RIND Survey Survey... · India. There is an interesting article on the WAN-IFRA website in this connection, written by War-ren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of The Straits Times and

A Journal of the Press Institute of India - Research Institute for Newspaper Development

October 2019 | Volume 40 | Issue 10 | Rs 50 www.pressinstitute.in

RIND Survey

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A CONFERENCE RAISES SPIRITS IN CHALLENGING TIMESWAN-IFRA India 2019, WAN-IFRA’s 27th annual conference in India, saw more than 340 news publishing executives from 25 countries discussing and tracing the transformation of the news media business. More than 25 suppliers from India and abroad participated in the foyer expo, displaying their products and services for the newspaper printing and publishing industry. The conference, co-sponsored by The Indian Newspaper Society, featured two parallel summits – the Advertising Summit and the Printing Summit. The ambience at the Leela Ambience Hotel in Gurugram, Haryana, seemed perfect for meeting up with friends and colleagues, exchanging views, and getting a feel of the print industry as it were. Pictures above offer a snapshot.

3October 2019 SurveyRIND

FROM THE EDITOR

Media freedom, media viability, innovation in newsrooms – key issues we confront

So, what did the WAN-IFRA India Conference in Gurugram have to tell us? I spoke with Magdoom

Mohamed, managing director, WAN-IFRA South Asia, and this is what he had to say: “The mood in the industry is at a low and the conference gave the much needed inspiration and confidence – that we can extend the life of the printed product, profit from it, while gearing up for the digital transformation. To me, personally, participation of 335 delegates was proof that there is still hope in this industry, and only if we take some course correction. Several case studies presented in the conference proved that the industry is well aware of it. Getting together to col-lectively discuss the industry challenges and learning from one another is the biggest takeaway the dele-gates had.” He added that the conference had given him and his team new for future programmes.

Although the mood may be slightly upbeat, there are indications that the print slump that hit Western and US shores years ago may have finally arrived in India. There is an interesting article on the WAN-IFRA website in this connection, written by War-ren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of The Straits Times and president of the World Editors Forum, stressing that credible content that audiences value and new sources of revenue are needed to sustain newsrooms. Fernandez was present at the Gurugram conference, and here are telling excerpts from his article:

Even as their counterparts elsewhere languished, Indian media houses were once busy launching new titles, snap-ping up journalists and boosting orders for newsprint, bucking global trends several years ago.Today, sadly, a pall appears to have settled over many of these newsrooms.“We need to change... we are playing catch-up now,”

one top Indian editor told me at a dinner on the sidelines of the WAN-IFRA India Conference. Lacklustre adver-tising during recent festive seasons has taken a toll on print advertising revenues, as circulations slide, he says. Like many others, he laments how copies of most papers are sold for a few rupees at news-stands, with prices held down by the industry’s market leaders’ strategy to main-tain their dominance.

Worse, hardly anyone charges for content online, while digital advertising is small and mostly soaked up by the technology giants, so there is scarcely any revenue com-ing in from online operations despite growing audiences.

The result: Newsrooms feeling starved of editorial resources and facing mounting commercial pressures from advertisers, sponsors as well as governments not averse to withholding advertising to focus editorial minds. Media credibility ends up being hit, even amid a growing proliferation of fake news all round. “Sooner or later, we are going to have to find a new revenue model,” added another editor, pointing to tentative talk of exper-imenting with paywalls at some publications, just as media organisations around the world have been doing in recent years.

These Indian anxieties are symptomatic of a global phe-nomenon, with the impact of disruption in the media industry coming lately to this country. Elsewhere, media leaders at similar events have long lamented the triple challenges facing the industry: growing threats to media freedom, the existential question of media viability and the pressing need for innovation in newsrooms. All three issues are now inextricably linked, equal sides of a tri-lemma that have to be tackled together. And clearly, any plan to ensure the survival and continued growth of the media entails a need for innovation and transformation, both on the editorial and business fronts.

A study on media viability published in May by the DW Akademie, a German media-related think-tank, draws a similar conclusion: “Media outlets are confronted with a sobering truth: They can no longer sustain themselves on advertising revenue alone.” Instead, they will have to have a range of revenues, spread across a variety of sources, to prevent over-reliance on any particular source of funds. “The financial constraints are affecting the over-all quality of journalism and the independence of journal-ists,” the report says.

We will feature Fernandez’s article in full in our next issue.

Sashi [email protected]

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Cover page images: WAN-IFRA

Print seen as thriving, but knowing your reader is key 6Neha Gupta on a WAN-IFRA India 2019 Conference session

‘Print still holds huge trust among readers, here to stay’ 8Elizabeth Shilpa on a WAN-IFRA India 2019 Conference session

The ‘lab’ – another fleeting trend in media innovation? 10Andrea Wagemans

Establishing a special identity 13Mrinal Chatterjee dwells on the history of Konkani Journalism

Industry Updates 18

General News 30

Events Calendar 37

October 2019 | Volume 40 | Issue 10SurveyRIND


WAN-IFRA INDIA 2019

Publishers, editors, journalists and executives working for news publishing houses gathered in Gurugram, Haryana, to discuss how to drive revenue and achieve excellence in challenging business times. Neha Gupta fi les this report

WAN-IFRA’s 27th Annual Conference in India, WAN-IFRA India 2019, saw a solid start with three keynote speeches –

by Lisa MacLeod, head of Digial Tiso Blackstar Group and vice-president of WAN-IFRA; War-ren Fernandez, editor-in-chief, The Strait Times & SPH’s English/ Malay/ Tamil Media Group; and Raj Jain, chief executive offi cer, Bennett, Coleman & Co.

MacLeod spoke about technology innovations and business transformation experiences in her organisation. “Tiso Blackstar has built its own content management system and has reduced the number of editions. We have trimmed down our print costs. Our reporting staff now starts early in the day to fi le reports for the web. Paid content is our primary focus and we have six operational paywalls.”

MacLeod mentioned that the data cost for mobile phones were about six times higher than that in Europe, and that South Africans spent more on communication than on health or edu-cation. “To serve this large chunk of our audi-ence who cannot afford data, we have created an app that does not need data to run. SA News

LIVE is powered by free content from all our newsrooms.”

