New WAN-IFRA report: How to use audience needs to unlock digital transformation
2024-01-30. The report details how 12 European news publishers adopted a digital- and audiences-first approach that helped them embrace new ways of working, build stronger relationships with readers and transform newsroom operations.
Our new report, “Change agents: Using audience needs to unlock digital transformation,” includes case studies that highlight successful strategies news publishers used to accelerate digital transformation in the newsroom and promote an audience-centric mindset among their colleagues.
The report is based on the 2023 round of Table Stakes Europe, a WAN-IFRA programme in partnership with the Google News Initiative, in which 24 news publishers undertook specific change management initiatives to address key challenges in their digital transformation journeys.
The report is now available free for download in English, French, German and Spanish.
Download the report in your preferred language HERE.
The report includes 12 case studies organised around two main themes:
The first part explores the strategies the companies used to make rapid progress with their transformation, win over colleagues, and spread new ways of working across their organisations.
The second part looks at how the publishers realigned their journalism to meet the needs and interests of specific audiences, allowing them to build stronger relationships with their readers and engage targeted audience groups.
The case studies from the report, and many more, are also featured in the TSE Best Practice Showcase, an online resource that highlights various topics around digital transformation and audience-focused workflows. The Best Practice Showcase is available in English, French, German and Spanish and is searchable by geography, theme, or news product type.
One of the companies included in the new report is General-Anzeiger, a newspaper based in Bonn, Germany, which participated in Table Stakes Europe for the second time in 2023 to build on its existing audience-focused products and launch new projects.
“The most important flywheel for us was certainly the fact that we now use the working method we learned, which is geared towards measurable goals, encourages experimentation and seeks cross-departmental solutions, in almost all of our projects. At some point, this becomes second nature,” said Sylvia Binner, Head of Editorial Development at General-Anzeiger.
Another participant, Wiener Zeitung, based in Vienna, Austria, underwent a major reorganisation in 2023 including the closure of its print paper, pushing the company to reinvent digital-only public service journalism in their country.
“Everyone is getting comfortable working for target audiences,” said Katharina Schmidt, Product Owner at Wiener Zeitung, about their experience in Table Stakes Europe. “Everyone is open minded to new forms of journalism and the mindset is audience-focused in the newsroom. Furthermore, our journalism has made an impact and been extensively quoted.”
The TSE Best Practice Showcase allows users to search different topics or the location of former TSE participants. It is available in English, French, German and Spanish and will be updated regularly with new experiences and case studies from participants.