Product Notes: Transitioning between news product and tech roles

Hi again, everyone! 

In the 2025 News Product Census, nearly half of respondents shared that they “plan to stay in news” but were “open to other industries.” Thirty percent hoped to stay in news, while about 12 percent were considering leaving or transitioning to another industry.

As news product matures, this prompts a question: What’s it like to work in news product versus non-news product environments? I spoke with three NPA community members who have transitioned in and out of product roles within journalism and other industries to find out what they’ve noticed in both environments and what advice they’d give others considering a transition.

Building product processes that fit journalism

Nelle Dunlap had early career experience in journalism before stepping away and venturing into the worlds of community art and organizing, teaching, then startups focused on tech education and online courses. That led her to non-news product roles. She returned to news as New Media Director at NC Policy Watch and North Carolina Justice Center, and is now Product and Engineering Director at States Newsroom.

Nelle has learned to see her diverse pre-news career background as an asset, giving her an ability “to see the big picture of the product, understand different users’ points of view, and be able to come from a perspective of a reader.”

“Since I haven’t ever worked as a reporter, I notice, ‘Oh, reporters are in news all the time, but I’m not one, and I may be closer to your reader in that experience than you are,’” Nelle adds.

Stepping into news product, she discovered a lack of structured systems, in contrast to the sometimes-rigorous scrum processes of her previous roles. She encountered tensions in collaborating on product processes in newsroom settings, which led her to develop empathy and understanding for editorial workflows. She has enjoyed the newsroom culture of deep appreciation for product rollouts and successes, and appreciates connecting her work to a mission that “raises important issues and information to the surface.”

She’d encourage those who are moving from non-news product backgrounds into news product to “understand where the field of journalism has been, especially in the last 10 to 20 years.”

“Someone who is coming purely from product would be coming in expecting that to be the priority, the process, and the systems and the churning things out,” she says. “But you also have to really listen to the people who have been in the industry, and understand where they’re coming from, to make the two perspectives fit together.”

Learning to pivot at startup speed

Matthew Green was Head of Product at Chicago Public Media when the opportunity arose that became his role as Chief Product Officer at Public Good, a news-adjacent digital cause marketing startup. The transition took him from a team of 125 people at a large media brand to a small startup of around a dozen people.

Moving to the startup environment, he encountered a hodgepodge of responsibilities, a need to define processes, and a big difference in how the organization’s product road map was created. In contrast to news, where “galactic forces” such as audience feedback, a board of directors, and leadership informed the road map, at Public Good, a single client call could alter a product’s direction.

“Before I could say, ‘Oh, that's not on our road map,’ our leadership was like, ‘Yeah, we could do that,’” Matthew says.

He found the same rapid velocity of ideas to action when presenting product pitches and receiving immediate sign-off to execute plans, rather than having to wait for an elongated decision timeline. Now, as he contemplates a move back into news, Matthew has come to value the ability to work fast and nimbly as the news and tech landscapes shift so quickly.

Like Nelle, he finds a lot of value in his multidisciplinary background, and advises others who might be considering a transition to be open to what a horizontal jump could offer.

“I think it’s actually more healthy to say, like, ‘I worked in this field, and I brought what I learned over to this field, and then I went back to that field,’” Matthew says.

The value of melding approaches and cultures

NPMC instructor Drue Thomas has weaved in and out of non-news and news roles, going from a design agency to The New York Times, and now serving as a Senior Product Designer at Netflix. She has observed many differences across these work cultures, including how work gets done in each environment, how hiring and firing are conducted, and the pace of work she accomplishes on a given day. 

For example, in her current role, she says Netflix’s organizational structure and resources give her opportunities to take bigger bets on projects.

“I have the space to kind of branch out and have maybe bigger ideas,” Drue says.

She values the interest in writing and keen understanding of stylistic elements she developed when working in news. While she’s seen firsthand some of the ways that the news technology space is more “nascent” compared to big tech environments, she would recommend a transition into news for someone looking to work at a mission-driven company, or for someone who wants to be an innovator or make disruptive change.

“There’s still so much that’s yet to be done in journalism that I see now working in tech,” Drue says.

For those considering a switch from journalism to another tech role, she recommends asking yourself about your priorities related to factors such as capacity, career goals, and finances.

“There’s something for everyone,” Drue says. “If they’re trying to level up on their technical skills, or grow in a different way or direction — maybe broaden their skill set past journalism — I would say go for it.”

But don’t forget that you can always go back, she notes. She says her experience in news at The New York Times taught her not to compromise on her beliefs when taking the next step of her career journey.

“Your values and what you care about, those things should make their way into all aspects of your life,” she says.

A few final tips

Nelle, Matthew, and Drue all shared organizational factors that can impact your experience with a product transition. A company’s size and stage of growth, resources, industry, and priorities can all influence the product culture that shapes your responsibilities and role. Before making a transition from or into news, they recommend considering the following.

• Be prepared to work in a new environment with its own history, challenges, and culture, and adapt your processes accordingly.
• Evaluate your readiness for change and alignment with the new organization’s stage and needs.
• Keep an open mind about all the ways you can learn from the transition, whether you’re on a new long-term path or making a short-term pivot.
• Leverage your transferable skills and prior experience to your benefit!