Quite simply, an initiative to equip journalists with the skills needed to thrive in the digital world, Growth Desk just worked.

On average, content produced by journalists who had been on the programme received 561 per cent more pageviews than non-Growth Desk articles, Diogo Max, a journalist at Valor Econômico in São Paulo, Brazil, reports in an INMA Ideas Blog.

“Like many other media outlets worldwide, Brazil’s leading financial and business newspaper faced a significant challenge – attracting and engaging online audiences while preserving its quality news and its journalism legacy,” says Max.

Many of Valor’s 150 editors and reporters had been on a journey to a digital mindset. “They required an understanding of audience demands and the ability to produce articles that meet those needs,” he says.

In March 2023, Valor launched Growth Desk, an initiative designed to equip journalists with the skills needed to thrive in the digital world. “Valor’s approach was innovative: no boring classes, no time-wasting Zoom meetings. Instead, we offered practical training focused on achieving a key principle: journalism on demand.”

During the year, 25 reporters and editors were chosen to leave their traditional roles and immerse themselves in the programme, which ultimately focussed on improving Valor’s metrics on Google, but also covered the entire digital content creation lifecycle, from story conception to online distribution.

Journalists learned valuable techniques and became proficient in Google Trends, the platform that revealed how searches about topics of public interest were conducted.

“Reporters and editors began to understand what users were looking for when they made those searches, allowing them to address the growing issues of ‘news fatigue’ and ‘news avoidance’ identified by the 2023 Reuters Institute Digital News Report.

“For example, Paula Martini, a Rio de Janeiro-based reporter who joined Growth Desk for two months, understood the needs of consumers facing new taxes on foreign purchases from companies like Shein. She wrote a piece about Shein refunds, which became a top story with 103,514 pageviews,” he says.

“Lucas de Vitta, a São Paulo-based assistant editor who also participated in the Growth Desk programme for three months, discovered that Google users couldn’t understand why Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was deemed ineligible. He wrote an explainer on the subject, which also became a top story with 224,963 pageviews.”

Living up to its name: While Growth Desk content represented only two per cent of Valor’s total news articles, it garnered a staggering 25 per cent of pageviews in August 2023.

“Every Friday, when all Growth Desk participants joined a quick discussion meeting, journalists were themselves impressed by the results. On average, Growth Desk content had 561 per cent more pageviews compared to non-Growth Desk articles.”

Growth Desk had a dramatic impact on audience and production during 2023.

“Growth Desk also significantly impacted the source of Valor’s traffic. Content produced by the training centre helped elevate Valor’s authority on Google, resulting in more traffic coming from the search engine.

“In 2023, Google accounted for 60.67 per cent of Valor’s traffic to articles compared to 56.33 per cent in 2022. This translates to a massive 2.2 billion impressions and 54 million clicks from Google users.

Growth Desk content showed significantly more traffic than non-Growth Desk articles.

“Don’t get me wrong. While those numbers matter, the most important outcome is the creation of a digital culture within a traditional print newsroom.

“Growth Desk did not compromise on journalistic integrity; instead, it empowered Valor’s journalists to create content driven by user intent. Besides, all journalists who joined Growth Desk became a reference to their peers.”

Diogo Max says the Growth Desk programme – which will continue until all journalists are engaged in Valor’s digital transformation – is a success story that showcases the transformative power of investing in journalist training. “It illustrates how high-quality, audience-focused digital content can harmoniously coexist with the fundamental values of good journalism.”