New digital platform for German-speaking Fribourg takes shape
The Freiburger Nachrichten, Radio Freiburg, and Mediaparc have signed a cooperation agreement, thereby laying the formal groundwork for the operation of a joint news platform. At the same time, the technical development of the platform and the planning of production workflows are well underway.
Since the end of last year, Freiburger Nachrichten, Radio Freiburg and Mediaparc have been working on the development of a joint digital platform. This is to include the German-language section of the news platform "Frapp" and the digital news channels of the Freiburg News The two services will be merged into a single offering consisting of free and paid content in a subscription model and also offering a wide range of options for digital advertising.
Contract signed
With the signing of a cooperation agreement on Friday in Villars-sur-Glâne, the managers of the three media companies involved laid the formal foundations for their future collaboration. The companies announced this in a joint press release. In addition to organizational and financial issues, the agreement also regulates the details of the operational cooperation between the teams of Radio Fribourg and Freiburger Nachrichten.
The joint newsdesk for digital production will be located at the Mediaparc site in Villars-sur-Glâne. All radio production will also continue at this location. Print production will be based at the Freiburger Nachrichten headquarters on Avenue de Tivoli in Fribourg. Workplaces for journalists from both companies will also be available there. The administration and sales organization for the new platform will also be based at the Tivoli site. The seven jobs in the existing digital teams will all be integrated into the new joint organization.
Development already advanced
The technical development of the new digital platform and news app is already well advanced, according to the statement. The same applies to the planning of work and production processes in the combined editorial team and the establishment of the joint sales organization. The ongoing work is now entering the final phase. The launch of the new digital offering is planned for the middle of next September.
"The signing of the cooperation agreement is a milestone for the media brands in German-speaking Fribourg," says Damien Piller, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Radio Fribourg and Mediaparc. Daniel Schorro, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freiburger Nachrichten, agrees: "It is our duty to take advantage of opportunities for cooperation between media companies in order to fulfill our mission - to provide German Fribourg with high-quality journalistic news - even better on digital channels."
While the way is now clear for the launch of the new digital platform/app for German-speaking Fribourg, discussions between Radio Fribourg, Mediaparc and St-Paul Médias are still ongoing with the aim of clarifying the feasibility of a joint digital platform for the French-speaking part of the canton as well.
