What is the Table Stakes program?

The Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program was designed for news organizations of any size ready to tackle critically important challenges and manage continuous change. Developed in collaboration with some of the country’s most important news organizations, the yearlong program helped news enterprises find a path to a sustainable future by teaching them how to change their practices, develop new products, reach new audiences and better engage their communities.

Participants learned the table stakes, key digital skills needed for news publishers to thrive in the digital era. They learned the tools of Performance Driven Change, a proven and unusually effective change methodology program developed by Douglas K. Smith. They learned how to use diversity, equity and inclusion to improve coverage, build engagement and reach new audiences. 

Teams then tackled “performance challenges” crucial to their organization, which they executed with these new skills over the course of the first year. Those challenges addressed such issues as digital subscriptions, trust, new platforms or company reorganization, but they were developed by each participant. Participants learned key concepts of change management, such as the difference between activities and outcomes, and were disciplined in identifying how to conduct experiments and learn from failure. A key feature of the program was that teams were supported by expert coaches, who worked closely with them between sessions, and taught pragmatic concepts of strategy, innovation, organizational change and personal leadership.

More than 200 news organizations across the U.S. have participated in Table Stakes. The process was applied across several versions of the program at universities and institutes, each with its own specialties. The program expanded globally with Table Stakes Europe in 2019. 

The U.S. programs, which began in 2015 and concluded in 2023, were underwritten by The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund, and The John S. Knight and James L. Knight Foundation. Funding from The Knight-Lenfest Fund continues to support alumni of the U.S. Table Stakes programs through mid-2025.