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At a time when any local or national news outlet can potentially become an international online brand, and as newsrooms adapt to a 24-hour news cycle, editors can learn from The New York Times' most recent attempt to 'kill' both birds with one stone.

Last week, top execs from The Times and the International Herald Tribune announced plans to merge iht.com and nytimes.com into a co-branded international section, in order to increase both sites' reach and appeal to international advertisers.

In this two-part series, the Weblog spoke to Jim Roberts, Digital Editor at The New York Times, and Martin Gottlieb, who was appointed to the newly created position of Editor, Global Edition.

Through these moves, The Times intends to accomplish at least four ostensible goals:

Part 1:
- Build an outpost for its Continuous News Desk in Paris, and eventually Hong Kong.
- Integrate operations, streamline some resources by increasing efficiency and avoiding overlap.

Part 2:
- Reinforce its international reach and further compete against the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal.
- Use the strength of NYT's online brand while safeguarding the IHT's popular print brand name.

IHT: an outpost for the Times' continuous news

Although the proposed changes are currently undergoing a consultation process with the IHT's works council, as required by French law, the process of integration of both papers began ever since the NYT acquired full control of the IHT in 2003, and has accelerated in past months.

In Feb., NYT executive editor Bill Keller had already announced plans to integrate operations and develop an "organic, global, 24-hour news operation," in order "to create a Continuous News outpost in Paris."

In May, the IHT dropped its 142-year-old logo from its nameplate to replace it with the phrase "The Global Edition of the New York Times."

"That says, we are one, and we are," although both arms are managed separately, said Jim Roberts, digital editor at The Times.

Video: Roberts talks about the 'integration' of both newspapers. Footage was collected during an interview at the 15th World Editors Forum in Sweden.


Thanks to this outpost and the six-hour time difference, the NYT is now able to upload content to its site nearly 24 hours a day (from about 6am to 1am, New York time). The paper eventually hopes to establish a similar outpost at the IHT's Asian headquarters in Hong Kong in the next six months.

The creation of these outposts does not mean that the IHT is becoming a full-blown Paris bureau for The Times. "We have a Paris bureau," said Roberts, "and the newsroom of the IHT still has a print edition and right now they still have a website."

Integration, streamlining resources: evolution, no revolution

Since all proposed changes are undergoing a consultation process, editors couldn't give any firm preview of how workflows could be affected.

In the past, there has been "very regular contact between individual desks at the Times and corresponding desks at the IHT," said Martin Gottlieb, newly appointed editor of the Global edition. Many IHT editors come from The Times, regularly do edits on NYT pieces, and this past year IHT-written articles have appeared on nytimes.com with no distinctive byline.

However, there is no formal process of exchange between both newsrooms, and "There have been a couple of occasions when we've had IHT and NYT reporters covering the same thing," said Roberts.

The appointment of Gottlieb as editor of the Global Edition - note, no mention of the IHT in his title - is significant in that respect. In addition to fulfilling the role of editor of the paper, his mission will be to ensure that staff understands both papers are "two parts of one news-gathering operation, that should work in unison as much as possible in delivering the news 24 hours a day seven days a week," said Gottlieb.

A series of new editorial appointments at the IHT will be the symbols of this top-down integration. "There will be people coordinating the work of both staffs to, pretty much, make them as much as possible act as one staff," said Gottlieb.

For example, Alison Smale, who becomes European editor of the global newsroom, will be responsible for "coordinating the work of all NYT and IHT reporters in the region from the IHT newsroom in Paris," said the memo. To oversee the process, The Times also named Alan Flippen "Editor, Newsroom Organization."

It seems too early to say whether the planned reforms will lead to radical changes in workflows or content. Evolution, not revolution, said Roberts.

Currently, an IHT reporter based in Hong Kong might build upon a Times' story about the rise of airline fuel prices by interviewing Asian carriers, whose input might not have been as relevant to the core readership of the Times in the US. Likewise, an IHT story published in the Times might be fine-tuned to be more pertinent to the American audience (see the example of Der Spiegel in Part 2, looking at different newspaper approaches towards international editions).

Future workflows will likely build upon these current processes, rather than start from scratch. "It's continuing synergies that are taking place and maximizing them and regularizing them," said Gottlieb.

The planned changes can also be seen as an attempt to streamline resources - terminology often equivocated with cost cuts and layoffs. But according to Gottlieb, there are no planned newsroom layoffs at this point (this is subject to change during the next six months). It is possible that an online merger of iht.com and nytimes.com could lead to redundancies for some technical Web production positions.


