Stay tuned for the latest news & thoughts from our team.
Preston Innovates: a case study
A lot has happened since I was first contracted to act as Preston City Council’s Innovation Ambassador .
Alma’s work wins national media award and praised by judges as ‘original’ and ‘wonderful’
We’re delighted to tell you our work is award-winning. Alma played a major part in scooping a national journalism award for The Lead North initiative we’ve been spear-heading. Since launching in late 2023 the project has seen high quality news and features delivered through newsletters, Substack publishing and new local newspapers across ten towns and…
Alma’s work with The Lead North latest award nomination for highly engaged local media initiatives
One of Alma’s projects is up for a national media award. Undertaken on behalf of national politics and culture magazine, The Lead, the initiative has seen Luke Beardsworth and Ed Walker create and deliver highly engaged and high quality email newsletters and local journalism across the North of England. Known as The Lead North the…
How readers can have a better relationship with news in 2025
“Elon has presented X to be the new face of news – which is wild to me. There is a level of journalistic responsibility that does exist that you can’t apply to 50,000 people posting on X for various reasons; money, clout, fame, hate, bias.” The above statement comes not from a news veteran with…
Who is making the decisions about AI in your business?
Whether you’re a gung-ho enthusiast or a reluctant skeptic, there are relevant AI tools and solutions for your team. Even if you do not personally use them, someone in your team probably does.
I’m a big advocate of bottom-up problem solving and solution sourcing. However, if there is no senior level direction on how your…
Six ways to approach AI if you’re in a digital content business
I was recently down in London to be part of a panel on how AI was likely to impact on community journalism and local journalism. It’s impossible to have a conference without having at least some discussion of the role of the rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) as the likes of ChatGPT, Open AI,…
What next for news after the August riots?
Three young girls from Southport dead, a campaign of misinformation and the hijacking of grief by the far-right. The riots at the end of July and beginning of August were triggered, at least in some part, by the death of What followed was targeted and deliberate disinformation spread via social media which took the form…
How it started: How it’s going
Somehow we find ourselves halfway through 2024. Despite quietly muttering to ourselves about how quickly time is flying by, it feels like a good time to pause and take a look at what Alma has already achieved for clients this year.
How the pros do it? What a comms plan can teach journalists about big stories
Journalists are good at very many things – but talking positively about what they do isn’t always one of them. The vast majority of reporters and editors work with a level of integrity and determination that belies the level of distrust members of the public have towards those in the industry. Most, not all, local…
Business & Politics: what’s your mix?
Politics is a divisive topic, and how you deal with it will depend on your personal and corporate priorities, level of interest, and circumstances. This is not a one-size-fits-all situation – you have options. But if your business has more than one employee, it is important to choose your position and make that clear so…
How we’re strengthening our partnership with Chrysallis Transformations
We’re delighted to be teaming up with fellow consultancy Chrysallis Transformations. Run by experienced editorial leader Jeremy Clifford the partnership will see Alma and Chrysallis build on a number of projects we’ve already collaborated on. From deep-dives on digital audiences for The i through to training sessions for journalists, the skills of Alma and Chrysallis…
Innovating in local media
While many may think local journalism ‘is dead’, then Alma has been showing this is far from the case as we innovate with The Lead.
Taking The Lead’s brand of long-form journalism onto a local setting, we quickly developed a way of digital storytelling to engage local audiences.
Accessibility Matters.
Ultimately, how extensive an approach you take to accessibility is up to your business. You have to decide what adjustments are reasonable and which are currently not appropriate. But it is important to recognise that your online content is a reflection of your organisational values and a key contributor and marker to your approach to…
Journalists can still forge relationships with readers by making them feel
In November, Press Gazette reported that the majority of English speaking news websites saw a slump in traffic (readers, to humans). It’s not the first time the trend has been noticed, and being able to point to dips in visitors from Facebook and Google as a cause will be of little comfort. The loss of…
Predictions for digital publishing in 2024
As we draw to the end of 2023, I thought I’d take a look at the big trends which are likely to roll into 2024 and affect digital publishing. These are not exhaustive and are primarily through a UK-based lens but hopefully give food for thought before the next 12-months kicks in. AI Hard not…
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