Paris,
24 September 1999
Newspaper
Leaders Focus on Strategy
Multimedia strategies.
Brand value. Content competency. Mention these buzzwords to senior
newspaper executives, and you're likely to get a spirited debate
on the future of the industry.
And, if you put them
together in a rural French chateau for two days of intense discussions,
you will send them home with new ideas for their own newspapers.
That's what happened
when the World Association of Newspapers and the newspaper technology
association IFRA gathered 55 publishers, presidents, CEOs, managing
directors and other senior executives from 20 countries for the
annual World Forum of Newspaper Strategy.
The summit-style event,
which draws top executives interested in discussions with their
peers in a small group environment, focused on "The Roads to Growth,"
both in traditional newspapers and the diverse media holdings
of the modern newspaper company.
"It is intriguing to
discover that publishers from around the world have so much in
common," said one participant. "Sure, there are cultural differences,
and legal differences too. But since we're all in the same business,
there is a lot to talk about. They've found solutions in some
places that we haven't even thought about yet."
Take, for example,
the multi-media newsroom. At Orlando Sentinel Communications in
the United States, newspaper reporters double as internet and
television reporters to satisfy the content needs of the group's
diverse media holdings. Photographers carry still cameras and
video cameras as well. More than 120 of the newspaper's reporters
have volunteered to report on the other media.
"The question is, how
to do we get from A to B, from traditional newspapers of today
to interactive, integrated media?" asked Per Knudsen, Chief Editor
of Politiken Newspapers Ltd. of Denmark, voicing one of the questions
raised during workshop discussions. "Many of us come from fairly
high-cost companies. How do we adjust to a new environment and
compete with the low-cost companies that might turn up?"
Not everyone agreed
that multi-media journalism was the way to go. There are labor
questions and other points at issue. "The debate was quite contentious,"
said Tom Stevenson, Managing Director of Eastern Counties Newspapers
Ltd. in Britain.
The Forum, of course,
was designed to promote such debate. When Charlene Li of Forrester
Research told the executives, "say goodbye to your classifieds"
because of competition from the internet, the response came from
Murdoch MacLennan, Managing Director of Associated Newspapers
in the United Kingdom and President of IFRA: "we will not do that."
Of course, with statistics
indicating a resurgence in the traditional newspaper in many places,
a variety of strategies for these products were also part of the
discussions.
"There is nowhere in
the world where newspapers have collapsed because of new media,
not even in the United States, where it is most developed," said
Bengt Braun, President and CEO of Scandinavia's largest media
group, Bonnier, and President of WAN. "We should exploit the particular
values that newspapers provide."
Among the most precious
values are a reputation for trust, particularly when compared
with other media, strong brand value, and competence with a wide
variety of information, many of the participants said.
"Our group was of the
strong opinion that the traditional role of the newspaper, in
terms of being the 'peoples' champion', generally has not changed.
It may have weakened in some countries, but that can certainly
be regained," said Gźnther Bšttcher, Managing Director of IFRA,
speaking for a workshop group. "The modern role of the newspaper
should be strengthened as the peoples' champion and guide through
modern times. There should be continued investment in newspapers,
at the same time one pursues a multimedia strategy."
The format of the conference
was a small number of presentations followed by small group workshops
on the themes of the presentations. There was also a great deal
of informal exchange through the two-day event, which was held
22-23 September.
The speakers came from
a wide variety of companies: John Puerner, President, CEO and
Publisher, Orlando Sentinel Communications, USA; Martine Macquin,
Group Research Director, Le Monde, France; Fernando Berridi, Director
General of El Diario Vasco, Spain; Charlene Li, Senior Analyst
for New Media Research, Forrester Research, USA; and Horst Pirker,
Chief Executive Officer, Styria Medien, Austria.
The Paris-based WAN,
the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents
17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 61 national newspaper
associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries,
17 news agencies and seven regional and world-wide press groups.
For information
about WAN's soon-to-be-published Forum Report or about next year's
conference, contact Joanna Blot, WAN, 25 rue d'Astorg, 75008 Paris
France, Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00, Fax +33 1 47 42 49 48. E-mail:
joanna@wan.asso.fr)
Press inquiries
to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 25 rue d'Astorg,
75008 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49
48. . Mobile: +33 6 86 18 46 12. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