Fernandez discussed extending the life of the printed product while gearing up for a digital-fi rst newsroom and the transformation. “We looked at global newsrooms but fi gured replication was not an option. We needed to understand our audience. We don’t like to call ourselves a digital-fi rst news-room; print and digital both play an important part for us,” he said.

Jain talked about the print business in India and how it was a fl ag-bearer of responsible journal-ism. “It doesn’t leave much room for sensational-ism and out-of-context reporting,” he said. In the past few years, while print had fought for survival globally, it had thrived in India, Jain pointed out, adding that print, however, also faced challenges.

“The habit of reading the newspaper in the morn-ing is being threatened by digital notifi cations and multimedia. Print has to be its own innovator and disrupter in the new world.”

The conference was preceded by a workshop on combating misinformation, conducted by Pratik Sinha, co-founder of Altnews. The two-day work-shop covered a host of tools to fi ght fake news

Print seen as thriving, but knowing your reader is key


such as video and image verifi cation, writing a convincing fact-check, search strategies for differ-ent platforms among others.

The two-day conference saw stimulating discus-sions on newspaper distribution, design thinking, revenue strategies, business transformation and strategic shifts in the Indian advertising landscape.

The conference featured a Women in News panel discussion. Women journalists discussed gender diversity and equality in Indian newsrooms. The panel had Neha Dixit, freelance journalist; Sand-hya Ravishankar, editor at The Lede; Ritu Sarin, editor, Investigations at Indian Express; and Kavita Devi, digital head at Khabar Lahariya.

The event concluded with a panel discussion by CEOs of leading news media organisations. The

panel, featuring Jayant Mammen Mathew, execu-tive director of Malayala Manorama; Pawan Agar-wal, deputy managing director, DB Corp; and Sanjay Gupta, editor & CEO, Jagran Prakashan; discussed the challenges and opportunities of print media.

After the conference, a visit to The Times of India printing plant in Manesar was organised for the delegates.

(The writer is a multimedia journalist with WAN-IFRA South Asia, Chennai. The article

appears on the WAN-IFRA website.)

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Lighting the traditional lamp to signal the start of the conference (l-r): Raj Jain, CEO, BCCL; Lisa Mac Leod, vice-president of WAN-IFRA & chief digital offi cer, Tiso Blackstar Group, South Africa; Warren Fernandez, editor-in chief, Straits Times; and, Magdoom Mohamed, managing director, WAN-IFRA South Asia.


“There’s a popular perception being created that newspapers are dying, but national brands are still being created on printed

newspapers,” said Varghese Chandy, vice-president of Marketing and Ad Sales, Malayala Manorama. Chandy was speaking during a panel discussion on ‘How to manage the challenge of advertising in print and enhance the pie’, conducted by WAN-IFRA South Asia at its 27th Annual India Confer-ence in Delhi.“We hear stories from across the globe of the drop

of print. But what’s happening in India? Between the last two IRS (India Readership Survey) stud-ies, around 16 million readers have been added for printed newspapers and 7.8 million have been added for magazines. We have to ensure that this is the narrative that is going around,” said Chandy, citing the example of Impex phone, a local brand that was helped by newspapers such as Malay-ala Manorama and Mathrubhumi to become a national brand through print ads.

The panel discussion was moderated by Suresh Balakrishna, chief revenue offi cer of The Hindu Group. Rejeev Beotra, CEO – HT English, HT Media; Sudha Natarajan, director – Response,

Bennet Coleman & Co; and Vipon Khatwani, senior VP, Jagran Prakashan, also took part in the discussion.“The more local we get, our relevance with

advertisers will only go up. We need to focus on being more hyper local. Digital is not there yet,” said Beotra. Agreeing with Chandy that print needed to have a very strong narrative for itself, Beotra pointed out that the community had work to do, but was still living on its laurels. According to him, creating strong communities and great content would be crucial, with tech-nology and analytics playing a big role in the coming days.

Natarajan of BCCL noted that there were sev-eral ways print could monetise clients and their requirements, and that it was important to have a diversifi ed portfolio during the journey. “We have the advantage of measurability, now digital also has that. Even today, when a consumer picks up the paper and sees the ad, there’s an impact. But instead of calling you, he searches about the prod-uct on the phone and moves on to buy it, so attri-bution goes to digital while print is the discovery medium,” said Natarajan.

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH WAN-IFRA

How to manage the challenge of advertising in print and enhance the pie was the subject of a panel discussion at WAN-IFRA South Asia’s 27th Annual India Conference which was held in Gurugram recently. Elizabeth Shilpa reports

‘Print still holds huge trust among readers, here to stay’


Khatwani spoke about how Jagran had started efforts to identify their positioning years ago.“We were trying to identify who are we to the

consumer. We (print) understand the clients of all sectors like auto or FMCG, and we understand them the best,” he said.

Suresh Balakrishna of the Hindu Group con-cluded the session pointing out that print still held huge trust among consumers. “Credibility has a premium and advertisers have to be thrilled to be

part of that environment. The way we are mar-keting and selling print to the advertiser, I think there’s a long way to go. Maybe revenue models will change, it will morph into something very dif-ferent. But print is here to stay.”

(The writer is a business analyst with WAN-IFRA South Asia, based in Chennai.)

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Suresh Balakrishna speaking at the panel discussion.

Madhukar Kamath elected ABC ChairmanMadhukar Kamath, chairman emeritus, DDB Mudra Group, was unanimously elected chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circula� ons (ABC) for 2019-2020 at the 71st annual general mee� ng of the body. Devendra V. Darda, represen� ng Lokmat Media, was elected deputy chairman.

Kamath has more than four decades of experience in adver� sing and marke� ng services and has spent over 25 years in erstwhile Mudra, now the DDB Mudra Group. He has also been the president of the Adver� sing Agencies Associa� on of India, chairman of the Adver� sing Standards Council of India, chairman of Mudra Founda� on and chairperson of the governing council of MICA.

Publishers representa� ves on the ABC Council for 2019-20 are:Devendra V. Darda, Lokmat Media; Hormusji N. Cama, The Bombay Samachar; Shailesh Gupta,

Jagran Prakashan; Chandan Majumdar, ABP; Raj Kumar Jain, Benne� , Coleman & Co; Pratap G. Pawar, Sakal Papers; Riyad Mathew, Malayala Manorama; and Praveen Someshwar, HT Media.


