Simon Waldman, director of digital publishing at The Guardian, talks about moving the newspaper's brand online in an interview with Jemima Kiss of journalism.co.uk.

Asked what has kept him at the Guardian for ten years, Waldman responded: "Whenever I've even thought about packing my bags, something fascinating has always emerged … In addition to that, there has been a long standing commitment to the net from the top of Guardian Newspapers down ... we've been able to spend most of the last decade building a fantastic online presence and business - rather than constantly having to justify our existence. Lots of organisations have been willing to chuck huge chunks of cash at the net in sporadic bursts, but few, if any, have shown the same level of steady, continuous support - and that is probably the single reason why we've been able to do so well."

When asked who is doing the best work in online news, Waldman replied: "I still think we're way ahead of the pack among newspapers and the BBC only ever nudges ahead because it has such a vast resource to play with. I think the Washington Post has done some interesting things recently with mash-ups and Technorati, and at the other end of the scale I think the way that the Newbury Weekly News has adopted video is really quite spectacular given the scale of its operation."

Waldman gave the following information regarding upcoming Guardian projects: "What are we up to? These days of course, everyone else is noodling about with blogs - often rather desperately - but our planned comment blog 'Comment Is Free' will take things to a whole new level. We're also going to build up our podcasting activity in the coming months."

When asked: How much further do you think newspapers can and will go to incorporate reader content on their sites?

Waldman replied: "It's not how much further they can or will go - but how much they have to go. And I think the answer to that is much further than many currently feel comfortable with. If newspapers want to remain relevant and exciting in the decades to come, it will be essential for us to rewrite the rules on how we engage with our readers and users … We should acknowledge that a new generation of under-25s is emerging with radically different expectations of media. To put a commercial spin on this, we can't just think of them as our future readers and users, but as the brand managers and media buyers of the future as well. We ignore them - and their expectations of us - at our peril."

Source: journalism.co.uk