, an editorial
conference is held once every week and is open to all commu-
nicators worldwide. Here, the different teams can exchange
information, give feedback, and decide which topics should
be handled by various business units and which should be
upgraded to a corporate level.
What is important about OSRAM’s approach is that there are
no predetermined topic owners who undertake cross-project
coordination or consulting tasks. Usually, the one who brings
in a new idea becomes the project owner. Therefore, it could
be argued that the communications management is clearly
integrated but the execution of communication activities
is decentralized. With this approach comes a much greater
responsibility for the individual teams, which is recognized as
benecial progress: Gebert says, “We succeeded in getting rid
of those rigid approval processes that we used to have earlier.
This naturally led to more velocity and exibility and
also to higher agility.”
Additionally, rst attempts have been made
to re-organize the project work and to
give the leadership role not neces-
sarily to the team managers but
to employees who are actively
involved in the operational
work and who have profound
knowledge relevant to the
specic project work.
» Working on common topics motivates us to shape
a consistent company positioning. By creating an
atmosphere of mutual understanding and support,
we have also become more goal-oriented and effi-
cient in our communications performance. «
Johanna Gebert, Strategic Communications Manager, OSRAM
The rst two layers of OSRAM’s topic
wheel with its areas of expertise and
focus topics
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Orientation &
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Strategic topicplanning at OSRAM with theTopic Wheel
Mobility
Health &
Well-Being
Safety &
Security
Connection
Light for Mobility
Autonomous
Driving
Sustainable
Agriculture
Human
Well-being
Resource
Preservation
Connecting Cities
Connecting People Connecting Buildings
Personal
Safety
Digital
Security
Public
Safety
Strategic topic planning
at OSRAM with the
Topic Wheel
27
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
voestalpine’s newsroom is the result of a change project initiated
in 2014. Back then, management and communications employees
realized that they were wasting valuable resources instead of
using synergies and focusing on the truly important communica-
tion platforms. As a result of the change project, the number of
corporate channels were signicantly reduced and new structures
and processes have been implemented in order to increase commu-
nication effectiveness and efciency. Stephanie Bauer, online and
social media manager, was appointed Head of Newsroom. Now, the
newsroom is the single point of contact for relevant stories.
Purpose and vision of the newsroom
The main purpose of the newsroom is to reduce double work and
to improve the quality of communications. This is achieved by
inspiring active employee participation and properly channeling
current knowledge and topic expertise into a special unit. Every
year, three focus topics are chosen in line with the corporate
and communication strategy. The newsroom serves the purpose
of long-term, topic-based communication planning. Importantly,
it does not compete with the daily work of the press ofce, but
rather plays a complementary role. In the long term, this positions
the organization clearly and distinctly towards its external and
internal target groups.
Newsroom structures and organization
Currently, 11 of the 18 communications employees work intermit-
tently in the newsroom in addition to their core work in external,
internal, or brand communications. The newsroom engenders ex-
ibility and job diversity: not only do employees have the opportu-
nity to assume editorial responsibility, but they sometimes need to
perform more than one function in the newsroom. In general, four
main newsroom roles can be identied:
Media managers: These are channel experts who are respon-
sible for content delivery and channel development.
Content managers: These are topic experts who collect and
process information as well as dene target audiences and
core messages.
One production coordinator, who is responsible for producing
all kinds of visual material and video.
One editor-in-chief, who is also the head of newsroom.
In this system, Stephanie Bauer has complete overview and is in
charge of strategic decisions. She explains: “With our newsroom
structure, we break down existing hierarchies, because people from
different teams and organizational levels have to work together,
and team leaders, for instance, simply become content managers.
These kinds of occupational role changes require an open mindset
but also clear rules.”
In the communications department of voestalpine, each team
has its own open-plan ofce, but no physical space is specially
equipped as a newsroom. Instead, one of the meeting rooms serves
as a newsroom where all involved employees come together on a
regular basis. Thus, implementing successful topic management is
not always a matter of cutting-edge technology; it relies heavily
on the particular communicative objectives and needs. Steph-
anie Bauer explains: “Of course we have screens, and we can start
the news ticker at any time. But this is not of primary importance
for everybody. Our colleagues from internal communications, for
example, have other content that they regularly monitor.”
Working procedures and coordination processes
Employees from different teams, along with external partners, need
to work in close coordination and cooperation with each other. To
facilitate this, a series of meeting formats has been established.