Editors couldn't comment on any upcoming changes concerning the IHT's planned print redesign.

Stay tuned for Part 2, which will examine The Times' international branding strategy, and how newspapers can grow a previously inaccessible international readership.


Source: New York Times - Media Bistro - Jim Roberts, Digital Editor The New York Times - Martin Gottlieb, Editor, Global Edition

For its relaunch, the Editors Weblog is running a series of exclusive interviews about the future of journalism with top editors at leading newspapers around the world. Here is the latest installment with Mike van Niekerk, Editor-in-Chief of online at Fairfax Media in Australia.

The list of upcoming interviews will be updated as they are published (click here to view all interviews in this series). Among the other titles that have been asked to participate in these interviews are:

- The New York Times - Jonathan Landman (US)
- Financial Times (UK)
- Guardian (UK)
- Washington Post - Jim Brady (US)
- Globe & Mail - Ed Greenspon (Canada)
- The Times (UK)
- The Economist (UK)
- Gazeta Wyborcza - Jaroslaw Kurski (Poland)
- Le Monde (France)
- Die Welt (Germany)
- The Hindustan Times - Pankaj Paul (India)
- Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
- JoongAng Ilbo (South Korea)
- The Age / Fairfax - Mike van Niekerk (Australia)
- The Nation - Pana Janviroj (Thailand)
- Punch (Nigeria)
- El Tiempo (Colombia)
- Clarin (Argentina)
- Gulf News - Abdul Hamid Ahmad (UAE)


Questions: "News, journalism, newspapers: same past, different futures?"

- How long do you think you will define your company as a newspaper company?

We don't define ourselves as a newspaper company anymore. Fairfax renamed itself last year and is now called Fairfax Media: it's now a media business, not just online, but in all formats. We've diversified into radio recently as well. Whereas Fairfax was once defined by its two main newspapers, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, it is now much more. Not only because of its new assets, but also philosophically.

- At this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, a panel of futurists claimed that print newspapers wouldn't exist by 2014. To what extent do you agree with this?

I disagree with that. Newspapers will be around for a long time, although they may not continue to be in the in same format. The economics of newspapers will certainly change, but the significant components of the current print business (such as weekend editions) will be around for at least 20-25 years - though definitely not in same form. Don't underestimate the capacity for innovation that newspapers have. Print will continue to be an important technology for transmission of information for a long time. Newspapers will continue to be printed way past 2014 - don't forget they're still launching newspapers in some markets.

- In journalism's multi-centennial history, do you view the emergence of digital journalism as part of the continuity, or as a complete breakaway with previous forms of journalism?

It's part of the continuum. If you look at the introduction of the telegraph in the 1800s, it also changed the format of journalism, the way people wrote stories, the speed and accessibility of information, and its distribution methods. But I think digital journalism is based on the same skills, which are still useful and important to the way we work on the Internet: it's about telling stories and tracking down the people to tell those stories. Old school journalists who are learning to work for the Internet are delighted to learn that they are extending skills they already have.

- Do you believe in the increasingly active role of the user in the news process, and is a threat or an opportunity for professional journalists?

Both. It's a great opportunity to become closer to the community and serving it better. At the same time, we must remain skeptical at what information comes and how you treat it and not saying that it's all wonderful. It's like anything, it's a relationship and you treat it with respect. For individual journalists, it's great to have that immediate contact and feedback from readers. But we must be careful not to allow our better instincts drowned out by what one thinks the audience wants. For example, stories about Britney Spears are regularly highly rated on our websites. Those kinds of stories can be a temptation, but we must be careful about upholding our brand values

- Do you consider the Golden Age of investigative journalism is already past, or just beginning?

I have to be very cautious with this answer. The economics of new media make it very difficult to fund investigative journalism in the same way it once was. If you're talking about the kind of journalism that keeps governments and corporations at check, I am concerned about its sustainability in the future.

Stay tuned for the next interview in our series with Financial Times managing editor Dan Bogler.

Source: Mike van Niekerk, editor Fairfax online

The World Editors Forum is the organization within the World Association of Newspapers devoted to newspaper editors worldwide.  The Editors Weblog (www.editorsweblog.org), launched in January 2004, is a WEF initiative designed to facilitate the diffusion of information relevant to newspapers and their editors. It is the essential source for editors and senior news executives looking to stay abreast of the monumental changes affecting newspapers and journalism.
 
