First the internet put a printing press in everyone’s home, then mobile put information at our fingertips constantly, forever altering the way we consume news. This rapid change in consumer behavior demands significant shifts from news organizations, from the newsroom to the sales floor to the boardroom.
Hear from industry leaders below and read on for their unique points of view on the challenges facing the news industry.
Featured Quotes
"The news industry is in need of higher-quality publishers these days, not just publishers who can attract more eyeballs or page views through clickbait, fake news, or similar techniques. I also believe that during the transformation of the news industry, technological advances will have more important roles than ever before, so we have to embrace changes and be open-minded."
"The traditional paper was traditionally the “department store of jobs.” They belonged to one company, but each section worked separately, as if they belonged to a different company. The news organization of the future will be an integrated newsroom where journalists will work with engineering and ad planners with writers. Personal skill sets will be more diversified, with reporters who can program data visualization and engineers who can plan new services. Only then, will we be able to create content or services that fulfill the needs of the modern reader in the format they want, when they want it."
"There are a few things that determine the future of the news industry. First is trustworthiness of the content. In the digital era, there is so much information available, and the user should be able to find content they can trust. Establishing credibility and trustworthiness is paramount, and we need to ensure and protect it.
Personalization of the content is also key. So much content exists these days, and the user should be able to pick and choose the content they want, and the platform should be able to deliver the content the user is interested in."
"To be digital first, we must unanchor from the traditional. To do that, we created a dedicated print team. Prior to this, the online version was low quality and treated as the first draft with subsequent drafts until the end of the day, when the best version was sent to print. Setting apart the print team let everyone think with a digital-first mindset. For example, the business editor is now thinking about online content for what it is without being weighed down by the race against time for the best possible print version. The editorial team, which has grown to 350+ journalists, is focused on digital first, and the print team can take from that and put it into print."
"We come from a traditional advertising world that’s manual, hand-sold, and highly transactional. Our sales team didn't have the time to understand every advertiser’s business issues. Our partnership with Google gives that team more time for genuine conversations. Instead of sending spreadsheets back and forth, they are deepening their understanding of advertisers’ needs. This results in better solutions that increase revenue, which we can then invest back into quality content."
