Future of news: multimedia and hyperlocal newsrooms

The Prague study tour, 29-30 September, will examine the Nase Adresa business model, which is providing a new frontier for the newspaper industry. Nase Adresa (or Our Address), owned by PPF Media, is publishing editions that are exclusive to areas of 30 000 inhabitants or less who are feeding their own hyperlocal web pages. The Prague project is most distinctive because local reporting teams are based in ‘newscafés' or Internet bistros where they interact with readers and potential sources. All Nase Adresa's seven editions have quickly become the best selling newspapers in their markets; the goal is to publish 200 different ‘hyperlocal' weeklies in the Czech Republic in the next three years.

“What is interesting is that new business models are emerging from the periphery of Europe. Regional newspapers will have to reinvent their traditional business model, and this PPF Media initiative is anticipating the 21st century newspaper industry,” said Bertrand Pecquerie, Director of the World Editors Forum (WEF). Full details of the study tour organised by WEF, can be found at www.wan-press.org/wef/studytours.php

Europe in the forefront of editorial operations reorganisation

The study tour, Multimedia Newsrooms in Europe, from 4-10 October, will visit some of the world's most successful multimedia newsrooms in London, Oslo, Berlin and Vienna, including The Daily Telegraph in London, Aftenposten and VG Multimedia in Oslo, WELT Gruppe and BILD in Berlin and Die Presse in Vienna.

“In the last few years, a number of publishing houses have substantially reorganised their editorial operations. Europe has been at the forefront of this development, and we can see many successful transformations of former traditional print-focused editorial departments into modern media houses, which utilise modern platforms and formats to distribute their content and communicate with their audience,” said Dietmar Schantin, head of the WAN-IFRA Business Unit for Editorial, Advertising and General Management.

“It is a long and difficult process, but there is no other way to meet the challenges of the markets. Different concepts have been developed and implemented and there is no recipe that fits every operation. Learning from others is crucial to get through the change process with more confidence.”

The goal of the tour is to allow participants - CEOs, managing directors, editors-in-chief and other top news executives - to learn from their colleagues who have successfully integrated video, mobile, print, social networks and communities into their newsrooms. A discounted ‘early bird' registration fee is available until 28 August. Details of the tour can be found at www.ifra.com/studytours.