The World Editors Forum has just published its ninth annual edition of Trends in Newsrooms, which highlights five key trends this year: mobile, innovative storytelling, paid digital content, social media, and data and metrics.
"While editors around the world continue to struggle with ongoing challenges relating to tight budgets and smaller newsroom staffs, we also see a number of trends that make our profession promising, interesting valuable," said Erik Bjerager, President of the World Editors Forum and Editor-in-chief and Managing Director of Denmark's Kristeligt Dagblad.
The report, which is jointly published by WEF and the Shaping the Future of News Publishing Project of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), examines
- Mobile, where the explosion of tablets and smartphones means the demand for good content that takes advantage of mobile attributes is rising;
- Innovative storytelling, as more news publishers start thinking in terms of multimedia elements from the beginning of the process rather than afterthoughts tacked on at the end;
- Paid digital content, which seems likely to become the standard in many parts of the world and can provide significant income;
- Social media, for finding stories and for distributing news, and as the first place to cover fast-moving stories;
- Data and metrics, to be used by both journalists and data specialists not only for reporting but to understand traffic and reader habits.
The annual Trends in Newsrooms publication is being followed this year with regular updates to report on the latest trends and developments throughout the year. Future reports planned this year for interested editors include:
- Mobile Platforms: The Emerging Strategies and Technologies;
- Start-ups – Learning from the Competition;
- Sizing Up Your Audience: Measurement, Engagement and Moneetisation.
The World Editors Forum is the organisation within WAN-IFRA for Editors-in-chief and other senior newsroom executives.
