Top takeaways from the 14th International Newsroom Summit

What were the key themes and challenges facing content producers identified by participants in the 14th International Newsroom Summit in Amsterdam this week? World Editors Forum research editor and WAN-IFRA research fellow, Julie Posetti curates them for you.

1. Countering culture blocking • “Innovate and contaminate” – La Stampa’s Marco Bardazzi • “You need an audience-first newsroom. Social media is your judge & jury” – Alison Gow, Trinity Mirror Group • Train, decode, demonstrate, reward – Lisa MacLeod, FT.com • Change your newsroom profile –Didier Hamann, Le Soir

2. Collaborate cross-culturally to problem solve • “We all face the same problems. We need to come together and solve them together” Espen Olsen Langfeldt, Managing Editor of VG Mobil, Norway

3. Digital tools – just use them! • “It is impossible for me as an editor of a newspaper to say you must use these tools if I don’t know the value of them and how they work”, Robyn Tomlin • Target the free and easy tools (see Nicolas Becquet’s mobile kit & Robyn Tomlin’s toolbox) • Citizen-focused data projects: 1) Target big audiences 2) Respond to a clear need 3) Outcomes based around actionable intelligence – Justin Arenstein

 4. Change your newsroom shape and structure • “We now have a globally distributed daytime operation, not a night & day London operation @FT” Mark Alderson, Chief Production Editor, Financial Times • The new newsroom – at La Stampa it’s formed around semi-concentric circles modelled on an Italian piazza

5. Cultivating civil online conversations around content • If you are still asking “Must I engage with my audience?” you’re in serious trouble • Contribute to contribute to the development of experimental aggregation and moderation tools, Greg Barber • Journalists are ‘conversation starters’. The active subscriber audience = ‘expert contributors’ De Correspondent’s Ernst Jan Pfauth • Cybermisogyny is a genuine risk to your female journalists and audience contributors, Julie Posetti, WEF

6. Digital ethical conundrums • UGC content is now integral to content productionm but we have a responsibility to uploaders & it’s time to care about it • What are the potential impacts? What would an ethical digital journalist do? • When do we agree to take down content? Do you have guidelines in place? #RightToBeForgotten (Claire Wardle, Peter Barron, Fergus Bell, Steve Herrmann)

7. Chat apps are the new Twitter • “The push alert from chat apps is the most potent content delivery system in history” – Trushar Barot (@Trushar) BBC World Service • And deep engagement via cutting edge digital storytelling rooted in nostalgia (John CrowleyWSJ) • But it’s back to the future with ‘intimate’ email newsletters (Grig Davidovitz)

8. How DO you make a story go viral? • Pay attention to your headlines – they must resonate and activate • “Ideas journalism is about shifting the lens to the audience to acknowledge that the news consumers have a worthwhile contribution to make” S. Mitra Kalita, Ideas Editor, Quartz • Know your audience and turn readers into subscribers Liam Corcoran, NewsWhip

9. Pushing newsroom metrics beyond pageviews • “Track what matters and measure your audience” Maria Ressa, Rapplr • Beware of the ‘noise’ of analytics and do deeper research before responding to them editorially. Chartbeat is a “pet peeve” Stijn Debrouwere

10. Time to activate knowledge transfer from broadcasters • The audience always knows more than you do • Intimacy, conversationality & realtime audience engagement are standard modes for legacy broadcasters Julie Posetti, World Editors Forum

11. KEYWORDS • Collaborate • Converse • Create

To scroll though Posetti’s slideshare presentation, click here. 

This post was first published by the World Editors Forum on www.editorsweblog.org and is republished here with their kind permission.