IFRA

Newsroom integration: A process checklist

Integrating web and print staffs can have many benefits for a news publishing house, such as to help it operate more efficiently and effectively. What’s perhaps less clear is how to begin the process once a publisher has determined that newsroom integration should be undertaken. Where should you start? What are the main elements that need to be taken into consideration? Here, we offer a process checklist based on advice from numerous publishers who have already taken up the challenge.

Ringier’s philosophy: Calculated risk pays off

Despite enduring a difficult 2009 the Swiss media company Ringier, publisher of Blick, still managed to turn a net profit of 17.2 million Swiss Francs (12.36 million euros). We spoke with Ringier AG CEO Christian Unger about last year, the recent moves it made with Axel Springer in Eastern Europe, how it is preparing for the future, and to share some of Ringier’s strategic philosophy regarding expansion outside its core market.

Seeking balance when riding the crest of a wave

While presenting portfolios rich with news or dedicated applications, mobile websites or web applications, the speakers at Mobile Media Day also shared their own questions with the delegates. Everyone is trying to resolve similar questions and, in the area of mobile marketing, with each year bringing a bundle of new questions.

Webprint: Focus on the customer

The Webprint Concepts newspaper company in Cork, Ireland, can lay claim to being a model operation in many respects: for example, workflow organisation, in-house staff training and press maintenance. To represent the interests of the customers and act accordingly are principles that are firmly anchored in the company’s philosophy. A performance-based salary and bonus system motivates employees and is an important contributing factor to the company’s success.

Today’s perfect plate: stable, durable, fast and eco friendly

Printing plates – like paper and ink – constitute a consumable and, therefore first and foremost, they must be reliable and efficient. Other essential aspects are processing speed, plate stability and, something that is becoming increasingly important, environmental friendliness.

Expert Expo advice

As IFRA Expo 2010 nears, from 4-6 October in Hamburg, Germany, we will take a closer look at some of the critical issues in newspaper production that visitors should keep in mind when coming to the show. We asked our team of specialists to highlight the key trends in their respective fields. Here is the first of their reports; the second will appear in our next edition.

INCQC: Evaluation of the general quality

Newspaper readers and advertisers are people with emotions, consequently evaluations for WAN-IFRA’s International Newspaper Color Quality Club competition have never been confined to technical aspects but also reflect the overall look and feel of the newspaper. A jury consisting of newspaper experts from Europe, Asia and South America were called on this spring to carry out the challenging visual judgement of the printed results.