These help partners keep each other updated, exchange relevant
information in a timely manner, and plan future activities:
Pit stops: Brief meetings that take place two or three times
per week, when necessary and for no more than 20 minutes.
The newsroom team reviews daily news and issues that may
require faster action.
Editorial meeting: This larger biweekly gathering occurs with
the marketing communication managers from the group’s
companies, who participate via WebEx. This is the time to
discuss and plan major topics.
Voestalpine AG is a leading global technology group headquartered in Linz, Austria. The company focuses on product and system solutions
using steel and other metals in technology-intensive industries and niches. Since 2015, a separate unit for communication planning has
been operating within the group’s communications department, applying traditional newspaper editing principles and practices.
28 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Short meetings or telephone conferences with external
service providers: Some communication activities have been
outsourced in order to best use the existing resources and
offer higher quality. For example, an online agency has been
hired to maintain the Facebook and Instagram corporate
channels. In addition, voestalpine cooperates with certain
journalists with relevant topic expertise.
Ad hoc meetings, calls, and emails: These are used for project-
team work and detailed planning.
Strategy meetings: These occur twice per year with all
team leaders, content managers, and the communications
executives of the divisions. Normally, the topic selection
and prioritization processes happen one year in advance,
and the more detailed preparation begins three months
before the start of the communication period. Although
the strategic topics remain mostly unchanged, some
small modications are sometimes necessary but should
always be joint decisions.
Due to the high number of involved parties, the coordination
process is intensive and can be very challenging. Therefore,
transparency and knowledge management play a key role. Fact
sheets for each strategic topic are updated annually, along with
a company-wide platform for images and videos. voestalpine has
also developed an editorial plan on SharePoint, where all rele-
vant information about a specic topic or project can be found.
This includes a calendar with events, project descriptions and
tasks, necessary content elements, and names of the employees
in charge. Although only the newsroom team can make changes
to the editorial plan, everybody in the company can see it. This
helps increase the priority given to topic management and the
communications efforts of the newsroom as a whole.
» The secret ingredient of success lies in com-
munication. We just need to talk and listen
to each other more. «
Stephanie Bauer, Head of Newsroom, voestalpine
Newsroom Organisation Voestalpine
Content Manager
Focus topic 1
Focus topic 2
Topic 2
Specific topic 1
Media Manager
Online / Social Media
Media Relations
Corporate TV
mm / Intranet
Communication strategy & Focus topics
Events / Fairs
Sponsoring
Brand / Ads
Production coordinator
Animations
Photos
Videos
Graphics / Layout
Topic1
50 media & channels
Digital experts
Editor in
Chief
Newsroom Organization Voestalpine
29
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Developing the Content Factory was not an end in itself but rather a
major change process with the aim of becoming quicker, more exible,
and more impactful. Björn Muscheid, who is now responsible for plan-
ning and coordinating the editorial work, explains the background:
“What we experience now cannot be compared with the communica-
tion reality of ten years ago. Today’s environment is extremely dynamic
and highly fragmented – it is mainly driven by social media. And we
needed to transform the way we think and act in order to succeed in the
battle for attention, reputation, and trust.” The project was marked by
three main milestones: structural reorganization, stronger topic-ori-
entation, and a totally new ofce situation – all accompanied by an
ongoing cultural change.
Diving into the pool: The new structure
In the past, Telekom’s communications department was very tradition-
ally structured: divided into internal and external communications,
characterized by rigid hierarchies, inexible resource allocation, and
almost no project work. Today, none of that remains. Over the course
of the change, the department evolved from a traditional silo organ-
ization into what is called a pool organization. Of the approximately
130 employees working in corporate communications today, only 30
are members of permanent teams, which are responsible for communi-
cations strategy, pool management, digital transformation, and event
management. The other 100 employees are members of the pool. Just
like in a real newsroom, they can be assigned to different projects
depending on their availability, interests, and skills. The pool consists
of four thematic clusters: Corporate, HR, Products & Services, and IT.
The pool has only two hierarchical levels:
1 The management level with the head of corporate communica-
tions and a leadership team of seven people. Of these seven, four
are the key account managers of the pool’s thematic clusters and
have specic topic expertise. The team also includes the head
of pool management and the senior managers in charge of the
communications strategy and digital transformation.