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As surveyor of the newspaper industry, the Editors Weblog sees a robust future for the printed word. In making this future even stronger, newspaper editors need to learn about and implement the full variety of ‘new media’ in the everyday functions of their newsrooms. The combination of outstanding newspaper journalism with these new technologies enriches content and enhances the experience of the reader.  Our goal is to make sure that editors everywhere understand the effects that ‘new media’ are having on journalism and to provide practical solutions for your newspaper.

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Our staff does the dirty work for you, reporting on and analyzing the latest developments in the rapidly changing newspaper industry. Every day, we read more than 50 sources from around the world to find the most relevant news for newspaper editors. We aggregate the latest news, give our own expert opinion, and follow up on the latest trends through interviews and case studies of the best innovations.

On a daily basis, our readers learn about the most recent developments in:
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With more than 1,500 editors and senior news executives reading our articles every day, the Editors Weblog is always looking to improve our coverage of the global newspaper industry. Our main goal is to equip these editors with news and information that they can put to immediate use. We thrive on collaboration with newsrooms and strive to share their experiences with international colleagues. The Editors Weblog also acts as a conduit for newsrooms everywhere, establishing contact between editors of different regions so that they may form networks and learn from one another on a direct basis.

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Five of the nation's top newspaper companies are in the early stages of creating a national online advertising network. By doing so Garnnett Co., Tribune Co., Hearst Corp., Media News Group, and Cox Newspapers hope to bring back ad revenue that they have been losing from their print products.

In a Q&A, veteran journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh predicts the emergence of quality, online-only newspapers, while acknowledging that online journalism has also hatched a number of muckrakers.

Google released a free software tool that allows Google AdWords advertisers to create their own Google Print Ads for newspapers.

The Swedish Union of Journalists (SJF) has announced new strike measures starting on Aug. 30, which will seriously affect online editions and advertising departments of Swedish newspapers.

“News is still about telling good stories”, said media consultant Juan Senor, at a joint session between the World Association of Newspapers and the World Newspaper Congress. “Everything has changed and nothing has changed.”

Over the past six months, much praise has been showered upon America’s largest newspaper publisher, Gannett, for its ambitious locally-focused, multimedia project, The Information Center. The company’s Vice President of New Media Content, Jennifer Carroll, spoke with the Editors Weblog about the way in which management handled the venture and convinced newsrooms of the need for change, previewing her presentation at the 14th World Editors Forum.

Roger Fidler, presently Director of Technology Initiatives at the Reynolds Journalism Institute (Columbia, Missouri), has been exploring and engineering the electronic tablet newspaper for over a decade. After years of cautious experimentation and limited interest from the industry, he now sees the breakthrough years approaching. “With the arrival of new generations of eReaders and improved, dedicated software, new ways of journalistic newshandling and distribution are becoming imperative”, he assesses.
This time, that quest should have sufficient critical mass.

The 6th annual Ifra International Newsroom Summit held in Paris on April 19 and 20 brought some of the newspaper industry’s top thinkers together to share with the crowd their experiences in the digital age, what works, and what needs to be worked on. Presentations ranged from talks of integrated newsrooms to local coverage as well as studies of changing media consumption by the audience.

Now that the e-ink technology is maturing, the newspaper industry has decided that the time has come for serious testing and application. Most experimentation took and takes place using the trusted print content, converted for electronic reading. That will never do the job. What is mostly needed in this phase are newly developed editorial formats especially designed for the generations of e-reader hardware which now are coming to the market.

Well, the newspaper world could do with a glimpse of hope. And there it came: after all the signals of steady decline, at least in the industrialised world, digital paper finally offers a perspective for innovation and growth of the beleaguered sector. The digital paper technology combines the best of two worlds: the look and feel of the traditional paper and the versatility of the online editions (see 'E-Readers, Background'). The promise it offers is mind boggling: a newspaper era without newsprint, rotation presses and complicated distribution lines: all serious cost factors. The practice however is less convincing. The enabling e-ink technology is around for several years, but its application is still scarce and purely experimental. That is, until now.

After ‘toe in the water’ trials with print advertising Google may have found their niche in yet another market – selling newspaper print ads. Google tells Editors Weblog that not only does this project bring new advertisers to the print market but it also provides significant benefits to editorial departments. It looks good but some question the dominance this would give Google.

Following a call to readers’ suggestions last week, Seattle Times’ editor at large Mike Fancher reports the suggestions that were made. Here are some practical things you could easily do for your readers starting now.