The Newsplex Philosophy
The newspaper industry has to face some sobering facts. News consumers have changed. Not only do they want to choose how and when they will access news and information, they also want to decide for themselves what is relevant to their world.
Audiences now demand multimedia news and information in quickly accessible forms that best fit their increasingly fast-paced lifestyles. News consumers are also no longer sticking loyally to one brand but instead have no qualms about shopping around for news and information.
At the same time, audiences don’t want to just consume anymore, they want to be integrated into a communication process and contribute their own thoughts and opinions.
How can publishing houses keep audiences and successfully provide news and information products that best fit their needs?
At Newsplex, one of the answers is grounded in the philosophy of convergence.
This means no longer relying just on the traditional print format to provide services but to understand that editorial staff can get the best out of every story by using a variety of media platforms and formats.
These platforms can be print, online with audio, video and slide shows, webTV or mobile. It is simply what the audience demands, when the audience demands it and in whatever format and media the audience demands. The Newsplex philosophy is about:
• Getting the theory of convergence into practice so your newsroom is able to generate ready-to-go content for your audience
• Keeping the audience close to the brand by supporting newspapers that generate content the audience seeks
• Enriching the art of journalism using multimedia
• Building a long-lasting relationship with the audience that is based on communication and interaction.
Putting content rather than any one distribution medium at the centre of the editorial production process requires a different way of operating.
It creates new roles for the people working in the newsrooms. Journalists need to learn the strengths and weaknesses of all the respective media and they need to understand how
news consumers are using those media. Only then can the journalists know how to best communicate their stories to their audience 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The origins of Newsplex
In 1998, WAN-IFRA developed its Newsplex Vision, largely driven by Kerry Northrup, of a publishing strategy that challenged conventional wisdom and put the story at the centre of reporting.
The Newsplex Vision uses the possibilities of media convergence and cross-media minded and trained journalists to ensure that the information, the story, reaches the consumer through all media, at any given place, at any given time.
These initial concepts were revolutionary at a time when newspapers were newspapers, and not multimedia media houses. Stories had to appear in the newspaper first before they could be posted online, and print reporters had no interest in anything but seeing their words on paper.
With this vision in mind, WAN-IFRA looked for media companies that were prepared to fundamentally change their editorial organisation, embrace cross-media publishing and implement it and its underlying technology. After a while it became clear that without a kind of test lab it would be almost impossible to persuade newspapers to undertake this fundamental change in mindset.
Thus the first Newsplex was built at the University of South Carolina (US) as a micro-newsroom of the future.
Remarkable impact
Since its opening in November 2002 in the US, the facility’s impact has been remarkable. Under the management of Randy Covington, thousands of people have travelled from all over the world to study at the training centre and hundreds, many from the Newsplex Directorate members who contributed considerable resources to develop the centre, have completed intensive training programmes there.
Very soon after the opening in the US, there grew a demand for a similar centre in Europe, more accessible to European news publishers and more specialised to meet their particular needs. That demand was answered with the opening of Newsplex Europe on 13 September 2005 at WAN-IFRA headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.
Support for the future
What WAN-IFRA’s experts have found in more than 10 years of working in, studying and evaluating newsrooms worldwide, is that European editorial offices have largely the same goals and frustrations as media houses everywhere. The demands of the marketplace are generally very similar. News consumers are using multiple media here just as they are in North America or Asia. What is a little different in Europe is the manner in which such changes are best implemented.
The approach is different, so is the planning, the timing, the pace, and some of the sensitivities. Journalists, editors and publishing executives who undertake Newsplex training come to understand that convergence is an unstoppable market force arising from how the public uses media. They come to recognise that it is something they can master with the right skills, organisation and technology. And they come to appreciate it as an opportunity for taking their companies into the future.
At the same time, Newsplex Europe has developed into a platform where publishers and editorial executives together find solutions, to redefine the ways editorial departments can work in more audience driven ways by communicating with the audience and by improving the quality of journalism overall.
Practical programmes
In order to fulfil the mission and achieve its goals, the offerings at Newsplex Europe are designed around practical programmes that any media house in Europe could easily adopt as an effective and economical starting point.
The combined training-and-coaching modules are orchestrated implementations of some of the basic Newsplex philosophies, technologies and techniques.
The other critical European aspect of Newsplex is the expanded staff of Newsplex advisors, consultants and trainers who have come out of the European media industry.
They make it possible to provide even more effective support in the development of newsroom strategies and the implementation of reorganisation and change management programmes.
No matter what language we’re speaking, the Newsplex message is always strong and consistent.
WAN-IFRA has pioneered not just a change in the way editors and journalists are organised and work together, nor just a change in newsroom layout, technology or roles. It is a fundamental change of mindset on how to approach news consumers with valid and valued information.
The Newsplex programmes help establish the environment, measure the benefit, change the minds, and transfer the vision into daily action for the benefit of both the media company and its consumers.
Developing and implementing innovative concepts and solutions in an increasingly challenging media world, and supporting all levels of journalists through developing skills and capabilities, remain the core mission. And today, as part of the WAN-IFRA association, the Newsplex philosophy and the services offered by the Newsplex team will play an even bigger role in the future of the industry.
In a further development, the WAN-IFRA Academy was created in September 2009. Its aim is to expand the offerings for know-how and skill development for all management levels and professional areas within a media company.
An example of a media integrated communication cycle between the audience and the publisher