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, with some 178 million mobile customers and
more than 216,000 employees in more than 50 countries. In 2016, the communications department in the company’s headquarters in
Bonn, Germany, was turned upside down after systematic change. What rst started as an efciency program in 2014 led to as a modern
workplace, but as a clear manifestation of agility, integration, and digital transformation. This is what makes Telekom’s Content Factory
more than just a regular newsroom.
The new steering logic for corporate communications in Deutsche Telekom
Content
Factory
Communication services
Pool management
Communication strategy
Digital Transformation &
Development
Corporate:
Management
Strategy & Finance
Regulation
Data Privacy
Legislation
Compliance
Staff:
Employees
Future Work
Transformation
Change
CSR
Products and Services:
Technology
Networks & Infrastructure
Sponsoring
IT:
Systems Solutions
Internet of Things
Enterprise & Business
Customers
The new steering logic for corporate communications at Deutsche Telekom
30 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
2 The operational level: it consists of the project members,
the six editors-in-chief, and the project managers, who
do not have ofcial disciplinary functions, although they
still play a leading role in daily business. Every week,
one of the editors-in-chief takes over the newsroom and
is responsible for quality management. This means he or
she must keep an eye on the editorial plan, coordinate
the working process, check contents, and give approvals if
necessary. The editors-in-chief are also supported by two
social media managers – known as “social media sidekicks”
– who monitor the online channels.
Planning the newsroom activities
Björn Muscheid`s task is to plan the newsroom activities from
a bird’s eye perspective. This begins with the annual planning,
which is possible because the main strategic topics, or the “block-
busters”, are clearly dened according to the corporate and
communications strategy; these form the core of the thematic
clusters. The semi-annual planning is more detailed and is carried
out in close cooperation with the other communication-related
disciplines in the company, including marketing, HR, investor
relations, and political communication. For this purpose, a special
meeting format called “Campus” was established in which all rele-
vant topics, projects, and upcoming major events can be discussed.
Furthermore, once a month, the planning team sits together with
the key account managers and parts of the project staff to plan
the next weeks.
The same type of meeting happens on a weekly basis to set the
specic agenda for the following days. But still, the daily morning
and afternoon stand-up meetings constitute the centerpiece of
the planning process. These meetings take place at the news desk
in front of three big screens that track Telekom`s communication
activities and are the key to efcient integration. Björn Muscheid
describes it metaphorically: “This is our daily campre, where we
can talk openly to each other, ask questions, and bring in new
ideas. Since we created the Content Factory, our planning and deci-
sion-making processes have become much more transparent, and
the positive outputs are already visible.”
Blockbusters, channels, and projects
The ‘blockbusters’ are the central topics in Telekom’s Content
Factory that provide the framework for the topic-based project
work. There are also channel-based projects, which are called
permanent tasks. These channel management tasks include the
maintenance of the intranet and the corporate website. Also, there
is a project team responsible exclusively for social media. Topic-
based projects, on the other hand, are usually dened for a certain
period of time. But of course, there are several exceptions to this
rule: nancial communication, for instance, is considered a long-
term project due to its importance throughout the whole year.
Generally, there are topic experts and channel experts. In practice,
both types of projects depend heavily on each other. Employees
working mainly in topic-based projects also need to acquire
channel expertise, so that a whole team can perform adequately.
In contrast, channel managers are expected to understand
topic-related communications priorities.
Agile project work practices
As soon as a new project is created, a project team is formed. The
task-employee assignment is usually made by the pool manage-
ment team, together with the key account managers. They oversee
the workload along with the required know-how and availability of
the staff. Once a year in their appraisal interviews, employees have
the opportunity to share their individual preferences and desired
trainings in order to diversify their own project portfolios.
The project team has to fully engage with the topic, developing
a storyline and deciding where and how to position it. Here, it is
crucial to focus on the topic rst and only then think about the
channels. In the rst step, the team prepares a master document
with the core messages and wordings that, in the second step, are
adapted to the specic target groups and the channels. The news
desk plays a key role, because it is where the project team can
present its concept, take advice from channel experts and further
colleagues, and get the green light for implementation.