Two years ago, WAN-IFRA’s Global Alli-ance for Media Innovation started mapping the innovation labs that were emerging in

media companies. Collaborating in the research were the Media Innovation Studio at the Univer-sity of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in the UK and PUCRS in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Support was given by NxtMedia and the Stibo Accelerator.

The project set out to understand innovation and the organisational structures that exist at news publishers, other content producers, research insti-tutions, clusters, and technology providers.

Commenting on the mapping project, John Mills, lecturer and researcher at UCLan, said, “Media labs have emerged as a structure throughout the industry to catalyse innovation, and in their many guises they promise to be a rich area of research and allow us to understand how journalism may look in the coming years.”

Interviews with more than 45 laboratories around the world have provided detailed examples of their structures, the reasons behind their creation, the methods they use to innovate, their products and services, and stories of their successes and failures.

The project also sheds a slightly different light on the ‘kill the lab’ argument. The labs in our net-

work are fi nding solutions to both their own and the industry’s challenges. Re-inventing their work on a daily basis, they have adopted a ‘learning by doing’ mindset rather than executing a blueprint. As a result, the labs are constantly in development, bringing innovation into their organisations as they go along.

Developing products, processes – and skillsIn addition to product development, the labs in our network are developing skills, training their employees and changing the company’s processes, mindset and culture. As Gordon Edall of the Globe and Mail in Canada explains: “Increasingly… we really need people to come in tomorrow and do something different. And they need to do some-thing that’s more valuable than what they did.” Lab351 helps the Globe and Mail fi nd “a sustainable identity that carries us into the future,” Edall says.

As such, media innovation labs are not aimed solely at development of profi table products. They’re also about developing more fl exibility and the ability to improvise in uncertain situations, as Clemens Prerovski of the APA-medialab in Aus-tria discovered when trying to fi nd out what ‘smart home’ technology could mean for news: “Although

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH WAN-IFRA

Media innovation labs are under fi re in some front-running companies for not delivering the expected results, while other publishers dismiss the concept of a laboratory altogether. But two years of media innovation mapping reveal these structures as valuable tools that should accompany the media industry into the future, says Andrea Wagemans

The ‘lab’ – another fl eeting trend in media innovation?


Alexa failed all the time, the cool thing is that the ‘design sprint’ method allows you to accommodate the situation, even when things go really wrong. We were not stuck with the Google device. We were able to work around it and still do the sprint.”

Similarly, Chani Guyot of RED/ACCION in Argentina emphasises that even ‘failed’ experi-ments are useful as preparation for as-yet unknown future projects: “Like when you’re doing sports and suddenly discover you hurt in places you didn’t even know you had muscles,” he says.

Exploration at minimal riskAt the same time, a media innovation lab is gen-erally not a very high-risk investment. It could be a simple reallocation of resources. Nordjyske Startup opened up its extra offi ce space, existing expertise and network to startups, which bring new ideas, a fresh mindset, and different ways of working into the company. With its Adobe Kick-box process (see kickbox. adobe.com for details), Lab351 can explore 1000 ideas for $1000 each instead of spending $1 million on a single idea from top management.

Media innovation labs are not necessarily funded by their companies, other than paying the sala-ries of the people involved in the lab. Moreover, lab staff often are actively looking for funding to fi nance their projects. AFP Media Lab in France works together with funded research programs, the EPFL-ECAL Lab in Switzerland does com-missioned work for clients to cover 50 per cent of their costs, Germany’s dpa raises money to run the Next Media Accelerator, and France’s Sud Ouest and Roularta Media Group of Belgium have media-for-equity deals with their startups.

Beyond the labRather than ‘kill the lab’, participants in the Media Lab Days in Munich earlier this year proposed three possible scenarios ‘beyond the lab’:

The lab continues but with new functions,1. The lab dissolves but its functions are integrated 2. into the company, orThe lab opens up externally, seeking collabora-3. tion and open research.

Those expected transformations are continuations of, rather than replacements for, the lab – which may exist in a variety of forms and is not always confi ned to a physical space. At the Associated Press, for example, a networked lab suits the nature of the international press agency: “It’s almost like an innovation lab in the cloud. It doesn’t physi-cally exist, but you know you can go there and you have all of these online resources, the activi-ties, the talks, and the partnerships. So that’s how I would describe it – it’s an intangible innovation hub,” says Francesco Marconi, former manager of Corporate Strategy at AP Lab/AP Insights.

The many forms we’ve encountered during our research suggest that every media company devel-ops its lab in a way that best suits the specifi cs of its structure and strategy. Whatever the actual shape of the ‘media lab’, the concept serves across the line to make innovation concrete, and give it a place in the organisation and its strategy.

Judging the lab on its meritsIt might help to go back to why the labs were cre-ated in the fi rst place, and why the lab structure was thought to be most suitable. If media labs are judged according to unfair or unfi t criteria, and quick fi xes and profi ts are expected from them, they may indeed prove to be just another fl eeting trend in media innovation.

However, if we appreciate media labs for what they are – spaces dedicated to perpetual experi-mentation, changing the company culture and employee development – they might prove valu-able tools to sustainably accompany the media industry into the future where adaptability and resilience are not just nice-to-have but must-have qualities.

(Discover the growing database of media innovation labs around the globe at media-

innovation.news/media-labs. The writer is project coordinator, Global Alliance for Media Innovation.

This article had appeared in the WAN-IFRA Technical Directory.)


HISTORY OF KONKANI JOURNALISM

Establishing a special identity

Konkani is spoken mostly in the state of Goa and also by people of Goan origin in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and in other parts of India. Though 2nd Century inscriptions in Konkani have been found as well as references to the language in texts as old as the 13th Century, Konkani got added to the list of national languages only in August, 1992. It became the official language of Goa after prolonged agitation in 1987. Mrinal Chatterjee has more

The slow growth and late recognition of Konkani has much to do with the history of Goa, which was under Portuguese rule till 1961. Portuguese was thus the official language and it was spo-

ken widely. So was English. Because of its proximity and dependence on Maharashtra (the size of Goa is just about an average district in other states), Marathi was fairly well spread. So, Konkani could not develop its individual identity.

