In our industry things move quickly – this doesn’t just include deadlines and technology though, it also means media outlets evolving and emerging to meet consumers’ wants and needs. This puts an emphasis on us as PR professionals to stay up-to-date with the outlets in our area and continue to build relationships with them.
One person who is currently challenging the typical journalism model is Ashley Woods, founder of Detour Media LLC, recently launched in Detroit. In a few months, Detour has built a 1,500 person readership.
So, what is Detour doing differently to catch the attention of readers in Detroit? Ashley Woods stopped by the Franco office to tell us.
Ashley’s Route to Detour
Ashley Woods is the Founder and Editor of Detour Media LLC and has an expansive background in the world of journalism.
After obtaining a degree in English and Political Science from Wayne State University, she worked in a variety of roles at Ford Field, WDET 101.9, MLive, The Huffington Post and Detroit Free Press. In one of her roles at the Detroit Free Press, she found her love for digital strategy, as she worked to train over 150 people to work within the digital sphere of journalism.
After winning a $25,000 Silicon Valley investment and completing a Visiting Nieman Fellowship focused on journalism at Harvard, she began developing Detour – an email newsletter for Detroit’s doers, builders and dreamers.
The Direction of Detour
Detour launched in early 2018 and has already earned over 2,500 likes on Facebook and more than 1,500 readers. These readers receive the weekly emails, which summarize news (especially authentic and original stories) in an easy to read way, and they become part of the Detour community.
One of Woods’ goals with Detour is to implement a membership model. This allows readers to not only enjoy the authentic experience of Detour on their own, but together. The publication does this through hosting events in Detroit where members can meet one another, have genuine conversations and experience new places and things within the city.
Woods’ visit was a special one, which allowed the Franco team and her to have an authentic conversation filled with questions and suggestions. Our team was especially appreciative of her asking what we look for in news and what types of stories peak our interest. Detour definitely received more subscriptions that day.
Are you looking for a new publication to read more about the doers, builders and dreamers of Detroit? Subscribe for Detour today.