» The Content Factory was a reaction to the
megatrends in communications. It has also
become a trend setter and a driving force for
successful change.«
Björn Muscheid, Project Manager Planning & Editing,
Deutsche Telekom
31
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
The newsroom at Siemens headquarters in Munich has already
undergone multiple iterations. This is an ongoing process of
evolution that can be seen as a kind of seismograph for new
trends and changing business needs. Michaela Förster, who was
head of newsroom and planning at the time of the interview in
September 2018 and is now a global communications manager,
provided a glance behind the scenes of this development.
New ofce: In view of ongoing digitalization, it became
clear that the traditional division between internal and
external communication, with teams sitting in separate
ofces, was no longer an advantage. It was becoming
increasingly necessary to bring communication employees
with different functions closer together and to combine
forces for better outputs. Hence, the major change in the
initial phase in 2012 was a new open-space ofce, which
helped to reduce parallel processes and make them faster
and more exible.
Increased speed: While the rst newsroom concept was
very much focused on classical media relations and
respective topics, it soon became evident that profes-
sional social media work in terms of speed and high-
quality content is a must. So, the second iteration aimed
mainly to expand skills and competencies in this eld
and coincided with the move to the new headquarters
building in 2016.
News desk: The next step was to merge all corporate
channels at the news desk. The news desk comprised
functions including global communications, social media,
press relations, and the corporate website as well as the
role of an editor-in-chief. But still, it was mainly about
better organizing the channels with a special focus on
employees working in the company’s headquarters.
Global newsroom: The most fundamental change happened
with the last transition in 2017. This marked the introduction
of a new logic where an even higher priority was placed on
topics as well as virtual communication. This meant that the
newsroom was not seen as a physical space any longer but as
a topic-based planning and collaboration platform including
all communication employees of Siemens worldwide.
Decentralized network structure
Throughout this process of evolution, the structure and roles
in the corporate newsroom changed substantially. In the past,
the newsroom was a place where representatives of the different
communication departments met and synchronized their daily
work. Altogether, there were four topic teams aligned with the
four strategic business elds of Siemens. A media team managed
the internal and external channels, as well as the team respon-
sible for nancial communication. The editors-in-chief and, later,
the so-called governance team were responsible for the planning,
management, and coordination of both topics and teamwork.
Today, the newsroom follows a strongly decentralized approach
based on the principles of self-organization, trust, and co-crea-
tion. The functions of editors-in-chief and the governance team
have been discontinued. Teams now extend beyond the compa-
ny’s headquarters and have gained increasing independence
regarding decision-making in daily business. Michaela Förster
describes the change: “One Voice evolved into One Spirit. We
moved away from controlling and unifying and now focus on
mutual commitment and trust, instead. If there is trust and the
appropriate conditions for exchange and cooperation, there is
also greater transparency.”
As one of the world’s largest producers of energy-efcient, resource-saving technologies in the areas of electrication, automation, and
digitalization, Siemens has always been in the limelight of public attention. Knowing the importance of change and ongoing improve-
ment, the company is also regarded as a newsroom pioneer. In fact, today’s newsroom has little to do with the original concept from
2012 and is currently undergoing another transformation. Despite that, or exactly because of it, the newsroom has emerged as a key
pillar of the new corporate spirit, promoting ideas like innovation, internalization, ambition, and leadership.
Michaela Förster
» The newsroom totally reflects our corporate mindset. We think
globally, act independently, and cooperate internationally. «
32 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Process orientation
Self-organization is not to be confused with lack of organiza-
tion. In fact, the newsroom has a process-oriented structure with
three subteams:
The newsroom and planning team is responsible for
the short- and long-term communication planning along
Siemens’ core strategic topics. It also manages the topic
architecture and serves as an interface between the
various players involved, organizes meetings, maintains
tools, and collects and processes relevant information.
The production team is in charge of the contents, based on
the work of the planning team. Here, there are staff with
topic expertise as well as employees with the know-how
needed to develop content according to the specics of
the different media. For example, Siemens has not only
experts for social and external and internal media but also
in-house video producers.
The distribution team comprises the former channel
managers. They support their colleagues to communicate
the produced content adequately and have an impor-
tant consulting function in regard to analytics, channel
improvement, and knowledge sharing.
The newsroom team closely collaborates with other commu-
nication teams and departments in the company. These
include Digital Communications (mainly responsible for the
digital infrastructure), Marketing Communications, Insights &
Analytics, and Operational Excellence as well as the stake-
holder experts for Media Relations, Thought Leadership, and
Employee Engagement. Together with these teams as well as
the company’s sites and business units abroad, the newsroom
pursues the objective of communicating more closely with
customers, personalizing content, and reducing outsourcing.
