How Media Is Made Today: AI and a Modern CMS | Matt Monahan, President, Arc XP, The Washington Post

CRAFTED. | The Tech Podcast for Founders, Makers, and Innovators

Making media is hard. Distributing it to the right audience even more so. GenAI can help.

Matt Monahan is the president of Arc XP at the Washington Post. On this episode, we're digging into the core technology of any media company: the content management system (CMS), why they’re so hard to build right and how new GenAI tools can reduce the toil required for journalists to get their stories to the right audience.

Arc XP is not only the CMS used by the Washington Post, but it’s also used by many other publishers, broadcasters, and companies with stories to tell. Matt shares more on the challenge of commercializing and white-listing an internal tool for others to use. It’s a tantalizing idea – turn that cost center into a profit center! — but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Plus, lessons from Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, including how the Post uses key Amazon practices, such as the “six page memo” and “one- and two-way doors.”

Key Moments:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:25) - From print to digital: hard product & organizational changes
• (04:17) - Why the CMS is where it all comes together
• (06:27) - Commercializing an internal tool: selling Arc XP to other publishers
• (10:07) - AWS and the impact of Jeff Bezos on the Washington Post
• (11:30) - The famous six-page memo and how the Post benefits from it
• (14:06) - GenAI: New features Matt is building to reduce toil for journalists
• (20:45) - How to pick the right model and fine tune it
• (23:24) - Matt’s a pilot! What flying has taught him about running a business
• (24:33) - Being nimble: Why there are more “one way doors” than you think
• (26:07) - Outro

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CRAFTED. is produced by Modern Product Minds, where CRAFTED. host Dan Blumberg and team can help you take a new product from zero to one... and beyond. We specialize in early stage product discovery, growth, and experimentation. Learn more at modernproductminds.com

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