In a joint project between the MCM Institute at the University of St. Gallen and the Tagblatt media, journalists are involved in the development of journalistic offerings in so-called innovation workshops. The resulting concepts not only meet democratic policy requirements, but also economic demands. "Entrepreneurial journalism" is the buzzword of the moment that has been used in recent years to encourage journalists to think more entrepreneurially. Glenn Greenwald (The Intercept), Carlos Watson (OZY) and Hansi Voigt (Watson) in Switzerland personify this rationale by turning their backs on established media brands and shaping the market with innovative projects. In order to survive in a changing media landscape, traditional editorial offices must also find a capacity for innovation that enables them to keep creative minds in the team and bring innovative offerings to the market. To do this, they must take their journalists' understanding of the market seriously and offer them space to deal with change. A joint project between the Institute for Media and Communication Management at the University of St. Gallen and Tagblatt Medien is investigating the potential of such an approach: In so-called "innovation ateliers", journalists are involved in the development of new journalistic offerings. In small groups, they examine the needs of potential users in order to develop innovative concept ideas on this basis. This shows that the entrepreneurial mindset is in place. Realistic ideas with a strong focus on the target group are created, which aim for low-resource implementation. The journalists have long since internalized the entrepreneurial approaches that are preached up and down by the management.

Employee creativity

Even if the result is poured into a product at the end of the day, on the web from moment to moment, journalism is ultimately a service business - and therefore largely dependent on the performance of journalists, who define the product within the scope available to them. In other industries, the integration of so-called frontline employees, i.e. those employees who provide the actual service, into innovation processes has long been investigated - but not so in journalism. This may be due to the traditional self-image of many journalists or the lack of competitive pressure from which the industry has been able to benefit for decades. From the perspective of organizational research, however, valuable potential is being wasted here. After all, it is precisely in changing markets that the creativity of employees is the starting point for all innovation.

Usage here is particularly focused on weekends and relaxed evenings. While the trend on the provider side is still towards Sunday newspapers, on the user side there is a desire for a focus on topics rather than news. A broad target group that longs for background and depth away from the daily changing headlines does not feel that either Weltwoche or WOZ are catering to its needs. In daily journalism, too, many of those surveyed are offended by the short-lived nature of news-driven reporting. They would like journalists to be more active in setting topics, especially on a local level. They call for sustained coverage of topics that are relevant to citizens, which requires journalists to pick up on discussions independently and follow up critically.

Acceptance of change

The attitude of Glenn Greenwald, who sees journalists as activists who stand up for a cause with conviction, goes even further than these interviewed users demand. He has chosen to leave the Guardian in order to stand up for this approach in a new project. Not all journalists choose such a forward strategy in times of far-reaching change, because change always means uncertainty. However, involving employees in the development of new offerings or work processes makes it easier for them to understand the associated change processes and ensures their involvement. The approach of involving journalists in innovation processes can also be applied to tasks other than customer orientation. For example, journalists at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung are working on brand-appropriate forms of online journalism in corresponding workshops. In addition to examining the potential of digital reporting, each workshop also focuses on discussing journalistic and identity-related issues. The commitment of the employees in this project is based in particular on the commitment of the management to realize at least one developed idea from each workshop. The newly launched "Monday Cliché" format, which was created in one of the first workshops, is evidence of this promise. When employees experience that their knowledge and ideas are taken seriously, their motivation to work and their commitment to the company increases. It is not only journalistic organizations that can benefit from this, and not only in times of crisis.

Stephanie Grubenmann

Stephanie Grubenmann is a doctoral student and research assistant at the MCM Institute. Her research focuses on innovation and role change in journalism.

Innovation workshop Customer orientation

In a first step, a specific target group is selected - for example families living in urban areas. Through in-depth interviews and other qualitative survey methods, employees engage intensively with representatives of the target group. The data collected is then analyzed in order to identify key needs. Focusing on a specific need, the second step is to develop a concept idea that builds on the employees' existing skills as far as possible. Finally, the employees go back to the target group and present the developed idea. The feedback from potential users is integrated into the final concept. An innovation workshop lasts at least three days. Ideally, employees from different company divisions/departments are combined in a workshop group.

 

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"You don't just say you want to do something, you actually do it."

Philipp Landmark, Editor-in-Chief of the St. Galler Tagblatt, in conversation with Werbewoche Editor-in-Chief Pierre C. Meier

 
WW: How did the collaboration with the University of St. Gallen come about
Philipp Landmark: At the Swiss Media Forum two years ago, I got talking to Stephanie Grubenmann and we decided to "do something" together. Later, Stephanie Grubenmann - who had previously worked as an intern at our publishing house - approached us with the specific project and presented the idea to part of the management team.

Is the St. Galler Tagblatt the pilot for a Group-wide story?
I do think that the method and certain findings from these innovation workshops can be transferred to other titles. The NZZ has now conducted similar innovation workshops, also with Stephanie Grubenmann and the people from the MCM HSG institute.

