Top Content Management Tools for News and Media Publishing Companies

How effective you are in content management is largely based on the quality of the tools you use. This is true for small-scale content creators where finding your niche as quickly as possible is paramount. And, it is especially true for large-scale content creators where you need to juggle several factors in order to hit your mark. So, let's outline how a news and media publisher should go about finding the right tool for the job, and give you a couple of picks of our own.

What to look for in content management tools

When you set out to look for a content management tool (CMS), there are several critical factors you ought to consider. The CMS must not only cater to your current needs, but also support the long-term scalability, user engagement, and monetization strategy you've picked. So, let's first outline the key aspects a media publisher should evaluate when selecting a CMS.

Ease of use and workflow management

When you start looking for a CMS tool you should always look for the one that you feel is intuitive and easy to use. Keep in mind that it is not only you who will use the tool. You will likely have to train your content management staff to use it. And you'd be surprised how difficult it can be to teach a whole staff how to effectively use a new tool.

So, the CMS should offer a user-friendly interface that allows editors, writers, and content creators to easily create, edit, and publish content. Ideally, you will look for drag-and-drop functionality, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors, and customizable templates. Considering that a lot of people will use it you should look for a CMS with robust collaboration tools, content scheduling, and approval workflows that will streamline operations. If you have a larger staff, your CMS should support role-based access, allowing different team members to have customized permissions (e.g., junior writers vs. senior editors).

Customization and Flexibility

Every media outlet has its own brand identity and specific requirements. Therefore, the CMS you opt for should offer customizable templates, themes, and plugins. That way you can adapt the platform to your needs, and the needs of your employees. Ideally, every employee should be able to customize the tool on their computer, while not jeopardizing the overall connectivity.

On a similar note, you should always look for tools that are easy to integrate with third-party tools. Email marketing platforms, customer relationship management (CRM) software, social media management systems, video hosting platforms, story content creation tools... All these can be quite useful for a growing publisher. But you won't make much use of them if your CMS cannot integrate them properly.

Multimedia and multichannel content support

Unless you are focused on a specific niche, you will likely have to make use of different types of content. Long gone are the days when media publishers could simply write articles and hope for the best. Modern audiences require a multimedia approach to content marketing, and it is your job to find a tool that will support this approach. The CMS you choose should support various types of media, including images, videos, story content, audio files, podcasts, infographics, and live-streaming content.
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You should also be able to incorporate interactive elements, such as polls, quizzes, and social media embeds. While our native story format is fairly easy to integrate, we still suggest that you thoroughly investigate various CMS tools and pick the one that best suits your content needs. Keep in mind that just like you need to create multimedia content, you also need to publish it on different channels. So, look for a tool that will allow seamless content distribution across multiple channels, such as websites, mobile apps, newsletters, and social media platforms.

Cost and licensing

While, ideally, you would have endless funds to get the tool of your choosing, the reality is that you need to look for one that is within your budget. Well, it is important to note that not all CMS tools have the same payment plan. Some CMS platforms offer a one-time fee, while others require ongoing subscriptions. And you likely also need to factor in costs related to hosting, third-party integrations, support, and maintenance. So, don't jump at the tool that seems the cheapest, but instead try to outline the true long-term cost of using it.

Our pick of content management tools for news and media

We've based our pick on the four factors that were previously outlined. While there are others you can consider for more specialized purposes, we feel that the following CMS tools cover the basic needs of any media publisher. So, without further ado, let's review some CMS tools.

WordPress VIP

We'll start off our list with a tool that pretty much every media publisher ought to have. WordPress VIP is the upgraded version of WordPress. It maintains the intuitive user interface of WordPress, making it relatively easy for non-technical users. However, the enterprise-level features may require some onboarding for teams.
It is a highly customizable tool with thousands of plugins and themes. This gives developers a lot of flexibility to build custom solutions that can make the tool suited for different teams. Unfortunately, the customization process isn't as intuitive, which is why it will depend on the technical expertise of your team.
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WordPress VIP has excellent support for multimedia with seamless integration for images, video, audio, and podcasts. Multichannel capabilities include websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms. When it comes to cost, we would consider WordPress VIP on the higher end. This is a premium product and pricing is tailored to enterprise-level customers. Costs can be significant for large-scale operations with custom needs. But, considering all the benefits, we feel that the cost is usually justified.

Drupal

Drupal is less user-friendly out of the box compared to WordPress. It’s more complex, and generally, some technical knowledge is required to manage content. Non-technical users may find the learning curve steep, which is why you may need to hire third-party help to teach you and your staff about the tool. Once you get acquainted with it, you'll find that Drupal is extremely flexible and customizable. It has a modular system, so nearly any functionality can be built or extended with custom code or modules.

