Switzerland: the shape of the multimedia newsroom

The original idea was to design a single editing system and a single archive database for all titles, accessible from everywhere. In all of the publications the newsroom was transformed into a multimedia platform, where all journalists write for several media: print, web, television, radio, and mobile. The same new is therefore covered by the editor in different papers, depending on the time of the day and on the media where it will be published.

Thus, there is not a separate multimedia service, as the integrated newsroom hosts also the people in charge of functions such as Webmaster, content manager and desk manager.

The new system also affected the structure of the newsrooms; they are now no longer organized by services, but by covered subjects. According to M. Raphael, newsrooms are designed as multimedia open spaces, with a central desk in charge of managing the information flow and “petals” departing from the center and divided according to covered subjects. At the central desk sit the day’s editor-in-chief, the chief of photography and the responsible for the Internet.

Edipresse is the second Swiss media group after Tamedia. It has a turnover of € 600 million and owns all three of the Switzerland’s major French language newspapers: Le Matin, 24 Heures and Le Temps.