The Portuguese rulers deliberately tried to impede the development of the local language and literature. Absence of a separate script for Konkani also hindered its development. Konkani used to be written (still is) in several scripts including Roman, Malayalam, Kannada and Perso-Arabic. However, since 1987, Devanagari has been taken as the official script.

Though the first printing press in India was established in Goa in 1557, the first publication from Goa titled Gazeta de Goa in Portu-guese was published in 1821. The earliest Konkani journal was not born in Goa as one would expect. It was published from Poona in Maharashtra in 1889 and was christened Udentechem Sallok. It was bilingual, published in Konkani and Portuguese languages. Its editor was Edward Bruno DSouza. It started as a monthly and then became a weekly. It closed down after five years. In 1895 came O Liberal, the journal of Aleixo Casimiro Lobo in Portuguese, English and Konkani. It was the first journal out of Goa to accord any space to Konkani.

Several Konkani newspapers and periodicals have been published in Goa in different scripts.Vauraddeancho Ixtt (Workers’ Friend), a weekly magazine in Roman script was published in 1933. It is pub-lished till date. In 1907, B.F. Cabral started in Mumbai a daily newspa-

(The author, a journalist-turned-media academician, presently heads the Eastern India campus of the Indian

Institute of Mass Communication located in Dhenkanal, Odisha.

This article is part of a series on the history of regional

language journalism in India.)

Mrinal Chatterjee


per in Konkani titled Sanjechem Noketra. In 1908, Honarato and F.X. Furtado started O Goano. With the publication of the monthly, Dor , in 1914 in Kara-chi by Father Ludovico Pereira, a new era began in Konkani Jour-nalism. This monthly was later on edited by Father Moreno de Souza.

With the liberation of Goa a new era dawned in Konkani Journalism. Felicio Cardozo came out with his weekly Goy-cho Sad in Roman script. Jagdish Vagh, Amrut Kansar Manoharrai Sardesai, A N Mhambro, Suhas Dalal, Gurunath Kelekar, Yesh-want Palekar, Chandrakant Keni, Suresh Kakodkar, Hema Naik and Datta S. Naik came out with periodicals. Zag by Ravindra Kelekar is one of the best maga-zines still published monthly.

A great event in the intellectual life of Konkani speakers was the establishment of the daily, Rash-

tramat in 1963. Though it was a Marathi daily it carried a supple-ment in Konkani every Sunday titled Somar and prominent writ-ers contributed to it. The publi-cation of Sunaparant, a Konkani daily in Devanagari script in 1987 is an important milestone for Konkani Journalism. Goa has had several English language publications, which include: O Heraldo (The Herald), Goa’s old-est newspaper, formerly a Portu-guese language daily owned by Fernandes Publications, a local printing enterprise that grew out of a stationery shop, The Navhind Times, published by the mining house of the Dempos since 1963; and the Gomantak Times, which changed hands from its earlier owners from the mining house of the Chowgules to the politically linked Pawar family, based in the neighbouring state of Maha-rashtra. In addition, The Times of India and The Indian Express are

also distributed to urban areas from nearby Bombay and Ban-galore. A Goan edition of The Times of India started publication in June 2008.

The lone English monthly is Goa Today, edited by Vinayak Naik. Other English publica-tions include The Goan, Goa Mes-senger and Goan Observer.

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Entrance to Konkani section of the Golden Heart Emporium, Margao, Goa (left), and modern day Goan Konkani in Devanagari.

OUR JOURNALS

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EXTRACT FROM KODAK CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSBILITY REPORT




Industry updates

Manugraph ties up with Seiken for 4x1 pressManugraph has tied up with Seiken Graphics Inc, Japan, to manufacture a highly advanced double-width, single circumference press at Manugraph’s facility in Kolhapur. The new double width press will be manufactured under a technical collabo-ration between Manugraph and Seiken, having a single circumference for both plate and blanket cylinder, as well as a host of highly improved fea-tures, together with the latest and most advanced technology on offer, from both companies.

The press will run at a speed of 75000 cph, pro-viding great versatility for customers with higher print runs. Offering Japanese technology at Manu-graph’s existing 4x1 press price level, it also comes with plenty of other benefits, such as a reduction

in the cost of consumables, which is a win-win for Indian consumers.

Additionally, customers do not require to import 4x1 technology, as the new tie-up will provide great cost effectiveness, by way of an immense saving on foreign exchange, no expense on duty or shipping, easily available spare parts, and prompt and faster after sales service.

Seiken Graphics has earned the industry’s trust with installations of their presses in Japan and around the world. The company has a manufac-turing philosophy that promotes consistency and high quality. Combined with Manugraph’s con-tinuous innovation and advanced technology it is expected to make a great impact in the Indian market.

Moreover, the Manugraph-Seiken collaboration has come at the right time, with India having the largest circulation of newspapers in the world and still growing, it is expected to see a major demand in the double-width newspaper segment having larger print runs.

Bartaman invests in Ferag mailroom technology Ferag has successfully won over another Indian customer for its mailroom technology: Bartaman, based in Kolkata. This newspaper publisher’s newly built and fully re-equipped printing plant is now operating with the HPC High Performance Conveyor, HPS High Performance Stacker and JobStrap modules.

Bartaman Patrika is a publication founded as recently as 1984, and which has now become the second-largest daily newspaper in West Bengal. It is published in Bengali, appears in five different regional editions, and has a circulation totalling more than 670000 copies (2017). There are five printing sites: Kolkata, Malda, Midnapore, Burd-wan and Siliguri.

Regional daily newspapers in the various Indian languages (Bengali but also Hindi, Urdu, Tamil

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Shaking hands to signal the beginning of a new partnership.


Industry Updates

and Sanskrit) are a flourishing and highly dynamic market segment that has seen annual growth aver-aging eight per cent in recent years: nine out of India’s ten largest dailies are regional newspapers. The country’s size and occasionally difficult logis-tics circumstances give rise to numerous newspa-per printing plants producing regional editions mainly on smaller, Asian-built presses.

