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Are daily mags the future for newspapers?

2 May 2007

A new Austrian daily blurs the lines between newspapers and magazines, and some say this is the future for newspapers in general. Gert Edlinger, MD of Osterreich, will discuss the innovative format and content strategy at the World Newspaper Congress, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, 3 - 6 June 2007.

The compact, full-colour Osterreich, launched in September 2006 in one of the most concentrated newspaper markets in Europe, mixes magazine and newspaper styles in one package, with several sections printed on glossy paper and stapled on the spine. These are not typical magazine inserts: they are daily sections, with daily deadlines that are paginated and printed along with the other daily sections.

To use both newspaper and magazine quality paper in the same publication, Osterreich and its printing partners had to develop an innovative printing and workflow system that allows for both cold and heat set processes during the same printing run. The newspaper claims to be the first to use this technology.

High quality

The high-quality paper allows the newspaper to attract a new brand of luxury goods and other advertisers who insist on magazine quality for their ads.

Edlinger will present the case of Osterreich during a session on Shaping the Future of the Newspaper at the Congress, which will examine new print products, new digital revenue generation, the best advertising strategies and the reorganisation of newspaper companies for the multi-platform newspaper.

More than 1500 newspaper publishers, chief executives, managing directors, editors and other newspaper professionals are expected to attend the 60th World Newspaper Congress, 14th World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2007, the global meetings of the world's press organised by the World Association of Newspapers.

Full details of the events, hosted by the Newspaper Association of South Africa, can be found at http://www.wan-press.org/capetown2007.

Highlights

Other highlights include:

The annual Innovations in Newspapers report by the Innovations International Media Consulting Group, which this year will present the results of the first Innovation-Harris Readers Survey on how newspapers can become more relevant to the daily news consumption habits of readers.

The annual World Press Trends survey on circulation, readership and advertising trends worldwide.

Round-table seminars on digital media developments, young readership initiatives and press freedom concerns.

A gala opening ceremony featuring an address by President Thabo Mbeki and presentation of the annual Golden Pen of Freedom press freedom prize to Chinese journalist Shi Tao.

A session on the development of audience and revenues through print and online synergies featuring Kenneth W. Lowe, President & CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company in the United States, Birger Magnus, Deputy CEO of Schibsted in Norway, Klaus Lutz, CEO of Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany, and Luis Fernando Santos, President of Casa Editorial El Tiempo in Colombia.

Lessons from one of the world's most prolific newspaper and website designers, Mario Garcia, who will examine successful strategies for appealing to readers in both print and online editions. Garcia will discuss his re-designs of both The Wall Street Journal, which launched a new format and content strategy in January, and Mint, a new financial daily in India, to show how newspapers can use design to exploit reader preferences in both print and online editions of their titles.

A presentation by strategy guru Michael E. Raynor, co-author of the bestselling 'The Innovator's Solution' and, now in bookstores, 'The Strategy Paradox', which presents a concrete framework for strategic action that makes it possible to seize today's opportunities while simultaneously preparing for tomorrow's promise. He will speak in a session dedicated to the prognoses of think tanks, pundits and research institutes about the role of newspapers in the future media landscape.

A session entitled ‘We are Digital', which will examine the strategies of press groups which see print and digital activities as integral to the future of newspapers. The session will feature Antonio Fernandez-Galiano, CEO of Unidad Editorial (El Mundo) in Spain and Tomas Brunegard, CEO of the Swedish Stampen Group.

A presentation on the ‘Newspaper Next' project of the American Press Institute, by managing director Stephen T. Gray, who will report on how US newspapers are working to reverse the course of declining revenues and shrinking readership and are inventing new and profitable business models. He will speak in a session devoted to what research institutes and thinkers worldwide see as the place and role of newspapers in the future media landscape.

In addition to the cutting-edge business sessions, the events have a full slate of social programmes, which this year includes the 2nd World Press Golf Tournament, sponsored by MAN Roland, and a wide range of pre- and post-Congress programmes of remarkable variety.

Sponsors of the events include Remgro, Richemont & VenFin, Mondi Shanduka Newsprint & Mondi International, the Sunday Times and Mont Blanc.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18 000 newspapers and its membership includes 76 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 10 regional and world-wide press groups.