Journalists are known to have a rather critical relationship with editorial market research. How was the project accepted by the editorial team?
Initially, it was as I had expected: a third of the employees ran for cover, a third took note and a third got actively involved. It's a rather unusual project for editors, because very few of them think so intensively about their job. The proportion of those who reserved a time slot despite the workload and time pressure was surprisingly high. The same applies to people's commitment.

Did they try to involve the skeptics?
They did. On the one hand, I declared to the entire editorial team that I thought the project was a good thing, and on the other hand, the management also showed that it was behind the cause. But we didn't force anyone to take part, as that would only have slowed the project down.

Will this project result in regular research?
Now we want to bring the matter to a close for the first time. For me, there are two big learnings from this. Firstly, on a theoretical level: some of the journalists spent one, two or three days thinking intensively about their job and the newspaper. They asked themselves questions like: "What do we actually do? What else could we do?" They reflected. That in itself is a gain. Another valuable side effect is that the employees realize that they are being asked to reflect. It's not as if our job is defined somewhere by God, but we have to think about what it could look like ourselves. In addition, a number of practical ideas have also emerged that have been fleshed out. We have every intention of actually implementing one or two of them in order to explore the possibilities.

Various target groups were surveyed. How were these defined?
It varied. There was input from the university, then there were suggestions from the editorial team, who wanted certain points to be investigated, and some came from me.

Was the publisher also involved?
The publisher was involved and supported the project. However, the thematic issues were largely editorial. However, a publishing idea also emerged - unsolicited, so to speak.

Your conclusion?
Definitely recommendable. Just the fact that you are thinking about what you are actually doing is a good thing. A project like this also creates a certain amount of compulsion. You don't just say that you want to do something, you actually do it. The whole project gives you a certain structure. It also gave us questions that we might not have asked ourselves. Working with Stephanie Grubenmann and her team broadened the horizons of everyone involved. That is a definite gain. If we can now implement one or two projects, all the better.

When will we see the first implementations?
There is an implementation phase. Over the course of this year, we will try out some of the things we have developed. Maybe they won't work the way we imagined them, in which case we'll have to refine them or develop the ideas even further. It's not as if we've developed fundamentally new business models for our media company in two or three days. These are deliberately smaller things. The chosen research approach, in which we ask readers what they actually want, automatically leads us to consider what we can offer them. Then you put something together and let them reflect again. You can achieve something really quickly with a mechanism like this. The interview was conducted by telephone.

Interview: Pierre C. Meier

 

In a joint project between the MCM Institute at the University of St. Gallen and the Tagblatt media, journalists are involved in the development of journalistic offerings in so-called innovation workshops. The resulting concepts not only meet democratic policy requirements, but also economic demands. "Entrepreneurial journalism" is the buzzword of the moment that has been used in recent years to encourage journalists to think more entrepreneurially. Glenn Greenwald (The Intercept), Carlos Watson (OZY) and Hansi Voigt (Watson) in Switzerland personify this rationale by turning their backs on established media brands and shaping the market with innovative projects. In order to survive in a changing media landscape, traditional editorial offices must also find a capacity for innovation that enables them to keep creative minds in the team and bring innovative offerings to the market. To do this, they must take their journalists' understanding of the market seriously and offer them space to deal with change. A joint project between the Institute for Media and Communication Management at the University of St. Gallen and Tagblatt Medien is investigating the potential of such an approach: In so-called "innovation ateliers", journalists are involved in the development of new journalistic offerings. In small groups, they examine the needs of potential users in order to develop innovative concept ideas on this basis. This shows that the entrepreneurial mindset is in place. Realistic ideas with a strong focus on the target group are created, which aim for low-resource implementation. The journalists have long since internalized the entrepreneurial approaches that are preached up and down by the management.

Employee creativity

Even if the result is poured into a product at the end of the day, on the web from moment to moment, journalism is ultimately a service business - and therefore largely dependent on the performance of journalists, who define the product within the scope available to them. In other industries, the integration of so-called frontline employees, i.e. those employees who provide the actual service, into innovation processes has long been investigated - but not so in journalism. This may be due to the traditional self-image of many journalists or the lack of competitive pressure from which the industry has been able to benefit for decades. From the perspective of organizational research, however, valuable potential is being wasted here. After all, it is precisely in changing markets that the creativity of employees is the starting point for all innovation.

Usage here is particularly focused on weekends and relaxed evenings. While the trend on the provider side is still towards Sunday newspapers, on the user side there is a desire for a focus on topics rather than news. A broad target group that longs for background and depth away from the daily changing headlines does not feel that either Weltwoche or WOZ are catering to its needs. In daily journalism, too, many of those surveyed are offended by the short-lived nature of news-driven reporting. They would like journalists to be more active in setting topics, especially on a local level. They call for sustained coverage of topics that are relevant to citizens, which requires journalists to pick up on discussions independently and follow up critically.

