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De Telegraaf, one of the Netherlands' leading newspapers, is aggressively moving ahead with its multi-platform publication strategy with the launch of a new Java application on 15 December and a new real-time stock quote service.

Lara Ankersmitt, Telegraaf.nl's Publisher, contacted the Editors Weblog to talk about De Telegraaf's new offering, charging for content, and attracting female users in The Netherlands.

Java application - building on growth

De Telegraaf has seen approximately 40% growth in the number of users accessing its mobile content over the past year since it redesigned its mobile site. Ankersmitt firmly believes that improving the user experience on the mobile platform is crucial to its success: "At the beginning of this year we redesigned the whole mobile site to get a better user experience and that has really worked. After the redesign we saw a growth in users and the time they spent on the site. People were reading more and more."  To maintain this momentum, De Telegraaf is launching a new Java application - after several months of testing - to improve the user experience on mobile and expand on the content provided.

What is also assisting this rapid growth in mobile take-up is mobile operators' introduction of a flat-fee subscription for the Internet on mobiles, costing approximately €10 a month. This reduction in cost has democratised the consumption of mobile content, moving it away from being a tool for just business people. "A few years ago most of the mobile traffic accessed financial news and came from Blackberries and that kind of device. However, since the mobile flat fee was introduced we have seen more normal phone traffic - such as Samsung and Nokia - and more traffic to our entertainment and news sections. The user group is expanding... Finance is still the most important user group, but this is changing."

The Java application will undoubtedly improve the user experience as it will make reading De Telegraaf content on a mobile similar to the user experience on the Internet. With this new application, people will be able to surf and navigate rather than simply scroll. It will contain all the same content as the Internet and digital version of the daily newspaper itself without cost (barring internet and an initial one-off cost).

However, there are legitimate concerns about how consumers will react to this new application. Users will have to request an SMS from De Telegraaf in order to download Java before they can access the new Java platform, furthermore they will have to a pay for the SMS on top of the usual cost of Internet access. These may seem like small issues, but they could prove to be significant. The Internet platform has been popular because it makes getting your daily news fix very easy. Consumers may find downloading Java too fiddly or time consuming for something that they can already get on their laptop or PC. Ankersmitt is aware of this, and it is part of the reason that after the initial one-off cost, the service will be free.

Gaining the technological knowledge

De Telegraaf works with an outside mobile consultancy company - Service2Media - and Ankersmitt believes that this is vital. Service2Media built the site, hosts it, and gives the newspaper knowledge on mobile. She reports, "We of course know everything about bringing people the news and we know what our readers like and dislike, and (Surface2Media) brings the technical expertise and shows us what is ahead for mobile. They help us with the strategy: when we should launch and when a technology will move into the mainstream" This relationship helps De Telegraaf plan strategically for the future and plan what its next move for its mobile platform will be. "Working with them helped us see the possibilities of mobile."

How do users consume mobile news?

De Telegraaf has been analysing user activity of its mobile platform, and has noticed significant differences between its mobile and website. The mobile platform usage peaks during the evening and is relatively flat and consistent during the day. On the website usage peaks during the day and declines during the evening. This study into user activity resulted in De Telegraaf keeping its website not only continually updated during the day, but also well into the evening.

Attracting female readers in a difficult market

Newspapers in The Netherlands do not traditionally tailor content for female readers, but De Telegraaf last year launched a magazine called "Woman" and following this launched a section on its Website dedicated to female readers. Other news providers who have launched this Java application are attracting approximately a 5% female readership, but De Telegraaf is already attracting up to 30%. This data reflects that De Telegraaf is rapidly moving towards attracting the same demographic split on its Mobile site as on its Website and print edition (approximately 54% male readership and 46% female readership). This female content will also be made available this week on the mobile platform.

Real-time news service

Alongside the introduction of the Java application, De Telegraaf is launching a real-time financial news service, whereby bond and share prices and graphics will be updated in real-time from all bourses.  This information will be available on the mobile site in the first quarter of next year, but it was launched last week on the website. Reuters is providing this information to De Financial Telegraaf (DFT).

The future - can news providers charge for content?

