TAKEAWAY: Looks like it is digital first as The New York Times makes leadership changes
Interesting leadership changes at The New York Times, and everything digital figures prominently in the memo written by Jill Abramson, executive editor. A second theme is new product development. And because it is the Times, perhaps one of the most (if not the most) followed and respected English-language publications in the world, these changes are beamed as from a harbor light, sweeping across a large landscape.
From the Abramson memo:
As part of my strategic push to have the newsroom take a leading role in developing new ways to present our journalism in digital forms and to create new products, I have made various changes in the structure and leadership of the newsroom. My goal has been to find the best digital talent in the newsroom and appoint people to very senior editing roles that report directly to Dean [Baquet, her managing editor] and me.
Among the changes:
Sam Sifton will leave his job as national editor, and will now head up a new digital magazine project in the tradition of last December’s Pulitzer-winning digital-immersion feature, titled “Snowfall.“ This digital magazine appears to be distinct from the paper’s existing magazine properties.
Aron Pilhofer and Steve Duenes will become associate managing editors to help “invent the best possible interactive experiences and dazzling presentations of our digital journalism.“
Arthur Gregg Sulzberger will also take a leave from metro to be the editor in charge of a new ideas task force, which will function as the “newsroom’s version of a skunk-works team, a creative team that will think up and propose new ways to expand our news offerings digitally.“
This is a tremendous amount of talent concentrating on how the Times approaches its digital future, including new products that we can’t even imagine today. We will be watching carefully, as will the rest of the world. Very specifically, we will be curious to see what Sam Sifton develops for this “immersive digital magazine experience, a lean back read”.
Making it immersive
I hope that by “immersive”, the Times’ folks mean a magazine that will not drag along many of those conventional print legacies, unlike what we witnessed when The Daily became the first ever newspaper totally created for the iPad.
In my view, immersive means a magazine reading experience created totally focused on the potential of the tablet. Immersive means stepping back and imagining how a magazine would have been created if tablets had been around all along, thinking of what the user will be doing: browsing, touching, reading, watching, listening, engaging and, of course, leaning back. And it would be a storytelling experience from start to finish with long narratives, mini stories, animated graphics, and explanatory audio /video components.
Very specifically, we will be curious to see what Sam Sifton develops for this “immersive digital magazine experience, a lean back read.“ It is gratifying to see Abramson and the Times embrace the concept of “lean forward” and “lean back” modes. We at Garcia Media have found this to be a useful framework in discussing the modern media ecosystem with our clients.
WAN-IFRA The Tablet & App Summit, Berlin, Oct. 7-8
It’s the WAN IFRA The Tablet & App Summit in Berlin, Oct.7- 8 and I will be in charge of moderating this program that will bring together leading publishers, head of mobile and development and senior newspaper executives to discuss how to best offer mobile services and products within an increasing complexity in news consumption.
Among the speakers confirmed for this Summit:
Guy Crevier, La Presse+, Canada—
How to optimize the user experience and keep advertisers happy in the competitive digital ecosystem
Thomas Schultz-Homberg, Head of Electronic Media, FAZ -(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung); Çagri Türkkorur, Digital Media Director, Dogan Gazetecilik; Dr. Assaf Avrahami, CEO, Yedioth IT; Anna Matteo, Director of Digital Area for Gruppo24ORE
Jeff Moriarty, Boston Globe (US) and Garrett Goodman, Worldcrunch
How to extend your newspapers´experience: Adaptive vs responsive design Q&A session
Audra Martin, Vice President, Advertising and Operations, Economist Digital
How to win & keep advertisers in the digital environment
Fred Hurkmans, Director Commercial & Marketing, Le Soir (Belgium)
Neil Johnson, Managing Director A&N Media, Mobile and TV, UK
Notes to consider when launching a new product: Daily Mail+, the DMG latest product
Note: Some of the speakers above still to be confirmed
For more information and to register for the Summit, go here:
https://www.wan-ifra.org/registration/world-publishing-expo-2013-registration?nid=78081