Acceptance of change

The attitude of Glenn Greenwald, who sees journalists as activists who stand up for a cause with conviction, goes even further than these interviewed users demand. He has chosen to leave the Guardian in order to stand up for this approach in a new project. Not all journalists choose such a forward strategy in times of far-reaching change, because change always means uncertainty. However, involving employees in the development of new offerings or work processes makes it easier for them to understand the associated change processes and ensures their involvement. The approach of involving journalists in innovation processes can also be applied to tasks other than customer orientation. For example, journalists at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung are working on brand-appropriate forms of online journalism in corresponding workshops. In addition to examining the potential of digital reporting, each workshop also focuses on discussing journalistic and identity-related issues. The commitment of the employees in this project is based in particular on the commitment of the management to realize at least one developed idea from each workshop. The newly launched "Monday Cliché" format, which was created in one of the first workshops, is evidence of this promise. When employees experience that their knowledge and ideas are taken seriously, their motivation to work and their commitment to the company increases. It is not only journalistic organizations that can benefit from this, and not only in times of crisis.

Stephanie Grubenmann

Stephanie Grubenmann is a doctoral student and research assistant at the MCM Institute. Her research focuses on innovation and role change in journalism.

Innovation workshop Customer orientation

In a first step, a specific target group is selected - for example families living in urban areas. Through in-depth interviews and other qualitative survey methods, employees engage intensively with representatives of the target group. The data collected is then analyzed in order to identify key needs. Focusing on a specific need, the second step is to develop a concept idea that builds on the employees' existing skills as far as possible. Finally, the employees go back to the target group and present the developed idea. The feedback from potential users is integrated into the final concept. An innovation workshop lasts at least three days. Ideally, employees from different company divisions/departments are combined in a workshop group.

 

---

"You don't just say you want to do something, you actually do it."

Philipp Landmark, Editor-in-Chief of the St. Galler Tagblatt, in conversation with Werbewoche Editor-in-Chief Pierre C. Meier

 
WW: How did the collaboration with the University of St. Gallen come about
Philipp Landmark: At the Swiss Media Forum two years ago, I got talking to Stephanie Grubenmann and we decided to "do something" together. Later, Stephanie Grubenmann - who had previously worked as an intern at our publishing house - approached us with the specific project and presented the idea to part of the management team.

Is the St. Galler Tagblatt the pilot for a Group-wide story?
I do think that the method and certain findings from these innovation workshops can be transferred to other titles. The NZZ has now conducted similar innovation workshops, also with Stephanie Grubenmann and the people from the MCM HSG institute.

Journalists are known to have a rather critical relationship with editorial market research. How was the project accepted by the editorial team?
Initially, it was as I had expected: a third of the employees ran for cover, a third took note and a third got actively involved. It's a rather unusual project for editors, because very few of them think so intensively about their job. The proportion of those who reserved a time slot despite the workload and time pressure was surprisingly high. The same applies to people's commitment.

Did they try to involve the skeptics?
They did. On the one hand, I declared to the entire editorial team that I thought the project was a good thing, and on the other hand, the management also showed that it was behind the cause. But we didn't force anyone to take part, as that would only have slowed the project down.

Will this project result in regular research?
Now we want to bring the matter to a close for the first time. For me, there are two big learnings from this. Firstly, on a theoretical level: some of the journalists spent one, two or three days thinking intensively about their job and the newspaper. They asked themselves questions like: "What do we actually do? What else could we do?" They reflected. That in itself is a gain. Another valuable side effect is that the employees realize that they are being asked to reflect. It's not as if our job is defined somewhere by God, but we have to think about what it could look like ourselves. In addition, a number of practical ideas have also emerged that have been fleshed out. We have every intention of actually implementing one or two of them in order to explore the possibilities.

Various target groups were surveyed. How were these defined?
It varied. There was input from the university, then there were suggestions from the editorial team, who wanted certain points to be investigated, and some came from me.

Was the publisher also involved?
The publisher was involved and supported the project. However, the thematic issues were largely editorial. However, a publishing idea also emerged - unsolicited, so to speak.

Your conclusion?
Definitely recommendable. Just the fact that you are thinking about what you are actually doing is a good thing. A project like this also creates a certain amount of compulsion. You don't just say that you want to do something, you actually do it. The whole project gives you a certain structure. It also gave us questions that we might not have asked ourselves. Working with Stephanie Grubenmann and her team broadened the horizons of everyone involved. That is a definite gain. If we can now implement one or two projects, all the better.

When will we see the first implementations?
There is an implementation phase. Over the course of this year, we will try out some of the things we have developed. Maybe they won't work the way we imagined them, in which case we'll have to refine them or develop the ideas even further. It's not as if we've developed fundamentally new business models for our media company in two or three days. These are deliberately smaller things. The chosen research approach, in which we ask readers what they actually want, automatically leads us to consider what we can offer them. Then you put something together and let them reflect again. You can achieve something really quickly with a mechanism like this. The interview was conducted by telephone.

Interview: Pierre C. Meier