The big question facing all news organisations is how to monetise these new platforms. At this stage it does not look like advertising revenue will generate enough income to support the operation of running a newsroom: so what can newspapers do? De Telegraaf is considering testing the charging-for-content waters early next year. "We are thinking of launching some iPhone applications and maybe we will charge for these if we see success on the Java application. The user experience at the moment is OK. It's not brilliant because mobile is so small and there is a lot of scrolling for the user. There are two things: we want to get as many people as possible to download the Java application and we want to see if, and how, people are using it so w can learn from this. We will then use this knowledge to introduce something further down the line for the iPhone." Ankersmitt reports. Ankersmitt feels that there is scope for charging on the mobile platform if the user experience is good enough, but De Telegraaf has no plans for charging for its website content. Ankersmitt says on the issue, "I don't think it is realistic to charge people for the Website news because news they can get everywhere for free. So it is no use to us to charge people for reading our news. We have to make money from advertising."

Lesson learned

De Telegraaf moved into the mobile arena back in 2001, the whole process has been a steep learning curve for the broadsheet but it has so far navigated these uncharted waters successfully. To other newspapers considering entering the mobile arena, Ankersmitt says, "Think of how you can extend your brand with this new platform and find a good partner who can serve you for all the technical needs. It is vital to have a good and knowledgeable technical partner, we have one person focusing on the mobile platform, but our partner had 40 people focusing on it. They are always ahead of us technically speaking. Really think what you want to bring to this platform and what kind of news you want to present."

The Trinity Mirror's innovative workflow overhaul, moving three of its regional newspapers into a single newsroom, has been a "morale booster" for staff in a time when the industry has seen its share of downturns.

The new site at Fort Dunlop is the largest open plan office space outside of London, Journalism.co.uk reports.  As the Weblog has reported, Trinity Mirror completely revamped the approach to newsroom management with the transition.

As newspapers across the United States redesign and relaunch; readership has not increased, neither has ad revenue.  So is a new design the most effective way to tackle the changes to the industry?  A recent article in Portfolio, takes a look at the Tribune Co. redesigned papers and ultimately concludes that their redesigns have not landed the success they should have.

According to Ken Doctor, a news industry analyst for Outsell and Content Bridges, "it's a distraction.  The major challenge to a company like Tribune is not to try to incrementally either stop circulation declines or add a point or two, but to really remake itself into a multimedia modern company." 

The Chicago Tribune is undergoing a radical overhaul which is scheduled to be launched in a matter of weeks.  Prototypes of the new pages and sections for this redeign were posted in Tribune Tower for review by employees on Thursday.

Sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that the space devoted to news in the Chicago Tribune will be significantly reduced, with the paper's front section including national and international news, the local and business reports and the editorial page. The Tribune publishes freestanding sections for metro and business news currently.

The redesigned paper is set to have a three-section format, Tribune employees reported to the local rival newspaper. The newspaper's other sections would be for features, with a working title of Live, and Sports. According to the prototype, the pages for local news will be labeled Chicagoland, a term Tribune editors use to define the city and its suburbs.

The Chicago Tribune, is aiming to launch the revamp by the end of September.

The Tribune itself has refused to comment on the leaked information. The sources that spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the pages they saw were works in progress, with some section having several versions up for review. The recently leaked idea that the newspaper would be renamed The Trib has reportedly been abandoned.

Source: Chicago Sun-Tribune via IFRA Executive News

See also:

US: Chicago Tribune prototype redesign leaked

Art director Al Trivino headed the Sunday Times recent redesign. He said that some of the main reasons for the redesign were to modernize and to introduce more colour in smart doses, GarciaMedia reported.

"Most importantly it was trying to rescue some of the innovative visual journalism brought to paper years ago by pioneers as Peter Sullivan and Edwin Taylor who made it a very influential content driven design newspaper," Trivino mentioned.

Trivino pointed out that it is still early days in the redesign, but that media buyers and readers alike welcome the changes. He said that readers thought colour use on every page was "enjoyable" and "helpful' and that the paper is now easier to navigate.

However, he did say that some think the body copy is too small.

"We are working on that and on some other formatting inconsistencies that will help to deliver a better paper," Trivino said.

Source: Garcia Media through IFRA Executive News Service

Guardian News and Media (GNM) officially announced today that it will integrate its print and online platforms for News, Business and Sport journalism once it moves into its new premises at Kings Place, London, at the end of the year.

Journalists from those sections will work for the company's three platforms (The Observer, daily Guardian and guardian.co.uk) and will produce text, audio and video.

As gathered during the World Editors Forum study tour in the UK and during our talks with head of editorial development Neil McIntosh, the Guardian's integration was planned collaboratively in the newsroom, as opposed to a top-down model.