In 2018, Bartaman decided on major investment in a new Kolkata printing plant. Capital was ploughed into technology from European manu-facturers. In printing, for example, that came in the form of a Manroland Cromoman 4-1 news-paper press with three towers for printing up to 24 pages each. This is the fourth such machine to arrive in India and is adapted to regional condi-tions: designed to stand on a ground floor so it will fit inside existing production premises, tol-erant of fluctuating power supply voltage, and

capable of handling the newsprint paper available in India.

Likewise adapted to the special requirements of Indian customers is the mailroom system from Ferag, a supplier newly chosen by Bartaman to equip its Kolkata operation. The scope of supply included:

two High Performance Stacker stack turners –two JobStrap N-RT strapping units with AVT –SA03 foil wrapping machinesa 63-metre-long HPC paced conveyor line for –linking the transfer station at the press output, the two stack turners and a separate outfeed station

Concerning reasons for the successful West Bengal publishing house choosing Ferag technology for the first time, Bartaman’s director Abhijit Bhat-tacharya says: “The selection criteria for mailroom

Bartaman relies on Ferag’s HPC High Performance Conveyor, HPS High Performance Stacker and JobStrap modules in the newly built and completely re-equipped printing plant in Kolkata.


Industry Updates

technology included the suppliers’ production operations, their hardware and software technical solutions, and the services on offer both during and after installation.” After visiting several Ferag users and on account of feedback received, the Ferag mailroom system could be seen as superior to all the other systems available.

Abhijit Bhattacharya continues: “The entire purchasing process was most satisfactory, from the quotation to the technology being delivered at the installation site. Every aspect was handled very professionally, with clear communication of all the pre-installation requirements to be fulfi lled. The installation itself then went ahead perfectly and within the specifi ed time frame.”

After just a few months under construction, the new printing plant began operating in May this year. Adds Bhattacharya: “Output is excellent. All in all, we see it as total endorsement of our deci-sion to invest in this system.”

Ferag AG, with its headquarters at Hinwil in Switzerland, has for over 60 years been known in the printing industry for high quality, absolute dependability and perfect customer support. The traditional, family-owned company is seen as the undisputed market and technological leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of post-press processing and direct mailing systems. Ferag is also a specialist in innovative conveyor and processing technology for the most varied indus-trial applications and goods distribution systems. Through its worldwide sales organisation, the company is active in more than 20 countries with its own sales and service companies or agencies.

ppi Media has new contact for Indian market

ppi Media is one of the world’s leading manufactur-ers of publishing solutions. It serves publishers and media groups throughout India, including companies like Jagran Prakashan, the ABP Group and Bennett, Coleman

& Co. On October 1, internationally experienced publishing expert Matthias Fischer will become the new local contact for all ppi Media publishing solutions.

Fischer has 20 years of experience as an expert in publishing and editorial solutions. “I’m really looking forward to my new role. I see myself as a partner for existing and potential customers. India is a very important market for ppi Media. I’ll be working with our country manager, Hemant Kumar, to help our customers develop their posi-tion as forward-thinking media Companies,” says Fischer.“Matthias Fischer is one of the most experienced

experts I know for publishing solutions and the Asian media landscape. He’s the perfect contact for our customers in India,” says Hauke Berndt, managing director and CEO of ppi Media.

ppi Media develops highly effi cient solutions and services for media companies. The software house, which is managed by its owners, was founded in 1984 and has since become the leading workfl ow specialist for automated newspaper production. Eighty per cent of all daily newspapers in the Ger-man market are produced using products devel-oped by ppi Media. Media companies in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US use the company’s solu-tions in their daily work for the planning, produc-tion and editorial workfl ows of digital and print products. ppi Media also guides companies seeking innovation through their digital transformation process. ppi Media’s portfolio includes the agile development of digital solutions using modern Design Thinking methods and the provision of innovation advice throughout the different stages of a company’s change process.

QIPC support for Persgroep PrintingIn the footsteps of the Amsterdam branch, the print shop of Persgroep Printing in Best will also have access to the measurement and control sys-tems of QI Press Controls - Engineering Auto-mation Electronics (QIPC-EAE). The 3 WIFAG Evolution OF 375S presses at the print shop in Matthias Fischer.


Industry Updates

the southeast of the Netherlands, near Eindhoven, will receive a full retrofit thanks to the perfor-mance package.

De Persgroep is known for its high quality stan-dards, not only for its journalistic productions, but also for the way in which they are printed. There-fore, the print shop has an important role within the media company. “Our policy is to always have the latest version of both hardware and software,” says Arjen Witlox, director of Persgroep Printing in Best.

This is one of the reasons why a complete retro-fit of the control and registration system has been chosen. The QIPC-EAE Performance Package combines the innovative measurement and con-trol systems of QIPC with the control systems of EAE. “To avoid problems in the future, we had to modernise the register control system. When we decided to switch to QIPC for our registry control, it gave us a reason to simultaneously upgrade our already existing EAE operating systems” says Arjen Witlox. “For the newspaper market, there is no real alternative to what QIPC-EAE has to offer.”

The safety argument is not the only reason to go for the performance package. The mRC-3D cut control system, IDS-3D colour and register con-

trol system and the upgrade to Desk 7 including Tablet 7, also results in more efficiency and waste savings. Moreover, it should result in higher and more consistent print quality. “In addition, we hope that the measurement data

from QIPC-EAE’s systems enables us to make better analysis of our machines and raw materi-als,” says Witlox. “This will allow us to control our maintenance process in a more state oriented way.”

De Persgroep looks forward to the installation of the systems with confidence. The cooperation between QIPC-EAE and De Persgroep in Amster-dam is full of confidence as well. “The experiences in Amsterdam were absolutely important in mak-ing this decision,” concludes Arjen Witlox. “We now know what to expect which is great.” At QIPC-EAE, head of sales Erwin van Rossem is equally enthusiastic: “We are proud that such an important player in the media landscape wants to intensify the cooperation. It is a compliment to our already existing cooperation.”

Mindener Tageblatt opts for ppi Media solutionsIn future, the Mindener Tageblatt newspaper will be relying on CTP output control and planning, page assembly and ad pagination solutions from ppi Media. The change is taking place in the con-text of involvement in a publishing group with the Neue Westfälische and Lippische Landes-Zeitung newspapers, which have been using planning and production modules from ppi Media for years already.

