Press Publish 11: Cory Haik on how The Washington Post is rethinking its strategy for mobile

It’s Episode 11 of Press Publish, the Nieman Lab podcast! Hey, did you not know we have a podcast? That’s fair — Press Publish debuted back in January 2013 and, like many podcasts, it lost steam after a while. But we’re ready to jump back in! I hope you’ll join us as we interview some...

It’s Episode 11 of Press Publish, the Nieman Lab podcast!

Hey, did you not know we have a podcast? That’s fair — Press Publish debuted back in January 2013 and, like many podcasts, it lost steam after a while. But we’re ready to jump back in! I hope you’ll join us as we interview some of the most interesting people in digital news.

In today’s episode, I interviewed Cory Haik, the executive director of emerging news products at The Washington Post. Cory has been the news-side lead for the Post’s Project Rainbow, its attempt to rethink its strategy for presenting news on mobile. (We wrote about its very interesting new iPhone app last month.) There aren’t that many traditional news publishers who are innovating in mobile apps, but the Post is definitely high on that list.

We talked about the Post’s strategy, the design resources necessary to carry it out, how tablet and smartphone app designs differ, the advantage of being preinstalled on a device, and a lot more. I hope you’ll give it a listen — and that you subscribe to the podcast (here’s the iTunes link) and keep listening.

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Show notes

@coryhaik

“Meet the Post’s mobile leadership, A Q&A with Cory Haik and Julia Beizer” (Oct. 21, 2014)

“Cory Haik named Executive Director for Emerging News Products” (July 21, 2015)

The Washington Post

The Post’s mobile apps

The Project Rainbow-ized version of the Post’s website

Julie Beizer, the Post’s director of mobile product

“The Washington Post’s new iOS app emphasizes bold design to try to reach a national and global audience” (July 9, 2015)

“Washington Post launches twice-daily tablet editions on Amazon Fire app” (Nov. 20, 2014)

“The Washington Post is experimenting with bringing its tablet experience to the web” (May 5, 2015)

“Squirrel!”

“A new app from NowThis wants to reduce the work of finding news to one big red button” (July 29, 2015)

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz

Cognitive load

“2013: The Year ‘the Stream’ Crested” (Alexis Madrigal, Dec. 12, 2013)

“Small podcasters have trouble finding new listeners and monetizing, survey finds” (July 17, 2015)

Rainbow Brite

The Washington Post (the new app) for iPhone

Washington Post Classic for iPhone

The Washington Post Advisory Panel

Shailesh Prakash, Post CTO/CIO

Marty Baron, Post editor

“A mixed bag on apps: What The New York Times learned with NYT Opinion and NYT Now” (Oct. 1, 2014)

“A new NYT Now: All the aggregation you enjoyed before, now for free” (May 11, 2015)

Joey Marburger, the Post’s director of digital products and design

“How involved has Jeff Bezos been at The Washington Post? Here’s one data point” (Feb. 11, 2015)

“Bezos courts Washington Post editors, reporters” (Sept. 4, 2013)

Socialcam

“The Washington Post Becomes Official News Partner of Socialcam for 2012 Summer Olympics Coverage” (July 9, 2012)

Photo of Cory Haik by Journalisme & Citoyenneté used under a Creative Commons license.