On Monday, September 16, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, the second webinar of the Torino Impact Journalism initiative, supported by Social Impact Agenda for Italy, will take place. The webinar, titled “Social Impact Metrics in Journalism”, will feature both national and international experts who will discuss social impact metrics, providing tools and methods to evaluate the social impact of news on their target communities.
One of the prominent names in the field of strategy, audience engagement, communication, and impact, known for consulting some of the world’s leading institutions and journalistic organizations, is Richard Addy.
Richard Addy is the co-founder of AKAS, an international consulting firm specializing in audience strategy, which serves media outlets, international institutions, foundations, and NGOs. His mission is to help organizations enhance their impact by understanding their target audience, stakeholders, and the ecosystems they interact with, allowing them to realize their missions and visions. This understanding enables these organizations to innovate their strategies and adopt new approaches, fostering sustainable and meaningful growth.
Since its inception in 2012, AKAS has collaborated with over 100 clients, including The Guardian, BBC News, BBC World Service, Channel 4 News, FT Strategies, Warner Bros., EU Observer, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Internews, CPJ, ICFJ, European Journalism Centre, DW Akademie, In Ukraine, Hromadske and Suspline, Warner Bros, Earthday.org, The World Bank Group, IMF, EIB, EBRD, OECD, and the Asian Development Bank.
Collaboration with journalistic organizations
Over the years, AKAS has closely worked with various journalistic organizations as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Media Partnership Program, including El Pais, The Daily Telegraph, NPR, CNN, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, The Conversation Africa, and The Nation Media Group. In this capacity, AKAS developed an impact framework that is now widely used by these organizations.
Richard Addy has over 30 years of experience as a strategist and government economist, advising CEOs, ministers, and leaders. Before founding AKAS, he was the lead advisor on strategy and audience issues to the BBC’s Deputy Director-General, overseeing BBC News at local, national, and international levels. He also formulated and refined the digital, editorial, and audience strategies that have sustained BBC News’s global reach to over 250 million users each week.
He currently serves on the Executive Committee of theguardian.org and the Advisory Board of Africa No Filter. Previously, he was a board member of Mind, USC Annenberg’s Media Impact Project, and BBC Journalism.
