INTRODUCING THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ASSESSMENT TOOL

Small- and medium-sized independent news publishers looking to strengthen their digital operations now have access to an excellent free tool to help them understand what is working, where improvements are needed and what to prioritise next.

The DNTF has partnered with RNW Media to make its Digital Transformation Assessment (DTA), a service of RNTC, available, free of charge to independent publishers throughout South Africa, including the Fund’s current grantees.

The DTA assessment takes around 60 minutes to complete, ideally with two to four team members working together. It looks at how different parts of a news organisation are adapting to digital publishing, across key areas including strategy, editorial workflows, audience engagement, operations, monetisation, people and digital security.

This assessment gives independent news publishers and those who want to understand their digital footprint an opportunity to look at their progress, identify what needs attention and make informed decisions about their next steps. Each organisation receives a personalised report outlining its current digital position, helping teams identify strengths, areas for improvement and where to focus their limited resources. The results can also help teams develop a practical action plan, including capacity-building needs and a realistic budget.

Participation is entirely confidential, voluntary and does not affect DNTF grants or funding conditions. Responses are used only to generate each organisation’s report, with individual data kept private and not shared with the Fund or other third parties. The report is tailored to each organisation that submits the assessment information.