MEDIA
Rebuilding a freelance network and proving it delivers for clients.
30%
faster production
100+
active freelancers rebuilt
130M+
monthly readers reached
The challenge
Stacker needed to align paying clients’ niche content goals with the editorial priorities of nearly 4,000 publishing partners, producing data-driven, newsworthy stories at scale while relying on an under-built freelance network.
The approach
- Rebuilt the freelance network into 100+ active contributors through listening tours and talent-to-editorial matching (+25% experienced journalist onboarding, +15% diversity), cutting production time 30%.
- Built a repeatable model for client-funded stories: detailed writing briefs and data visualizations for freelancers, matched to contributors’ subject-matter expertise.
- Stress-tested the rebuilt network with a timely hook (the Paris Olympics) producing 12 data-driven stories, 7 client-funded. Each story bridged a client’s objectives with reader interest.
The results
The Olympics slate landed 3,800+ publisher pickups and 115,000 impressions. It proved the rebuilt network could deliver for both the newsroom’s 130M+ monthly readers and the 40+ Studio clients paying for coverage.
The driving force behind building out a diverse, high-caliber freelance network that helped us tell stories smartly and inclusively... She analyzed our story needs against our editorial capacity and developed data-driven strategies to bridge the gap — learning and leveraging AI tooling and product-thinking to help build out strong workflows.
— Sam Gross, co-founder & VP of Content, Stacker