Said Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian and Editor-in-Chief of GNM:

"Our model for integrated working has been designed through a long period of collaboration and consultation. More than two dozen editors from across the three platforms have worked together to design the ways in which they want to collaborate in the future.  It's very important that desk editors themselves have taken the lead: the last thing we wanted to do was impose a model from above.

As has often been the case for other cases of newsroom integration (Fairfax in Australia, the Daily Telegraph in the UK, The New York Times in the US and many more), the Guardian's move to a new building - and thus to rethink its newsroom design - coincides with the formal integration process.

"The move to a new building is the obvious moment to re-arrange the way we work in a way which more closely reflects the patterns of how people read and react to news," said Rusbridger.

Also discussed with McIntosh, the newsroom will redesign will include 'pods', which will group specialists around specific topics. For example, on the International News desk, pods will group reporters by time zones and regions.

The good news is that the Guardian's integration isn't synonymous with layoffs (the company had previously said this could happen) - at least for the time being.

"We've done this without any reduction in headcount.  It is important that news organisations retain quality and trust while being at the forefront of the digital revolution," he added.

Source: Guardian press release

Editor announces plans to shake up the editing culture in Washington newsroom

Newspapers have always tended to follow an assembly-line model for news in which information traveled from sources, through more hands, and eventually to the readers. But Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie and Managing Editor Philip Bennett  are implementing changes in their editing model so that it resembles more of a network, "responding to how journalism is actually created, distributed and discovered by audiences in print and online."

On March 14, they sent out a memo outlining innovations in the editing process for the A section, which will eventually spread across the newsroom:

Goals:
- Remove layers of editing by providing more flexibility of when and by whom a story is edited
- Create a truer alignment between print and web articles by recognizing that deadlines for many pieces are defined at the earliest moment they can be edited and published online
- Strengthen collaboration among editors to change how a story, graphic, or photograph goes in the paper

Plan:
- New assistant editors moved from National and Foreign copy desks to take on new roles to begin earlier in the day. They will move early copy to the web and for the next day's paper, provide the first read on some stories and the final edit on others, compose working headlines, collaborate with the News Desk to assign stories to pages earlier than our current practices allow, amd copy edit projects and non-breaking enterprise stories.
 
- A new night desk, comprised of the copy desks of National and Foreign, that will copy edit breaking news, write or refine headlines and captions, and proofing, and edit fewer columns than is currently the case, since more stories will receive final editing during the day.
 
- New copy flows by shifting the editing of feature stories, non-breaking enterprise pieces and projects to daylight hours and having assistant editors and assignment editors work together to ensure that non-breaking enterprise stories are edited by early afternoon. Deadlines for non-breaking foreign stories from bureaus across the world will no longer be 6 p.m. Washington time.

- Earlier decisions to end the practice of assigning and laying out every page on our late night deadlines. The News Desk will assign early pages shortly after noon to accommodate edited pieces. A1 decision-making to be advanced by selecting at least one non-breaking story by 3 p.m, and A1 features and enterprises stories will be planned days in advance,

- Fewer "touches" on some stories. Many stories will be handled under a "two touch" rule; they will have a first editor and a second editor instead of 6 editors. Read more here.

- New tools for assignment editors. By collaborating with assistant editors during the day, assignment editors will have greater flexibility in determining their daily editing schedules, avoiding bottlenecks and late edits on routine stories. In addition to supervising their reporters, assignment editors will advance the editing process by doing more fact-checking, and (along with assistant editors) composing working headlines for pieces. Working headlines will also be welcome from reporters when they file.

The editing changes is slated to coincide with the launch of the redesign of the A section pages, which will coordinate new design elements and templated pages with the copy flow and consultative process the plan introduces for editing.

"In the long run, changing the editing structure of the newsroom means transforming some long-held newsroom practices and parts of our culture," the memo concludes. "Most importantly, it calls on us to communicate even more openly and directly with one another as stories are assigned, reported and written."
 
Read the full memo here.

Source: Slate

The Mail on Sunday plans to split into two main sections in the New Year in time for full color production.

USATODAY.com, latimes.com, and washingtonpost.com recently discussed the redesign process of their sites with Editor and Publisher. Some of the common threads were: the importance of readers’ input during the process, video as increasingly significant, and the redesign as an ongoing process. 

The Editors Weblog is going through a redesign and some of you may have experienced difficulties accessing it recently. We apologize for the inconvenience. The Editors Weblog should now be up and working.