CRAFTED.

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


Listen Later

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
  • (19:16) - How to pick the right model and fine tune it
  • (21:55) - Matt’s a pilot! What flying has taught him about running a business
  • (23:04) - Being nimble: Why there are more “one way doors” than you think
  • (24:38) - Outro

  • CRAFTED. is brought to you in partnership with Docker, which helps developers build, share, run and verify applications anywhere – without environment confirmation or management. More than 20 million developers worldwide use Docker's suite of development tools, services and automations to accelerate the delivery of secure applications. 


    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 

    Subscribe to CRAFTED., follow the show, and sign up for the newsletter 👉 crafted.fm

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    CRAFTED.By Dan Blumberg

    • 4.1
    • 4.1
    • 4.1
    • 4.1
    • 4.1

    4.1

    47 ratings


    More shows like CRAFTED.

    View all
    This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

    This Week in Startups

    1,270 Listeners

    The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source by Changelog Media

    The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

    283 Listeners

    Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

    Freakonomics Radio

    32,202 Listeners

    The Martin Lewis Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

    The Martin Lewis Podcast

    54 Listeners

    Fintech One•On•One by Peter Renton

    Fintech One•On•One

    55 Listeners

    a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

    a16z Podcast

    1,030 Listeners

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

    517 Listeners

    Investing in Real Estate with Clayton Morris | Investing for Beginners by Clayton Morris

    Investing in Real Estate with Clayton Morris | Investing for Beginners

    1,064 Listeners

    Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

    Y Combinator Startup Podcast

    216 Listeners

    The Indicator from Planet Money by NPR

    The Indicator from Planet Money

    9,553 Listeners

    MarTech Podcast ™ // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth by I Hear Everything

    MarTech Podcast ™ // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth

    162 Listeners

    Pattern Breakers by Floodgate

    Pattern Breakers

    379 Listeners

    This Is Purdue by Purdue University

    This Is Purdue

    118 Listeners

    Postgres FM by Nikolay Samokhvalov and Michael Christofides

    Postgres FM

    20 Listeners

    The AI Daily Brief (Formerly The AI Breakdown): Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis by Nathaniel Whittemore

    The AI Daily Brief (Formerly The AI Breakdown): Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

    456 Listeners