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🗞️ In recent years, the print media industry has faced transformative challenges and pressures - such as digitalisation, shifting customer behaviours and economic strains. Despite these pressures, the Financial Times continues to print its iconic pink paper and maintains a strong position in the market. In this article, George Adelman Principal at FT Strategies, talked to Janet White Print Director at the FT, to discuss her remarkable career at the FT spanning over 35 years. They spoke about the resilience of specialised publications and operational strategies such as trimming editions, the move to digital and the sustainability of distribution networks. Read the article here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eisEaYC6

We are proud to sponsor The World Congress of the International News Media Association (INMA) in London this year. The conference is part of a full week of exciting workshops, study tours, awards and networking between industry leaders - starting today. FT Strategies will close the event at the end of the week with our workshop on how to bring newsrooms into the news business. Join Director Lisa MacLeod and Senior Insights Consultant Lamberto Lambertini for their session from 2-5pm on Friday 26th April. FT Strategies will be there alongside INMA's Newsroom Transformation Initiative Lead Amalie Nash, Author and BBC Journalist Ros Atkins, RBS Digital Journalism Manager Rodrigo Muzell, The Times and Sunday Times Head of Digital Edward Roussel and Newsday's Managing Editor Rochell Bishop Sleets. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/ejnJX_HC

⚡Join us for Digital Media Asia 2024, where FT Strategies Principal Sabrina Daryanani will be leading a talk and panel discussion alongside leading publishers from APAC, in the region's foremost news media industry event. During this session, taking place on 25 April, Sabrina will present on two of our recent reports: the Audience Diversity Academy Report, which discusses how to enrich audience diversity agendas and unlock growth within younger audiences, and the Next Gen News Report, which explores the younger generation's relationship with the news, to better understand the future of news consumption. To find out more about the event and register for tickets, head to the link 👉https://lnkd.in/ejNn4Q-3 #DigitalMediaAsia

It's the last day of #IJF2024 in Perugia, Italy and whether you're at the event, or have been following online, today's panel is one to watch: Transparency: does it actually work to combat mis and disinformation? FT Strategies Director Adriana Whiteley and Manager Ben Whitelaw will be joined by Head of Editorial Innovation at The Guardian Chris Moran and Co-Founder and Executive Director at Aos Fatos Tai Nalon to discuss the effectiveness of transparency in news reporting and media operations as a strategy to combat mis- and disinformation. Together, they'll share personal experience of being open with sources, data, methodologies and editorial decisions as well as the risks and potential pitfalls of doing so. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/ePcHnqG7

📣 We're bringing the Artificial Intelligence Design Sprint to Stockholm. This one-day workshop is specifically for news publishers in the Nordics looking to accelerate their organisation's AI capabilities. The workshop will take place on Friday, 31 May at Google's Stockholm offices. During the session, you can expect to identify your organisation's biggest AI opportunities and challenges, design potential solutions, and produce an actionable plan for future AI strategy and implementation. Learn more and apply for the programme here: https://lnkd.in/eGVUQHTH Applications will close Wednesday, 8 May 17:00 CET.

🚀 Redefining News for the next generation. We partnered with Northwestern University Medill School to launch the Next Gen News report which envisions what #news consumption will be like in 2030. While our research focused on the preferences of young consumers, a crucial question arose at our launch event about the economic feasibility of our recommendations, reminiscent of the challenges faced by BuzzFeed and VICE News. In this article, Head of Insights George Montagu, who was closely involved in this research and the report, outlines why it is important for news #publishers to persevere in monetising younger audiences and serving their unique needs. George will be speaking on this topic and giving further insight into our research findings tomorrow in Perugia at the International Journalism Festival from 5 pm. If you're at the event, make sure to attend his session and get the opportunity to better understand how to serve and monetise the next generation. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/eek6fH93 Learn about George's presentation here: https://lnkd.in/exvUnrWU

🇮🇹 We've arrived in Perugia for the much-anticipated #IJF24, where FT Strategies will speak alongside other leaders in publishing. Our first session at the event will be on understanding the audiences of 2030. George Montagu, Head of Insights at FT Strategies, takes the stage at 5pm (GMT+2) on 19th April to share the findings of Next Gen News, an 8-month research project exploring the news preferences of the next generation of consumers. The session will bring to life some of the voices of the next generation with anecdotes, quotes, and observations, as well as insights from some of the leading thinkers in the industry. See the full programme here: https://lnkd.in/eawPYj4z

📣 We are delighted to be participating in Press Gazette's Future of Media Trends 2024 tomorrow. The event will bring together over 70 senior media professionals to discuss revenue strategies and diversification tactics. Jim Egan, Principal at FT Strategies, will be hosting roundtable discussions on revenue diversification - What does successful revenue diversification look like and how can you put it into practice? Other discussions throughout the morning will include self-service advertising, the sunsetting of cookies in 2024, and using content strategy to drive revenue. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/edVRTGAe