The Mindener Tageblatt is cooperating with the daily newspapers Neue Westfälische and Lippische Landes-Zeitung and will use the IT infrastructure for planning and production of the publishing group in future. The Mindener Tageblatt is thus also counting on the output management OM and planning solution PlanPag from ppi Media.

In addition, the software components ProPag for page assembly, AdPag for ad pagination and OM Portal for online customer access will be used for transfer of print orders at the Mindener Tageblatt. The objective is to optimise the production work-

L-r: Marcel Wollgramm (head of Sales – EAE), Coré Ertürk (manager projects – QIPC), Erwin van Rossem (head of Sales – QIPC-EAE), Berry Vrijhoef (project manager – Persgroep), Rini Bogers (IT specialist – Persgroep), Mike Menkhorst (assistant production manager – Persgroep), Arjen Witlox (director – Persgroep), Bert van den Merkhof (press manager NL – Persgroep), Steven Heijstek (product specialist – QIPC) and Rob Kuipers (mechanic – Persgroep).


Industry Updates

fl ows of the popular regional daily newspaper and make synergies possible between the publishing houses. “We are delighted to be able to optimise our production processes through the publishing group and the related change to planning and pro-duction solutions from ppi Media,” explains Pub-lishing Manager Carsten Lohmann.

The IT service provider Media IT-Partner, already responsible for the management of pub-lishing systems within the publishing group, will be in charge of managing the change to publishing solutions from ppi Media. The project has already started and will be implemented gradually by the end of the year.

Two Commanders moved successfullyIsrael’s largest media company, Yedioth Ahronoth Group, has been a customer of Koenig & Bauer for nearly three decades. Their successful partner-ship is now reinforced and continued in the long run by moving two Commander machines.

The two systems were moved from the north of Israel into the main print shop in Rishon-le-Zion, a suburb of Tel Aviv. “The move was prepared and organised outstandingly. It was executed in a highly professional manner and with impressive results. We are greatly satisfi ed with our colleagues at Koenig & Bauer – as we have been for 30 years already,” says Inon Engel, CEO of Yedioth Ahro-noth Group.

Five Commander presses by Koenig & Bauer are now standing in the main print shop. The two Commander sections that were moved comprise six reelstands and six H-build printing towers with web widths of up to 1520 mm. The systems are equipped with a Patras reel supply, six Pasto-star RC reelstands and two KF5 folders.

Says Jochen Schwab, head of service for proj-ects and contract management at Koenig & Bauer Digital & Webfed: “The project went perfectly smoothly. The great communication and plan-ning on both sides made for a smooth process right on schedule. After all, we moved close to 1000 tons.”

Before disassembly commenced, reference prints were made together and kept. The acceptance tests after commissioning proved at least comparably good printing and folding, confi rming the quality of the assembly and commissioning work.

Yedioth Ahronoth Group was founded 80 years ago. The daily newspaper Jedi´ot Acharonot is the fl agship of Yedioth Ahronoth Group, which is majority-owned by the Mozes family. The group publishes a daily newspaper, local newspapers, magazines and has a digital activity (Ynet).

Nazdar releases new solvent inkjet ink Nazdar Ink Technologies has announced the launch of the new 184v2 Series solvent inkjet inks.

Successful move and commissioning of the Commander systems.


Industry Updates

Initially available in EMEA, the new inks have been designed specifically for use in Mimaki digi-tal printers using Mimaki BS4 ink.

The new improved 184v2 Series ink formula-tions deliver an exceptionally close colour match, improved jetting stability at high print speeds, and a faster drying time than their predecessors. Like all Nazdar’s high quality alternative ink solutions, they offer comparable or improved performance than OEM inks, at a lower price point.

The 184v2 Series’s plug-and-play capabilities allow users of Mimaki printers running BS4 inks to change to Nazdar 184v2 Series ink without the need to flush. Due to the complete chemi-cal and colour compatibility of the two ink sets, OEM pouches can be replaced with Naz-dar 184v2 Series pouches as they run out, rather than all colours at the initial install. This saves both time and money as there is no need to per-form wasteful ink fill procedures or dispose of unused ink.

Stephen Woodall, Global Segment Manager - Aqueous & Solvent Digital at Nazdar Ink Tech-nologies, says: “The 184v2 Series inks offer outstanding performance with excellent colour fade and chemical resistance to UV degradation and environmental pollution. Suitable for use on a wide variety of substrates including self-adhesive, flexible and pressure-sensitive vinyl, banner material, blue back paper and backed mesh, the inks are a great addition to the Naz-dar range.”

The low-odour 184v2 Series inks are available in 600ml and 2000ml bags, compatible with MBIS.

Xerox EMEA to distribute Color-Logic system Effective immediately, the Color-Logic Process Metallic Color System will be sold by Xerox oper-ating in EMEA as an option with the Xerox Iri-desse press – the only digital press that can print metallic gold, metallic silver, white, and clear dry inks, as well as conventional CMYK.

Color-Logic is a commercially available colour communication system providing 250 metal-lic colours when using CMYK with silver ink or CMYK with white ink on metallic substrate. Color-Logic also enables graphic designers to pro-duce a broad variety of embellishments when using the Xerox Iridesse press. With the Color-Logic software, licensed Xerox EMEA printers can pro-vide their internal designers--or outside designers, agencies, or corporate clients--with the tools, edu-cation, and training necessary to fully utilise the metallic capability of the Iridesse press.“Unfortunately, graphic designers rarely receive

formal training in metallics, but the Color-Logic software enables them to fully utilize the Xerox Iridesse to produce outstanding metallics,” said Mark Geeves, Color-Logic director of Sales and Marketing, discussing the distribution agree-ment. “The Color-Logic motto is All Print Starts with Design, and our focus is to provide designers,

The Nazdar 184v2 series.

Color-Logic Swatchbook and brochures printed on the Xerox Iridesse press.


Industry Updates

agencies, prepress personnel, and brands with the necessary tools to fully utilise platforms like the Xerox Iridesse press. Used together, the Iridesse Press and the Color-Logic Design Suite (Adobe palettes and plugins) produce outstanding metallic special effects and embellishments.”