Regarding communications, Michaela Förster states: “We
communicate only on topics with high business value and want
to encourage discussion about topics relevant for the future.
Instead of focusing on the current state, we prefer to talk about
visions, opportunities, new business potentials and ground-
breaking technologies.”
Project squads
Like every corporate newsroom, the Siemens newsroom has
a specic meeting culture. Interestingly, the number of
meetings at xed times has been reduced considerably in
past years, leaving only the daily editorial meeting, held
as a video conference and accessible by all communication
employees – more than 1,000 worldwide. Normally, 70 to 120
employees participate. Here, they can get the latest updates,
The ongoing development of the Siemens newsroom
This case study represents the state of the Siemens newsroom
at the time of the interview in September 2018 and is based
on statements by Michaela Förster in her function as head of
newsroom (ad interim), now global communications manager.
Since the beginning of 2019, the newsroom is managed by
Patrick Naumann and is continuously developing to meet the
challenges of digitalization, new technology and business
responsibility. The structures, processes and core topics have
been recently revised, resulting in another major iteration of
the newsroom. Up to the print of this issue of Communication
Insights no further details have been made public.
33
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
• In Topic-based Strategic Communication (TSC), there is no
“one size ts all” solution. Companies need to nd their
own individual way when deciding on new structures and
processes, while remaining goal-oriented and complying
with the corporate strategy.
• Setting up a corporate newsroom or implementing agile
processes for topic management enables corporations to
become faster, more efcient, and effective.
• OSRAM is an example of a company that uses strategically
relevant topics to achieve stronger communication integra-
tion and centralization. The topic wheel plays a key role as
a central means for steering and coordination.
• voestalpine demonstrates well that introducing full-edged
TSC structures is not always reasonable. The implemented
newsroom model is not a less advanced model but rather a
deliberate decision, and it follows traditional editorial prin-
ciples and functions.
AT A GLANCE
• The communications department of Deutsche Telekom replaced
its hierarchical structures with a pool organization with only
two levels of hierarchy. The pool consists of four thematic
clusters and numerous project groups focusing on topics
and channel tasks. The news desk constitutes the core of the
Content Factory, where cooperation takes place at full pace.
• Siemens is one of the pioneers in terms of TSC and corpo-
rate newsrooms, and it has undergone a series of iterative
changes. The newsroom in its present form goes far beyond
the physical newsroom at the Munich headquarters and is
a key driving force for Siemens’s digital transformation in
the communications eld. It acts as an innovation incu-
bator and facilitates mutual learning processes. As for the
content, Siemens is now increasingly focusing on topics
that are both socially and corporately relevant.
enter into dialogue with colleagues, make proposals, and ask
for support. The focus, however, increasingly lies on exible
collaboration and informal exchange, which can be achieved
mainly via digital platforms, given the fact that the project
teams are usually an international mix. In this regard, Slack
and Trello are the key tools at Siemens. Trello is used for
editorial planning, and everyone who has a new idea for a
topic, campaign, or other communication activity can post it
on the Trello board, discuss it with the newsroom team, and
invite qualied colleagues to collaborate on the project.
In the Siemens newsroom, there are no longer predened topic
managers and teams. Instead, project work is implemented in
agile squads formed only for the time of the project, and these
are not set in stone. Squad members come and go, depending
on the specic project needs. There is a squad leader, who is
also the project owner and has the freedom to choose his or
her own team. While squad leaders are responsible for coor-
dinating teamwork, organizing jours xes and controlling the
budget, decision-making is a joint task of all squad members.
With only a few exceptions in case of sensitive topics of global
relevance, no additional approvals are necessary, and there are
no channel owners who eventually accept or reject contents.
Quite the contrary, almost all employees can now access each
of the corporate channels worldwide and actively use them. In
the end, it is all about trust and communication expertise.
34 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR
MANAGING TOPICS IN AGILE ORGANIZATIONS
Introducing new structures and processes is never easy; problems
and conicts arise where deep-rooted behaviors are challenged.
Change does not happen overnight, nor is it a forgone conclu-
sion. Successfully introducing a new approach requires leadership,
listening, dialogue, and understanding as indispensable compo-
nents. In particular, breaking up silos is key. Rigid hierarchical
structures have no future in a corporate newsroom.