⚽ From match footage to analysis and BTS content, football clubs are increasingly investing in their digital content - but how can they continue to engage audiences as fanbases grow, become more diverse and decentralise from their local area? This article by Associate Consultant Joe Miller highlights some of the tactics being leveraged by football clubs to navigate this challenge. It discusses the importance of harnessing data to drive commercial success, and how clubs like Manchester City have leveraged social media to aggressively pursue their global audience. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/esZ4EQf3

⚡ We're proud to be sponsoring the Media Practitioners Forum 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Join FT Strategies Principal Sabrina Daryanani and Senior Consultant Yuta Nagasaki for an engaging session on 'FT's path to expanding digital revenue and editorial department transformation'. We'll explore how the Financial Times attracted more than 2.6 million paid members globally, increasing the revenue of its parent company Nikkei and creating an example model for newspaper digitalisation supported by data and key editorial roles. The session will be held on the first floor of Ibuka Hall, from 16:50-18:10. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/eppsxK9e

📈 We recently hosted a webinar with Rachel Corp FRSA, CEO of ITN and Jon Slade, CCO of the Financial Times to discuss how legacy #media brands can continue to thrive and evolve amidst the technological advancements of the digital age. In this article, we break down 4 of the standout discussion points from the event: the strength of trust that 'heritage' brands can bring, the opportunities of this election year, the importance of choosing platforms for your #audience and navigating the opportunities of #AI. To read the full article, and watch the webinar on-demand, head to the link 👉 https://lnkd.in/eEm9UE8w

🌅 The Diversity Inside Media Organisations report explores employee attitudes and perceptions toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within media organisations. We surveyed 450 individuals in the #media industry to understand their thoughts on how DEI in media companies is changing, focusing on gender and ethnicity as a starting point for our research. We found a strong correlation between organisations that prioritise #Diversity and #Inclusion, and an increase in feelings of empowerment, accountability and career progression amongst employees. This report focuses on key topics such as the prioritisation of diversity compared to commercial priorities, diversity prioritisation between junior and senior staff, and the use of technology such as AI to improve diversity efforts. For a full breakdown of our findings, download the report here: https://lnkd.in/ekXkW8UM

✍️ How can we better understand the future of news consumption? Our latest research - #NextGenNews (https://lnkd.in/e6KkmQUj) - was designed to answer exactly that question. In this second part of our Next Gen News series, we explain our methodology and the reasoning behind it. 1. We focused our research on young people A key premise of our research was that the behaviours and needs of the next generation of consumers anticipate the eventual behaviours of most #NewsConsumers in the future. One graph that supports this hypothesis (see below) demonstrates how young people are often the bellwethers for behavioural shifts in society. 2. We intentionally sought out people from different demographics and geographies We interviewed 45 young people aged 18 to 25-years-olds who varied in life stage, socioeconomic background, education level, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and accessibility level. To try and account for different cultural and geographic trends, we also travelled to 9 different locations in 3 countries: USA 🇺🇸, Nigeria 🇳🇬, India 🇮🇳. This was important because we wanted to understand the behaviours and preferences of multiple groups who fall outside of the typical demographics included in anglo-american research. 3. We opted for human-centred design While large-scale quantitative research is useful for understanding ‘average’ users, it can be difficult to identify the nuanced behaviours and needs of the next generation of news consumers. Human-centred design focuses instead on fewer users with more ‘extreme’ behaviours. Our field protocol mixed conversational interviews with hands-on exercises intended to uncover behaviours and implicit beliefs respondents might — intentionally or inadvertently — leave out of direct responses. Through this, we were able to unearth unarticulated needs and desires often present in the rest of the population which can unlock new opportunities for innovation. 📥 Download the Next Gen News report at https://lnkd.in/eSfS_Rv5 to learn more

☝️ Young consumers often serve as the forerunners of wider changes in society, with the adoption of generative AI being no exception - Ofcom found that 79% of online teenagers have used some form of generative AI. This article shares some of the key learnings and observations from our Next Gen News report and launch event, which explores the needs of young consumers today so that news publishers can better serve the news consumers of tomorrow. We looked at how generative AI can enable the creation of new formats, how it can alter the tone and language of news content, and its assistance in the news-gathering process. To find out more, read here: https://lnkd.in/eDyRZzTx

Join us for the first Digital Works Conference. After 7 years of Digital Works podcasts, newsletters and events, they are hosting their very first conference next week. The theme is "curiosity" and what that means in the context of digital work. FT Strategies Deputy Managing Director, Aled John will be speaking on an expert panel alongside an inspiring lineup of speakers sharing their thoughts and unique experiences. Digital Works Conference | 24-25 April: https://lnkd.in/erighNC7

🏁 This week marks the beginning of the first Digital Revenue Launchpad specifically focused on the central and eastern European market. Welcome to this cohort's participants: 24часа, Aktuality.sk, Digi24, Dnevnik d.d., The Kyiv Independent, Mediapool.bg, Tygodnik Powszechny and Publishing House Žurnāls SANTA. Over the next five months, these publishers will future-proof their businesses by running a series of experiments to identify their greatest areas of opportunities, craft an ambitious read revenue goal to unite their organisation and gain valuable learnings from industry experts to sustain progress after the programme. Learn more about our programmes with the Google News Initiative here: https://lnkd.in/eDycTFaf