Yoni Greenbaum

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“El periodismo resistirá si dejamos de pensar como fábricas de contenido” Entrevista a Yonatan Greenbaum, vicepresidente de Estrategia de Producto en el American Press Institute.

“El periodismo resistirá si dejamos de pensar como fábricas de contenido”. Entrevista a Yonatan Greenbaum, vicepresidente de Estrategia de Producto en el American Press Institute.

Thanks, @yonigre.bsky.social!

Don Lemon arrested: A newsroom guide to the FACE Act What the DOJ’s new "conspiracy" theory means for your reporters and how to assess legal risk before covering the next protest.

The arrest of Don Lemon & Georgia Fort under the FACE Act is a 5-alarm fire for press freedom. Standard newsgathering is being reframed as a criminal conspiracy.

I’ve built a newsroom guide with a "Reporting Memo" template to protect your teams.

Stay safe: open.substack.com/pub/yonigre/...

The Ghost Market Fallacy Why CBS and WaPo are burning their actual audiences to chase a demographic that doesn't exist.

Everyone is arguing about the politics of the new CBS hires, but the real crisis is strategic. Weiss is chasing a 'Ghost Market' (Gen Z conservatives) that doesn't watch TV, while alienating the only people who do. It’s the WaPo mistake all over again. www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/the-ghost-...

The Ghost Market Fallacy Why CBS and WaPo are burning their actual audiences to chase a demographic that doesn't exist.

Everyone is arguing about the politics of the new CBS hires, but the real crisis is strategic. Weiss is chasing a 'Ghost Market' (Gen Z conservatives) that doesn't watch TV, while alienating the only people who do. It’s the WaPo mistake all over again. www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/the-ghost-...

The Ghost Market Fallacy Why CBS and WaPo are burning their actual audiences to chase a demographic that doesn't exist.

Everyone is arguing about the politics of the new CBS hires, but the real crisis is strategic. Weiss is chasing a 'Ghost Market' (Gen Z conservatives) that doesn't watch TV, while alienating the only people who do. It’s the WaPo mistake all over again. www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/the-ghost-...

The Ghost Market Fallacy Why CBS and WaPo are burning their actual audiences to chase a demographic that doesn't exist.

Everyone is arguing about the politics of the new CBS hires, but the real crisis is strategic. Weiss is chasing a 'Ghost Market' (Gen Z conservatives) that doesn't watch TV, while alienating the only people who do. It’s the WaPo mistake all over again. www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/the-ghost-...

The Ghost Market Fallacy Why CBS and WaPo are burning their actual audiences to chase a demographic that doesn't exist.

Everyone is arguing about the politics of the new CBS hires, but the real crisis is strategic. Weiss is chasing a 'Ghost Market' (Gen Z conservatives) that doesn't watch TV, while alienating the only people who do. It’s the WaPo mistake all over again. www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/the-ghost-...

The Ghost Market Fallacy Why CBS and WaPo are burning their actual audiences to chase a demographic that doesn't exist.

Everyone is arguing about the politics of the new CBS hires, but the real crisis is strategic. Weiss is chasing a 'Ghost Market' (Gen Z conservatives) that doesn't watch TV, while alienating the only people who do. It’s the WaPo mistake all over again. www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/the-ghost-...

You Can’t Sharpen a Knife While You’re Cutting I used to think a good manager kept the copy moving at all costs. I was wrong. Real resilience isn't about endurance—it's about the discipline to stop.

You can’t sharpen a knife while you’re cutting.

If you never stop working to fix your process, your process will eventually break you.

Some thoughts on the strategic necessity of the "pause" for the week ahead: www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/you-cant-s...

From Milton to Murrow: A Thanksgiving Toast to Free Speech Explore the powerful lineage of free expression. See how the battles fought by John Milton and Edward R. Murrow set the table for our modern gratitude this holiday season.

Milton risked his life. Murrow risked his career.

We talk trust metrics, but let's remember what journalism makes possible: it’s the mechanism by which free people figure out what's true.

The toast is still relevant.

www.backstoryandstrategy.com/p/milton-mur...

#PressFreedom #Thanksgiving

Interesting research, but the real barrier isn't UBIT anxiety—it's operational complexity. Building ad sales requires staff, tech, CRM systems, and ongoing client service. That's a huge lift for lean newsrooms. Of 201 INN members, only 21 reported ad revenue >$1K. Probably not because of tax fear.

The Platforms We Forgot Still Work Creators are back on Facebook. Audiences never left YouTube. Maybe the next big thing in news isn’t new at all — it’s where trust already lives

Everyone’s chasing the next platform.
Meanwhile, creators are back on Facebook, and audiences never left YouTube.
Maybe the future of trust and connection isn’t somewhere new — it’s somewhere we stopped showing up.

open.substack.com/pub/yonigre/...

#Media #Trust #BackstoryAndStrategy

The Infrastructure That Built Public Media Won't Save It With CPB shutting down after 58 years and audiences already on-demand, survival depends on the one thing the system has always resisted: real experimentation. Some stations are already proving it work...

Public media can’t fix itself with the same tools that broke it.
The infrastructure that built it isn’t the one that will save it.
Here’s why we need to rebuild, not restore:
yonigre.substack.com/p/the-infras...

The Era of Permission is Over Building software used to mean hiring a dev team or learning to code. Vibe coding changes that. All you need now is a problem to solve — and a clear vision of what you want built.

Vibe coding flips software creation on its head.