Employees need to be brought along, because they will ultimately
decide whether the change is achieved. One Head of Communica-
tion sees participation, and beyond that ownership, as critical:
“There is this old saying, ‘turn the affected people into involved
people.’ I think this does not go far enough. It is not only about
participation, but also about ownership of processes. Otherwise, this
does not work on the long run, because acceptance is not suf-
cient.” This means that an organization that wants to embrace
Topic-based Strategic Communication (TSC) in a corporate news-
room has to hand over at least partial ownership to its employees.
Only if they experience being owners will they give what it takes
to make the corporate newsroom a success.
Other lessons learned include not underestimating the time factor.
Changes are usually slow and incremental, happening within an
evolutionary process. Consequently, implementing new approaches
needs to be carefully thought through and prepared.
The future course of topic management
It is difcult to make predictions about future developments, and
experts are wary of doing so. However, they agree in several areas
about the future of TSC:
1 Storytelling is key: Many believe that the importance
of storytelling will continue to increase, especially in
the form of data-driven storytelling. One senior manager
predicts: “I believe that we will tell totally new stories. We
can become more data driven. We are trying to identify data
sources in the company that we can use; there is denitely
something to it!”
2 Internal becomes external: Many agree that internal bounda-
ries will continue to be dismantled, taking on (for example) the
distinction between internal and external communications. The
guess is that “the groups that are existing in our company right
now are going to dissolve. Possibly, topic management will pick
up steam, and those groupings will disappear.”
3 Marketing and corporate communications merge: Topic-
based Strategic Communication will affect the much-debated
relationship between marketing and corporate communica-
tions, where one expert identies a clear trend: “Marketing
is assimilating itself a bit into corporate communications,
and then they call it content marketing. In essence, it is
not different from what we are doing. But at the end of the
day, marketing cannot do it the same way we do.” This will
entail more integration, which does not necessarily imply
integrated communications as a concept but does include
approaches like ‘one message, many voices’.
4 Ongoing digitalization: It seems safe to predict that digital-
ization has not yet reached its pinnacle. Thus, it is safe to
assume that more intense usage of digital tools, more data
analysis, and more visual communication will inuence TSC.
35
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
5 Data-based evaluation: Data analysis in particular proves to be
an important challenge in the near future of TSC. Many compa-
nies, if not all, actively evaluate their communications perfor-
mance and have formulated key performance indicators, with a
strong focus on social media parameters such as engagement,
reach, conversion, followers, and so on. Additionally, traditional
evaluation methods are applied, including media resonance
analysis, organizational listening, sentiment analysis, and struc-
tured stakeholder feedback (focus group interviews or surveys).
Discussing the trend of the ever-increasing role of storytelling,
one Head of Communication acknowledges that “we do not use
evaluation enough. We get a lot of data, but we do not use it for
strategic planning. That is where we try to improve.” As methods
of evaluation and listening become more sophisticated, this
trend will be further reinforced.
6 Outside-in perspective: Companies actively engage in
changing their communications perspective; they look to shift
from inside-out approaches to outside-in approaches. Compa-
nies will always emphasize what they perceive to be important,
but the internal perspective needs to be more strongly aligned
with the views of stakeholders, or otherwise corporate commu-
nications runs the risk of telling stories that nobody listens to.
7 Others: Other challenges were mentioned that include (among
others) cumbersome processes, more meetings as a result of
attened hierarchies, greater need for professionalization, and
unclear responsibilities.
Reward or regret: Are newsrooms worth the effort?
Even though the advantages of agile TSC in corporate news-
rooms are apparent, one should not forget that the process
is not perfect. Flat hierarchies mean increased coordination
efforts that digital tools are supposed to provide. However, the
complexity of corporate newsrooms makes off-the-shelf solutions
unsuitable. Instead, resources have to be put into developing
and maintaining tailor-made solutions.
Companies ask much from their employees in the new world of
corporate newsrooms. This requires not only constant training
and coaching, but above all a new leadership style and organ-
izational culture that rest on trust. Collaboration and cooper-
ation can only thrive in an environment of understanding and
listening. While companies have already taken great efforts to
listen to their stakeholders in order to identify the stories worth
telling, it is even more important to rst listen to its employees
and understand their needs and worries.
