Newsroom Summit: How to deal with rapid, constant transformation

26 Mar 2012

PARIS, FRANCE / DARMSTADT, HAMBURG, GERMANY: New jobs in the newsroom that nobody has ever heard of before, staff that resists change, and the constant challenge of producing quality journalism with less resources. These are just some of the issues facing today's editor-in-chief in an era of rapid change. Among the speakers is Peter Atkinson, group editorial consultant, Avusa Media, SA.

The 11th annual Newsroom Summit, to be held on 10 and 11 May in Hamburg, Germany, will make this work just a little less complicated.

The conference, organised by the World Editors Forum, the global organisation of the world's chief editors within the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), will present "smart strategies for tough times" and respond to the realities of today's newsrooms.

Full details, including the conference programme, pre-conference workshop, social events, and registration information, can be found here.

Success in the newsroom is "all about people who see opportunities where others see threats, who are creative when others are not and who are eager to get training in subjects they need for the future," says Tomas Brunegård, CEO of Sweden's Stampen Group, whose passion about the future of media will be evident in his presentation on ways to benefit from the news industry's transformation.

Other confirmed speakers include:

Mathias Müller Blumencron, editor in chief of Germany's Der Spiegel: Can serious journalism survive on mobile devices?

Knut Engelmann, managing editor, Wall Street Journal Deutschland: Expanding into new markets.

Anette Novak, consultant, Swedish Newspaper Association, Sweden: New positions in the newsroom, the jobs you have never heard of but needed yesterday.

Lisa MacLeod, managing editor, Financial Times: Newsroom 4.0 at the FT.

Matt DeRienzo, Connecticut group editor, Journal Register Co.: Re-training journalists to become 'digital ninjas'.

Paul Lewis, special projects editor, The Guardian, UK: A day in the life of a multiplatform journalist.

Wolfgang Blau, editor, Zeit Online, Germany: Can separate print and online operations deliver more?

Dietmar Schantin, founder, Institute for Media Strategies, Austria: Early lessons on paywalls.

Margaret Boribon, secretary general, Copiepresse, Belgium: Taking on Google - and winning.

Peter Atkinson, group editorial consultant, Avusa Media, South Africa: Smart ways to reorganise newsgathering and production.

William Davis, editor, Bangor Daily News, USA: The open source newsroom.

Francois Nel, director, Journalism Leaders Programme, University of Central Lancashire, UK: Who really owns your social media network?

Joycelyn Winnecke, vice president and associate editor, Chicago Tribune: Engaging readers in real life.

Jan Helin, editor-in-chief, Aftonbladet, Sweden: Journalists as brands.

Meinhof Ellers, founder and managing director, dpa infocom, Germany: How news agencies and newspapers can work together to cut costs through digital news cooperatives.

Plus many more! Full details can be found here.

The conference will be preceded by a one-day workshop on 9 May on "Creating a cross platform experience - Web, Online, Tablet." As with all WAN-IFRA events, the conference will be accompanied by social and networking events, including an opening cocktail at Axel-Springer, Europe's largest newspaper publisher, and a boat trip and dinner through Hamburg's harbour.

Sponsors of the Newsroom Summit include CCI, Eidos Media, and protectmedia. The conference will be accompanied by an exhibition that will include Desk-Net, Fotoware, Redweb, Scoopshot and more.

The World Editors Forum, which brings together editors around the globe to exchange ideas, strategies and information, is the organisation for senior newsroom personnel within WAN-IFRA. The WEF is publisher of the Editors Weblog, http://www.editorsweblog.org, the premier source of news about editorial issues on a global scale.

Source: WAN-IFRA

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18 000 publications, 15 000 online sites and over 3000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.

Go to: http://www.wan-ifra.org