Drupal will provide you with strong multimedia handling but it won't be as straightforward as WordPress. Multichannel capabilities are supported but often require custom development or integration with APIs. A big selling point is that it is free to use (open-source), but development, customization, and maintenance can add up in costs. Hosting and ongoing support can also increase expenses. Overall, Drupal is a great choice for media publishers with limited budgets and decent technical skills.

Joomla

Joomla is somewhat more complex than WordPress but easier than Drupal. Non-technical users may need some training, but it has an active community that provides resources for learning. All things considered, Joomla is moderately customizable, though less flexible than Drupal. Joomla offers a wide range of plugins and themes, but for deep customization, you will have to have some development skills.
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While Joomla has decent multimedia support it does require additional plugins for advanced functionality. Multichannel publishing is possible but usually requires custom configurations.
The good news is that Joomla is free to use (open-source). The bad news is that development, customization, hosting, and plugins can incur costs over time.

Arc Publishing

This tool is specifically designed for newsrooms. Arc Publishing offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface tailored to editorial teams. Its main emphasis is on real-time publishing, making it easy for fast-paced media environments. Customization is possible but more limited compared to open-source systems like WordPress or Drupal. The platform is built for news, so the tools are optimized for specific workflows. So if you are a news publisher, this would be the tool to consider. However, keep in mind that large custom development may be challenging.

Arc Publishing provides excellent support for multimedia, including high-quality images, video, live feeds, and interactive features. Strong multichannel publishing options with built-in tools for web, mobile, and social media. When it comes to pricing, understand that this is a premium tool aimed at large news organizations. Therefore, pricing can be a bit steep for smaller publishers.

Ghost

If we focus on ease of use, Ghost easily comes out as a favorite. It provides a clean, minimalist interface designed for professional publishing. Both your writers and editors will find it user-friendly and straightforward to create and manage content. But, Ghost is less flexible than platforms like WordPress or Drupal. It’s designed for simplicity and focuses on blogging and publishing, so customization options are more limited.
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If you opt for it, you will get decent multimedia support for images, videos, and podcasts but lacks extensive multichannel publishing options out of the box. It is more focused on web and email publishing. The cost of Ghost reflects its lack of customizability and features. It has a moderate payment plan with tiers based on the number of team members and features. Ghost’s hosted version starts at an affordable price but can increase for larger teams.

Brightspot

Another fairly intuitive tool at your disposal is Brightspot. It offers an intuitive UI for both editors and content creators. The platform is designed to streamline editorial workflows with features like real-time collaboration and approval processes. The great thing about it is that it is highly customizable. You can integrate it with other systems, but it may require technical expertise to implement customizations while doing so.
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Once you start using Brightspot you will soon see that it has excellent multimedia handling, supporting a wide range of formats and enabling multichannel publishing across web, mobile, social, and OTT (over-the-top) platforms. The only potential downside is that the pricing is high range. Keep in mind that Brightspot is an enterprise-grade CMS. This leads to it being used by large media organizations with specific content needs.

Magnolia CMS

While on the subject of enterprise-grade CMS, we ought to mention Magnolia. It is designed for enterprises, so while it’s feature-rich, it may not be as intuitive as some other platforms for non-technical users. There is a learning curve for editors which will likely require paid assistance. Although developers may find it more straightforward. Once you get a hang of it, you'll find it extremely customizable and flexible. Magnolia’s modular architecture allows for significant customization and integration with other systems.
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It has strong support for multimedia and multichannel content delivery. You also get omnichannel content management across digital touchpoints such as web, mobile, and apps. As you might have guessed, since Mongolia has enterprise-level features it also has enterprise-level pricing. Magnolia is a premium product, and costs can be significant, especially for large, customized implementations.

Summary

Now, let's sum up our research and give you a quick summary.
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• Easiest to use:
  - WordPress VIP, Ghost, and Brightspot
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• Best customization and flexibility:
  - Drupal, Contentful, Magnolia, and Prismic
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• Best multimedia and multichannel support:
  - Arc Publishing and Brightspot
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• Best for cost:
  - Joomla and Drupal (open-source, low-cost), Ghost  (with free/affordable tiers) also offer cost-effective options for smaller operations.
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This evaluation should help media publishers choose a CMS based on their needs, from ease of use for editorial teams to the flexibility required for large-scale, omnichannel content distribution. To get a better idea of whether your choice is suitable, we would advise that you apply analytics and put some solid data behind your decisions and conclusions.

Final Thoughts

The safest way to choose the right CMS depends is to consider the scale of your organization, your specific needs (like multilingual support, paywalls, or content syndication), and your preferred integration with other digital tools. For large media publishers focused on scalability and real-time content, tools like Arc Publishing or WordPress VIP are ideal. Smaller publishers may benefit from lighter solutions like Ghost or Joomla. Different content types may benefit more from different tools, which is why we would invite you to consider them in your research. StorifyMe is more than happy to aid you with native story implementation and recommend tools that would best fit your needs. Lastly, you should consider the relative safety of your tools, especially if you are gathering customer data for further use.

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