Journalism more creative than ever

At the opening of the 15th European Newspaper Congress in Vienna City Hall, Google News boss Richard Gingras spoke of a "renaissance of creativity in journalism. This is needed at a time when more cell phones are being sold than toothbrushes. Despite the flood of news in the post-PC world, "the future of journalism is better than its past".

500 editors-in-chief and media managers from all over Europe will discuss current developments in their industry. The conference will focus on topics such as change management in media companies and robot journalism. The speed of the media is already "powerful, but indigestible for people", said Veit Dengler, CEO of the NZZ Media Group. Media companies are too focused on reach and circulation: "The only important thing is how many paying customers we have." The Neue Zürcher Zeitung is not afraid, Dengler confirms: "We don't want to reinvent the NZZ, we will redevelop our business model of different news channels based on our core business: Quality and free journalism."

Vienna-based communications consultant Wolfgang Rosam described the fear of change in media companies. Change communication is particularly bad in media companies, although it is precisely there that communication about changes should be started earlier than in other companies. Rosam demands: "Maximum honest information, one hundred percent transparency, no whitewashing. Change information should never be given in small doses."

Jelle Prins presented a creative innovation from the venerable Amsterdam Handelsblad: An app that offers just under ten articles from the Handelsblad through an email at 4 a.m. every day. However, the content can be shared for free on social media. The app features videos and photo galleries, and the limited number of just under ten articles "should give people the satisfaction that they have finished reading the newspaper".

The European Newspaper Congress, which runs until Tuesday, 6 May, is organized by media publisher Johann Oberauer and Norbert Küpper, a newspaper designer in Germany. Co-organizer is the City of Vienna. Cooperation partners such as Austria Tabak/JTI, OMV, the Association of Austrian Newspapers, the Federation of Austrian Industries and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce are providing significant support for the event.