Millie Tran
Editorial Coordinator
Millie Tran was the editorial coordinator of the American Press Institute from May 2013 to January 2015.
Previously, she was the multimedia coordinator at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she wrote, edited and produced a weekly podcast. Prior to that, she helped launched launched National Journal’s Membership program as a marketing and design associate. She is also a graduate of the Atlantic Media fellowship program.
Millie’s skills and backgrounds are diverse — with experience on both the editorial and business side of media, as well as the for-profit and non-profit world. She likes to run toward wicked problems, connect the dots, and find the story.
A graduate of UCLA, she served as a tech columnist, opinion editor, and multimedia producer of the Daily Bruin — culminating in a first place award from the Associated Collegiate Press for a multimedia news feature. While there, she also wrote her thesis on cyber warfare and taught a seminar on the same subject.
How to build audiences with single-subject news products
As audiences gain more choices for news, they are increasingly turning to specialized sources. That represents a challenge to general-interest publishers but also creates an opportunity to reach new audiences by being the best source on a particular topic. Topic, not demographics or habits, is now the biggest factor determining where people turn for news. […]
How to plan for expansion and growth of a new content vertical
What you’re ultimately doing with a single-subject news site — to go back to the very beginning — is creating obsessives and superfans. “Cultivating many small audiences of superfans in different subject areas isn’t exactly a new business model,” writes Ann Friedman in the Columbia Journalism Review. So in expanding your niche site, consider the […]
Choose a topic for which you can create ‘obsessives’
“Create obsessives,” digital director of Vanity Fair Mike Hogan said when I asked him about why Vanity Fair built a Hollywood-specific section. Successful single-subject news sites create obsessive readers, according to several editors and publishers we consulted. These readers can be professionals whose work deals with the subject, sports fans who follow a particular team, […]
How to create and execute a niche content strategy
After the first step in building a niche vertical of identifying the topic, which involves assessing your audience, your brand, your capacity and the potential business for the topic, the second involves making the right steps to execute a superb product. Here, according to those steeped in the process of niche verticals, there are three […]
Worksheet: Plan your single-subject news site
The American Press Institute developed this worksheet as a guide to getting you started with identifying a topic and building a single-subject news site. Before starting, be sure you’ve read this Strategy Study. Consider sitting down with a few creative collaborators from across your organization to tackle these questions together. Download the worksheet here.
How to keep readers coming back for more: 10 good questions with Nir Eyal, author of Hooked
Much of a news organization’s desire to grow audiences, and particularly subscribers, depends upon getting people to come back, over and over. But what is it that makes products habit-forming? It doesn’t happen on its own. It’s not enough just to build a useful product or have a few stories go viral. Forming real habits […]
The forces that shape audiences online: 9 good questions with James Webster
The Fields of Dreams principle — “if you build it, they will come” — doesn’t apply to audience attention anymore. It’s not enough to just create media; you must also attract an audience to consume it. Capturing public attention now requires both making media and making audiences. In his new book, The Marketplace of Attention, […]
The business behind BuzzFeed’s growth and expansion: 8 good questions with BuzzFeed’s Eric Harris
When Eric Harris started at BuzzFeed, they were a six-person technology lab experimenting with how content was being shared. As the only “business” person then, he was responsible for everything from HR and payroll to analytics and business development. Now, as BuzzFeed’s executive vice president of business operations, his focus has shifted to building and […]
Demystifying the news nerds team with a ‘science fair’: 5 good questions with NPR’s Becky Lettenberger
The “news nerds” that make up the news application and multimedia teams usually sit in a different place, speak a different language, and work on different things. How do you create understanding and relationships that lead to a more innovative and collaborative workplace? At NPR, the news applications team, who served as NPR’s graphics and […]
Infusing design into your newsroom culture: 7 good questions with John Maeda
John Maeda’s work has crossed many disciplines — design, technology and business — and now, he works at the intersection of all three. Former president of Rhode Island School of Design, Maeda is now design partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and chairs the eBay Design Advisory Council. In both roles, he’s tasked […]