Xerox Corporation is a technology leader focused on “the intersection of digital and physical”. The company uses automation and next-generation personalisation to redefine productivity, drive growth and make the world more secure. Every day, Xerox innovative technologies and intel-ligent work solutions help people communicate and work better.

An ‘immersive experience’ at Printing UnitedPrinting United 2019 will feature an immersive experience for visitors, packed with applications using Drytac products, while experts from the self-adhesive materials brand will also present an ‘unmissable’ educational session.

Printing United is the new trade show from the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), taking place in Dallas, TX from October 23rd to 25th. A major draw for visitors will be The Expe-rience Zone, an inspirational and immersive show-case of printing applications and their potential environments – such as packaging, retail signage

and hospitality graphics. Drytac floor graphics media will cover the entirety of the floor in The Experience Zone.

Drytac materials will also be on show at the brand’s freshly designed booth (6224), including the five products to have won awards at the SGIA 2019 Product of the Year competition. A panel of judges representing the printing industry declared protac Anti-Scratch Gloss 10 mil, Polar Chrome, ReTac Textures, ViziPrint Illuminate and Viz-iPrint Deco SR to be the best in their categories in the prestigious annual contest. An awards cer-emony will be held before Printing United, on October 22nd.

Shaun Holdom, global product manager at Drytac, and Dennis Leblanc, Eastern and Central Canadian territory manager, will be presenting an educational session on Adhesives for Retail Graphics on the first day of Printing United. The

Color-Logic Swatchbook printed on the Xerox Iridesse press.

The Drytac flier for Printing United 2019.


Industry Updates

presentation will be packed with practical infor-mation on the diverse types of adhesives available, the products best suited to specifi c applications, and how installation costs should be a key part of any retail visual graphics project. Adhesives for Retail Graphics is scheduled for Wednesday Octo-ber 23rd at 11am (Room C140).

Drytac is partnering with several print technol-ogy manufacturers and distributors who are also exhibiting at Printing United, allowing visitors to see Drytac products in use across the show fl oor (Booth 6224). This will demonstrate the compat-ibility of Drytac ranges, including ViziPrint, Spo-tOn, ReTac and Polar - with a variety of different printing technologies and applications. Regular updates will be posted on Drytac’s social media platforms prior to and during Printing United.

Baldwin to launch PureFiltration ECM CompactBaldwin Technology Company Inc, a world-leading provider of technologies that improve the fi nancial and environmental performance of pro-duction processes, has announced its presence at the Deburring Expo 2019 in Karlsruhe, October 8 – 10 (Hall 1, Booth 418) to present its new Pure-Filtration ECM Compact.

To meet the market demand for high quality and effi cient fi ltration systems for smaller ECM machine applications, Baldwin has developed the new PureFiltration ECM Compact Sys-tem, which ensures 100 per cent constant clean electrolyte. Due to improved process effi ciency and surface quality of the components as well as reduced electrolyte loss, the PureFiltration ECM Compact increases the production capacity sustainably.“We look forward to showcasing our innovative

PureFiltration ECM Compact at the Deburring Expo, 2019, and raising awareness of our technol-ogy to the industry. Our PureFiltration systems have proven themselves in industries such as metal and toolmaking. This is the opportunity to expe-rience an innovation that improves both process and product quality, saving time and valuable

resources, and contributing to a sustainable future, “said Roberto Garcia, Baldwin Technology’s New Markets Sales.

The PureFiltration ECM is designed for high-precision ECM machining processes where a very clean electrolyte (<0.1 micron) is essential. Tradi-tional fi ltration methods (fi lter presses) no longer meet today’s high demands on surface quality and environmental aspects. The PureFiltration ECM concept is based on ultrafi ltration technology, which ultimately makes the entire manufacturing process and production capacity more effi cient while protecting the environment.

Baldwin’s PureFiltration ECM Compact system with self-cleaning fi lters increases the fl uids’ life cycle process, minimises chemical waste and lowers the operating costs.


Industry Updates

All Baldwin PureFiltration ECM systems are self-cleaning, fully automatic filtration systems that require no manpower and minimal maintenance. The pollution-grade cleaning cycles are short and do not require interruption of the ECM process, which significantly increases the efficiency of the process.

The PureFiltration ECM system is recommended for all industries where the overall performance of ECM processes can be improved. Baldwin offers its PureFiltration ECM in a compact size for small ECM machines as well as for high performance ECM machines as a single filtration system or cen-tralized filtration unit for multiple ECM machines.

Drytac picks up five awards at SGIA 2019 Drytac has been recognised for its adhesive mate-rial innovations in an incredible five categories at the SGIA 2019 Product of the Year competi-tion, bettering last year’s win of two awards. The awards have been announced ahead of Print-ing United, the newest event from the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) stable. An awards ceremony will be held ahead of the show, on October 22nd.

Drytac came top in the Laminates, Adhesives, Films, Coatings category for its Protac Anti-Scratch Gloss 10 mil (250μ), a clear PET lami-nating film with a scratch-resistant hard coat and high-gloss finish, which is coated on one side with Drytac’s clear-as-glass pressure-sensitive adhesive. It is also available in a 4 mil (100μ) version.

In the Media - Adhesive Back (Not Vinyl) group, Drytac received the SGIA nod for its exceptional Polar Chrome product, a silver satin reflective PET film designed for eye-catching indoor and short-term outdoor displays and signage. It is also ideal for ultra-reflective and durable labels and stickers - as proven by an epic cross-country motorcycle trip undertaken by Drytac’s Jerry Hill earlier this year.

Drytac ReTac Textures picked up the SGIA trophy for Media - Adhesive Back Vinyl, in rec-

ognition of its ability to add depth and visual appeal to flat images thanks to its embossed tex-tured finish, with ReTac ultra-removable adhe-sive backing for easy removal and repositioning - making it the perfect option for high-impact wall graphics.

ViziPrint Illuminate, a translucent matte PET film designed specifically by Drytac for incred-ible window graphics and decals, won the Media - Films prize, while SGIA honoured ViziPrint Deco SR in the Media - Non-PVC category. Like Illuminate, this window film has been developed for stunning graphics on glass and other smooth surfaces, with extra staying power.

