Newsweek: Driving a Digital First Strategy

The case describes the transformation at Newsweek, the storied news magazine that had fallen from its commanding position as a premier print publication unable to find its footing in the fast changing digital media landscape. After buying Newsweek and taking over as publisher and CEO in 2018, Dev Pragad set the magazine on a digital first strategy that embraced a data driven approach in all parts of the business including in the newsroom. The case unpacks the different aspects of the transformation effort—how the company created a digital mindset, how it redefined its purpose to create alignment across the organization, created a data centric approach in the newsroom, developed a partnership strategy to scale growth, and used a performance measurement system centered around objectives and key results framework to driven strategy execution. Students can analyze how to drive a transformation centered around a data and measurement system and the challenges involved in doing so.