It goes without saying that there is no perfect recipe for successful
topic management. The 14 organizations that we analyzed
differed widely in terms of business sector, customer orien-
tation, products, public relevance, size, tradition, structure,
and so on. No one organization was like the other; however,
the move towards a newsroom philosophy is clearly trending
in all of them. No company can withstand the tides of digi-
talization, the real-time communication on a global scale, or
the empowerment of stakeholder groups. With growing public
relevance and exposure, the need for newsroom structures
increases. While smaller companies do not necessarily need
full-edged newsrooms, no global player can afford to be
caught off-guard when new topics arise in the digital arena of
the public sphere. Even more importantly, companies must not
only react, they must be part of the conversations and share
their views by means of corporate agenda setting.
Traditional structures of corporate communications are no
longer suitable to 21st-century communications. To some
degree, all companies that are exposed to competition need
to increase their level of agility to be able to keep up. The silo
will probably never go fully extinct, and not all companies need
to engage in public conversations. However, if one company
does not talk to stakeholders, another will in its place. News-
room-like structures enable companies to be part of the conver-
sation without being the last participant to arrive to the talk.
All the experts we talked to – chief communications ofcers,
senior managers, and communication managers – welcomed
the development towards more agile structures. Not all of
them will embrace a fully-agile corporate newsroom, though
some have. However, all have realized that the communica-
tions challenges of tomorrow cannot be met with yesterday’s
tools. More transparency, increased efciency, strengthened
collaboration, elevated stakeholder engagement, and more
effective communications are the most visible benets of
these change processes.
Still, experts are also clearly aware that the challenges must
not be underestimated. The requirements for communicators are
unprecedented; a fair workload distribution is difcult; effective
knowledge management systems are hard to establish; and excel-
lent communications leadership is hard to achieve – to name
only a few obstacles. However, the biggest challenge is perhaps
not transforming communications departments or adopting
newsroom structures. Sooner or later, all employees will become
communicators in a storytelling organization. Then, the question
will not be how agile the communications structures are, but how
much the organization itself has become a newsroom, and how
it can be managed.
36 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Books
Articles
Mast, C. (2019).
Unternehmenskommunikation.
Kapitel 8: Management von
Content. UVK Verlag, München.
[GERMAN]
Moss, C. (Ed.) (2016).
Der Newsroom in der Unterne-
hmenskommunikation. Wie sich
Themen efzient steuern lassen.
Springer VS, Wiesbaden.
[GERMAN]
Barker, R. T., & Gower, K. (2010). Strategic Application of
Storytelling in Organizations: Toward Effective Communication
in a Diverse World. Journal of Business Communication, 47(3),
295–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943610369782
Huck-Sandhu, S. (2014). Corporate Messages entwickeln und
steuern: Agenda Setting, Framing, Storytelling. In A. Zerfaß & M.
Piwinger (Eds.), Handbuch Unternehmenskommunikation: Strat-
egie - Management - Wertschöpfung (pp. 651–670). Wiesbaden:
Springer Gabler. [GERMAN]
Spachmann, K., & Huck-Sandhu, S. (2019). Corporate News-
rooms - Neuland für die interne Kommunikation. In C. Jecker
(Ed.), Interne Kommunikation: Theoretische, empirische und prak-
tische Perspektiven (pp. 74–90). Köln: Herbert von Halem Verlag.
[GERMAN]
Werder, K. P. (2015). A Theoretical Framework for Strategic
Communication Messaging. In D. Holtzhausen & A. Zerfaß (Eds.),
Routledge handbooks. The Routledge handbook of strategic
communication (pp. 269–284). New York, NY: Routledge.
Zerfass, A., & Schramm, D. M. (2014). Social Media Newsrooms
in public relations: A conceptual framework and corporate prac-
tices in three countries. Public Relations Review, 40(1), 79–91.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.12.003
FURTHER READINGS
Boje, D. M. (1991). The Storytelling Organization: A Study
of Story Performance in an Ofce- Supply Firm. Administrative
Science Quarterly, 36(1), 106. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393432
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative
research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded
theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mast, C. (2019). Unternehmenskommunikation. UVK Verlag,
München.
Seiffert-Brockmann, J., & Einwiller, S. (2020). Content-Stra-
tegien in der Unternehmenskommunikation: Themensetzung,
Storytelling und Newsrooms. In A. Zerfaß, M. Piwinger & U.