No dev team. No big budget. No permission. Just a clear problem and a strong idea.

What’s the first thing you’d build if the barrier was gone?

🔗 yonigre.substack.com/p/vibe-codin...

Heading to Chicago for meetings with news leaders ahead of #NPASUMMIT 2025.

If you're arriving early for the summit, let's connect for a coffee. I'm keen to talk about the work we're doing at the American Press Institute on influencers, impact, and trust.

DM me to connect! #journalism

Introducing the Backstory & Strategy Pocket Coach I built a new AI-powered tool to help you stop searching and start solving. Instantly search my entire archive, get key takeaways, and find the strategic insights you need, right when you need them.

Been experimenting with making my Substack archive more useful.

I built an AI 'Pocket Coach' that lets you have a conversation with all my past posts on strategy, journalism, and nonprofits. It turns a static archive into an interactive tool.

Try it out here:

yonigre.substack.com/p/stop-searc...

We don’t need more meetings. We need better ones.
That’s why I built AgendaFlow: a fast way to turn chaos into clarity.
Make meetings feel like progress, not punishment.
🔗 app.backstoryandstrategy.com

Why “If It Bleeds, It Leads” Is Failing Local News Local TV has leaned on crime for decades. But audiences are showing that fear-driven coverage doesn’t just cost trust—it’s bad strategy.

Is "if it bleeds, it leads" still a winning strategy for news?

We bet against it. We built a newscast around context instead of crime tape and beat the competition.

Viewers don't want more spectacle, they want respect. My story:
yonigre.substack.com/p/why-if-it-...

Back to API, 15 Years Later — and Why It Matters Now I’m returning to the American Press Institute as VP of Product Strategy at a critical moment for journalism.

Exciting news: On Aug. 4, I’ll join the American Press Institute as VP of Product Strategy. 15 years after speaking there, I return at a critical moment for journalism. Why I’m hopeful despite the challenges: yonigre.substack.com/p/back-to-ap...

#journalism #product #strategy

Public media is banking on corporate giving to fill a $1.1B clawback.

But a change to federal tax law just rewrote the rules.
I break it down here:

yonigre.substack.com/p/the-floor-...

#nonprofitmedia #journalism #fundraising

When the Sirens Fade Saving the infrastructure behind public media—before the alarms stop working

Urgency grabs attention.
But what happens after the crisis fades?
New on Backstory & Strategy: why nonprofit media & mission-driven orgs need to build for endurance, not just adrenaline.
yonigre.substack.com/p/when-the-s...

Do I Live in a News Desert? It's not a desert, but we're in a drought. A look at what's lost when local news outlets retreat from our towns.

I've spent my career in local news. But this week, I found myself asking:
Do I live in a news desert?
A personal reflection on shrinking coverage, civic info gaps, and what happens when your own community is left out.
🔗 yonigre.substack.com/p/do-i-live-...

In 2008, someone pitched me a product. I pitched back something else entirely.
That moment shaped how I think about business relationships to this day.
The full story—and what it taught me about finding partners instead of vendors:
🔗 yonigre.substack.com/p/stop-looki...

Backstory & Strategy Non-Profit Podcast · Updated Daily · Why do great strategies stall? What’s the hidden cost of “wait and see”? How do you build a sustainable model in a world of constant change? Welcome to Backstory &...

🎙️ Launching Backstory & Strategy—a podcast about leadership, trust, and the real decisions behind the scenes.

14 episodes are live. New ones drop most weekdays. Thoughtful, practical, no fluff.

Apple: yoni.short.gy/Q1IRKd
Spotify: yoni.short.gy/vNJTmD
Amazon: yoni.short.gy/piE655

#podcasts

Backstory & Strategy Non-Profit Podcast · Updated Daily · Why do great strategies stall? What’s the hidden cost of “wait and see”? How do you build a sustainable model in a world of constant change? Welcome to Backstory &...

Announcing the Backstory & Strategy Podcast!

My Substack is now in audio form. I'm launching with 14 episodes, with new ones dropping most weekdays. The full written archive is also coming to audio soon.

Listen here:
Apple: yoni.short.gy/Q1IRKd
Spotify: yoni.short.gy/vNJTmD

#podcast #strategy

My new podcast, Backstory & Strategy, is live.

The first episode covers the critical difference between a vendor and a partner—one sends invoices, the other shares your goals.

A key lesson from my Philly.com days. Listen here:
yoni.short.gy/9Chu6h

#Podcast #Leadership #BusinessStrategy

The Hidden Cost of “Let’s Wait and See” What happens when leadership gets stuck—and how to get things moving again

When leaders get stuck, the "wait and see" approach isn't neutral. It's a costly stall that erodes team morale and trust.

My new piece covers why this happens and how to get things moving again, whether you're making the call or waiting for it.

yonigre.substack.com/p/the-hidden...

The Myth of the Self-Sustaining Membership Part of the 💬 Mind the Gap series on mission + money in nonprofit media

Many nonprofits chase recurring revenue without seeing the cash flow trap it can create. I break down the hidden risks of the "sustainer" model and offer a 3-part strategy for building a program that's actually sustainable. #nonprofit #fundraising

yonigre.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...

Why don't newsrooms learn from mistakes (and successes) like hospitals do?

My post explores using M&M Conferences for blameless post-mortems and Grand Rounds to systematically study what works. A path to a better culture.

yonigre.substack.com/p/what...

#journalism #newsnerds