Will Web 2.0 Give Birth to Journalism 2.0? World Editors Forum
Paris, 2 April 2008 - Reader participation, user-generated content and social networks are having an impact on journalism, and that impact
is likely to grow in the future.
But will Web 2.0 give birth to a new form of journalism? That question will be examined at the annual World Editors
Forum, to be held in Sweden from 1 to 4 June next.
The session on participatory journalism will discuss both the positives and negatives of ``sharing'' the news process
and how these two forms of collective intelligence the newsroom and the audience can better collaborate.
Confirmed speakers include Nikesh Arora, Vice President of European Operations for Google, Kathleen Carroll, Senior Vice
President and Executive Editor of The Associated Press, Bosse Svensson, General Director of MKT Media in Sweden, and
Pierre Bellanger, CEO and founder of Skyblogs and Skyrock in France, and other speakers to be announced. George Brock,
Editor of the Saturday Times and President of the WEF, will chair the session.
The World Editors Forum will be held concurrently with the World Newspaper Congress and Info Services Expo in Göteborg,
Sweden, from 1 to 4 June next.
More than 1,500 chief editors, publishers, CEOs, Managing Directors and other senior newspaper executives and their
guests are expected in Sweden for the events, the global meetings of the world's press.
Full details of the events, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and hosted by the Swedish Newspaper
Association, are available at http://www.wansweden2008.com.
Other World Editors Forum sessions include:
- Exclusive research on the new consumption model for news from The Associated Press, and the annual "Newsroom
Barometer" survey from WEF, Reuters and Zogby International that provides insight into newsroom strategies worldwide.
The opening session features Jim Kennedy, Vice President And Director of Strategic Planning for AP, Robbie Blinkoff,
Principal Anthropologist with Context Research in the United States, John Zogby, President of Zogby International, and
Monique Villa, Head of News for Reuters.
- Are integrated newsrooms really working? The session will look at the advantages and drawbacks of merging print and
online newsrooms. Speakers include Javier Moreno, Editor-in-Chief of El Pais in Spain, Bruno Patino, President of Le
Monde Interactif in France, Jim Roberts, Editor of Digital News for The New York Times, Almar Latour, Managing Editor of
the Wall Street Journal's wsj.com, and Lisbeth Knudsen, CEO of Det Berlingske Officin and Editor-in-Chief of Berlingske
Tidende in Denmark.
- Are mobile news and 'mojos' changing journalism? The session is dedicated to the opportunities of "small screen
journalism" which has yet to reach full potential but is seen as a growth area for the future. The session will include
Paul Cheesebrough, Chief Information Officer for Telegraph Media Group in the United Kingdom, Ilicco Ella, Product
Manager for Mobile & Emerging Media at Reuters, Rafat Ali, Editor-in-Chief of paidContent.org and MocoNews.net, Oscar Westlund, a Göteborg
University expert of mobile news, and other speakers to be announced.
- The hyper-local news model : a solution for print and online. This session will examine mapping, geotagging and local
search engines, which are changing the way services and news will be provided online. Speakers include Reetta
Merilaïnen, Editor-in-Chief of Helsingin Sanomat in Finland, Elin Olofsson, News Editor of Östersunds Posten in Sweden,
Jane Singer a professor at Lancashire Business School in the United Kingdom, and Steve Paulussen, a Senior Researcher at
Ghent University in Belgium.
- Digital media training for the new newsroom. The session will feature Chris Lloyd, Assistant Managing Editor of the
Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom, David Dunkley Gyimah, Senior Lecturer in Digital Journalism at the University of
Westminster in the United Kingdom, Werner Eggert, Editor in Chief of Tide in Germany, and Bertrand Pecquerie, Director
of the World Editors Forum.
- Weekends win over weekdays. This session will explore the opportunities to increase the loyalty of newspaper readers
through weekend editions, which in many countries are performing better than weekday editions in terms of circulation.
Speakers will include Edward Greenspon, Editor-in-Chief of Canada's Globe & Mail, Franck Denton, Vice-President for Journalism with Morris Communications in the United States, Erik Bjerager,
Editor in Chief of Kristeligt Dagblad in Denmark, and José-Manuel Fernandes, Editor-in-Chief of Publico in Portugal.
- 2007 - 2008 print and online launches. The session will feature Gianni Valenti, Deputy Editor of Gazzetta dello Sport
in Italy, Ignacio Escolar, Editor-in-Chief of Publico, Spain, Pierre Haski, Founder and Editor in Chief of Rue89.com in
France, Raju Nasiretti, Managing Editor of Mint in India, and Dominic Young, Director of Editorial Services,
Intellectual Property, for News International Ltd in the United Kingdom.
- Content Management Systems: what fits best in your integrated newsroom.
The session will feature chief editors explaining why they have chosen content management systems from Atex, Eidos
Media, E-Scenic, CCI or Polopoly. Speakers include Felix Soh, Supervising Editor At Singapore Press Holdings, Peter
Sijpersma, Editor in Chief of Dagblad van het Noorden in the Netherlands, Luc Petitfrère, Deputy Editor-in-chief of
Edipresse in Switzerland, Patrick Saliën, Manager of Nieuwsblad.be in Belgium, and Oliver Michalsky, Deputy
Editor-in-chief of Die Welt in Germany.
The WEF will also feature many other events, including daily breakfasts, cocktails and other opportunities to network
with editors from around the world. Full details at http://www.wansweden2008.com.
Sponsors for the events now include Volvo, Holmen Paper, SAS, Bonnier, the Stampen Group, Pricewaterhouse Coopers,
Tidningsutgivarna, V-Tab, Latte, VLT, RIA, StingPlay and Taxi Göteborg.
The Paris-based World Editors Forum (http://www.worldeditorsforum.org) is the organisation of the World Association of
Newspapers that represents editors-in-chief and other senior news executives. WAN, the global organisation for the
newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 76 national newspaper associations, newspapers
and newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
ENDS