Röttger (Eds.), Handbuch Unternehmenskommunikation. Wies-
baden: Springer.
Zerfass, A., Dühring, L., Berger, K., & Brockhaus, J. (2018).
Fast and exible. Corporate communications in agile organiz-
ations (Communication Insights, Issue 5). Leipzig, Germany:
Academic Society for Management & Communication. Available
online at www.academic-society.net
REFERENCES
37
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
The Academic Society for Management & Communication is a joint
initiative of leading companies and universities. Through collabora-
tive research and knowledge sharing, it aims to actively shape the
future of corporate communications. The initiative was founded in
2010, and today it is supported by ve universities and more than
40 corporate partners.
The Academic Society initiates practical, future-oriented research
projects. They are multidisciplinary in nature and are designed as
comprehensive studies that support the ongoing professionalization
of corporate communications.
The Academic Society is part of the Günter Thiele Foundation for
Communication & Management, a non-prot entity governed by
state law that is dedicated to advancing science and knowledge
transfer in the eld of communications.
Value Creating Communication
In 2015, the Academic Society launched the world’s most comprehen-
sive research program in strategic corporate communications: Value
Creating Communication. Researchers from universities in Leipzig,
Muenster, Vienna, Berlin, and Duisburg-Essen collaborate with
academics from all over the world and with corporate communications
executives from leading companies. Together, they research the key
challenges facing communications management today, such as digi-
talization and big data, value creation, and how to cope with agility.
So far, Value Creating Communication has researched four topics:
Module I: How will corporate communications change due to new
social conditions and megatrends
—
above all, digitalization and big
data? (2015–2017, University of Muenster)
Communication Insights, Issue 2: Wohin geht die Reise? (German)
Communication Insights, Issue 4: Startklar für Big Data (German)
Module II: How do corporate communications create value for
an organization? How are communications and business strategy
aligned? What contributions can communications make to the
overall business success? (2015–2017, Leipzig University)
Communication Insights, Issue 1: Was bringt das alles? (German)
Communication Insights, Issue 3: How to play the game
Module III: How will agility transform corporate communications?
How will collaboration with internal and external partners change?
What can agile content management look like? (2017–2019, Univer-
sities of Leipzig, Münster, Vienna)
Communication Insights, Issue 5: Fast and exible
Communication Insights, Issue 6: It’s all about content
Module IV: What inuence do bots have on the social media
communications of organizations? How can corporate communica-
tions apply bots for more effective communications? (2018–2020,
University of Duisburg-Essen)
ACADEMIC SOCIETY FOR MANAGEMENT &
COMMUNICATION
From digitalization to value creation, from big data to agility: Our previous issues of Communication Insights
38 COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Research Partners
Research project: Corporate Communications in Agile Organizations
Communications leaders are currently faced with the challenge of
mastering the needs of agile organizations in volatile environments.
Scientic research in this eld is scarce. This research program
closes the gap by investigating how corporate communications
should align its own structures, processes, people management, and
collaboration with internal and external partners.
Given the complexity of the topic, the program is divided into three
subprojects, focusing on different aspects:
1 Implications of agility for managing the communica-
tions department: How can agile structures and processes,
people and cultures, and tools and technologies be imple-
mented, and how can other units and overall goals in agile
organizations be supported? (Leipzig University: Prof. Dr.
Ansgar Zerfass, Dr. Lisa Dühring)
2 Implications of agility for the relationship with external
consultancies and service providers: How will collabora-
tion change in agile settings, and how can consultancies
support the transformation process? (University of Münster:
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Röttger, Dr. Christian Wiencierz)
3 Implications of agility on topic management: How are topics
strategically managed in agile organizations? How essential is
a newsroom? (University of Vienna: Prof. Dr. Sabine Einwiller,
Dr. Jens Seiffert-Brockmann)
The Universities of Leipzig, Münster, and Vienna closely collaborate
in order to gain rst-hand insight and to shed light on agility in
corporate communications from different angles. They are supported
by renowned communications leaders from global corporations
across all industries.
39
COMMUNICATION INSIGHTS – ISSUE 6
Academic Society for Management & Communication
c/o Leipzig University
Nikolaistraße 27-29
04109 Leipzig, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)341 97-35052
Mail: info@akademische-gesellschaft.com
Web: www.academic-society.net
November 2019
