Aftonbladet is Sweden's leading evening newspaper, but with three TV studios, four hours of live TV each weekday, one million daily streams started each day and 3.2 million daily unique users (in a country of 9 million), video is now a large part of what this "newspaper" is all about.
"Moving images is the main focus now," said Magnus Zaar, Head of Aftonbladet TV, who will present the company's initiatives at the World Newspaper Congress, to be held in Torino, Italy, from 9 to 11 June next.
"It is the given development, but the expected given development for our users," he said. "They expect the fastest updates, and they expect moving images with that."
Mr Zaar will speak in a Congress session entitled, "Why Video Matters: Get in the Game," which also includes Chris Cramer, Global Head of Video for the Wall Street Journal, Eric Scherer, Director of Future Media for France Televisions, Amy Mitchell, Director of Journalism Research at the Pew Research Center, Susan Vobejda, General Manager of Media Licensing and Distribution for Bloomberg, and Jérôme Grateau, Managing Director for Partner Business Solutions for Google in Southern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
More than 1,200 publishers, chief editors, CEOs, managing directors and other senior newspaper and news publishing executives are expected at the events.
Aftonbladet is arguably the world's leader in its integration of video and TV into its news operations; one of its TV studios is in the middle of its central news desk. Along with its sister publication, VG in Norway, it claims to be the first newspaper in the world to show higher revenues from online and mobile than from print.
Mr Zaar came to Aftonbladet two years ago with a background in start-ups and broadcast production – he was the executive producer of the first "Survivor" series in 1997, and, with the founders of Skype, helped launch the online video venture Joost in the Nordic countries. Since his arrival, Aftonbladet TV has gone from 14 employees to 70. It recruits from the broadcast industry but also attracts young people right out of film and TV school who are expected to be both in front of and behind the camera – journalists, producers and post-producers rolled into one.
The company uses video as an interactive medium: through its Tipsa! tip service, viewers can use a mobile app to film live and sent it straight to the control room. "We say to people, if you're at a news event and you have the Aftonbladet app – I'm sure you do – pick it up and start filming," Mr Zaar said.
Aftonbladet is also be proactive in seeking user video, thanks to its geo location function. When a story breaks, they can push messages to everyone who has app and is nearby, asking them for video.
"You need the tools in place and you need the full toolbox," Mr Zaar says. "We are totally integrated into the editorial work."