The SGIA 2019 Product of the Year awards were decided by a panel of judges representing the whole printing industry, who evaluated over 200 entries in 72 categories.

APTech, Caslon agree on transfer of content assetsThe Association for Print Technologies (APTech) and Caslon announced today that APTech will receive all of the content assets from PODi. APTech will be determine a path forward after a thorough review of what has been transferred. Caslon has provided management of PODi since 1996.

The Drytac awards.


Industry Updates

APTech has been in the process of transform-ing into an organisation that is focused on the future of print and serving and supporting those who print. The decision to take on the manage-ment of the PODi assets is strategic in nature to support the print community. “We want to thank PODi leadership for the signifi cant contributions of relevant industry content that they have devel-oped and made available for almost 25 years,” says Thayer Long, president, APTech. “This research helped transform the industry and bring about the digital age.”

APTech leadership is currently reviewing the inventory of content to determine the best path forward to effectively provide the existing research to the print community.“We appreciate APTech taking on responsibility

and management of the PODi portfolio of assets,” says Dave Erlandson, general manager, Caslon.

“This transfer will benefi t everyone as the content will remain accessible going into the future.”

The Association for Print Technologies pro-vides a forum to inspire the development of new and valuable print products. We educate, provide market research, and foster collaboration between those who create and those who imagine. We are the industry association entirely focused on the future of print. Our members are the creative minds that love to innovate, and the leaders who stand ready to create the future. We exist to facili-tate the evolution of physical experiences in our increasingly digital world.

Color-Logic solutions benefi t graphic designersThe latest Color-Logic case study, which details how Adoih Design of Green Bay, Wisconsin, uti-lises the Color-Logic Process Metallic Color Sys-tem software when preparing metallic image fi les, is available by request from the company and may be downloaded from the Color-Logic website.

In the case study, Adoih Design principal Sara Hoida says: “I still have my X-Acto knife, but I’m not crazy about using it to make masks, particu-

larly since I realised how Color-Logic enables me to execute the complex masks necessary for many metallic designs in seconds with just a mouse click or two.”

Commenting on the case study, Color-Logic Director of Sales and Marketing Mark Geeves said:

“Sara Hoida’s experience is an excellent example of how Color-Logic benefi ts graphic designers, saving them untold hours of tedious work when producing the fl awless masks required for metallic images. The Color-Logic Process Metallic Color System is now available from printers in 55 coun-tries around the world.”

Color-Logic develops colour communication systems and software tool sets for a variety of special effect printing applications. Color-Logic provides brand owners, product managers, corpo-rations, and their advertising agencies the ability to differentiate themselves and their clients with a simple print production process that yields dra-matic results. Color-Logic decorative effects utilise the existing workfl ows of printers and designers, yielding dynamic results without the use of spe-cial equipment. Color-Logic supports the value of print and works with designers and printers to enhance their printed media.

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State of Newsrooms in South Asia Report outState of Newsrooms in South Asia, the first com-prehensive study by the South Asia Chapter of WAN-IFRA World Editors Forum on the issues faced by newsrooms in the South Asia Region, indicates that newsrooms today are being plagued by a lack of editors, including multimedia editors.

A survey of key editors and journalists across newsrooms in South Asia, whose results formed the basis of the report, was conducted in early 2019. The respondents were chosen from more than 35 large and small newsrooms – both print and digi-tal, operating in various South Asian languages.

The report found the following as the most pressing issues, in this order:

Shortage of editors (including multimedia • editors)Need for upgrading editing skills• Shortage of reporters and reporting resources• Lack of technology in the newsroom• Breaking news 24x7•

Key findings:

Most prefer to break the news first on the • ‘web’ or digital media. But there is also a strong preference for the print media as a vehicle for some stories – rare interviews, features, investigative stories, analyses and the like.Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and • Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) have become an important part of the news ecosystem and more than 80 per cent of the publishers who participated in the study said they used them to disseminate news to a wider audience. That said newsrooms still experience some amount of discomfort while using digital platforms to disseminate news, given that the issue of ownership vs reach of the content remains in question.Fake news is a major concern in the newsroom. • Almost all publishers make some effort to

control it. Many newsrooms have formed separate desks for verifying news, and some have tied up with external fact-checkers. While online and agency sources have become • common in the digital news reporting eco-system, most newsrooms which participated in the study lay great emphasis on ground reporting.While about 40 per cent of newsroom • staff are women, the number of women in senior executive roles is very low. However, newsrooms claim they plan to add more women over the coming years.Almost all respondents said they trained • journalist staff regularly, either internally or by registering them for external courses. But only one-third mentioned that they train their journalists in multimedia skills.Over 75 per cent of the respondents said they • used a content management system. And almost half said they planned to have a new content management system in the coming year.

The report also presented the ideas being followed to improve productivity in newsrooms.

Commenting on the report, Mukund Pad-manabhan, chairman of World Editors Forum - South Asia Chapter said: “The report, the first of its kind in the region, provides a comprehensive look from the inside into how news operations are carried out in the region. It finds, perhaps not entirely unsurprisingly, that a shortage of edi-torial staff with multimedia skills is a new and important challenge that newsrooms are news-rooms are grappling with. Apart from flagging the kind of problems and concerns that editors have about today’s newsroom, it provides a glimpse into what lies in store in the future. The report is a must-read for everyone in the newsroom.”“The report addresses the long felt need for a

report on newsroom operations in the region. The findings of the report would help to focus the industry attention to the pressing issues and look for collaborative solutions. World Editors Forum South Asia Chapter is pleased to publish this


Other News

report and will come up with other programmes to address the pressing issues,” said Magdoom Mohamed, managing director of WAN-IFRA South Asia.

The Hindu joins BBC, others in fight against fake newsThe Hindu is partnering with the BBC and other leading global news and technology organisations in a new industry collaboration to tackle disin-formation. The collaboration was announced by the BBC and the partners recently. Under the col-laboration, news and technology majors will work together to protect their audiences and users from disinformation, particularly around crucial events such as elections.

Earlier this year, the BBC convened a Trusted News Summit, bringing together senior figures from major global technology firms and pub-lishing. It was precipitated by events such as the Indian elections, which highlighted the dangers of disinformation and underlined the importance of working together.

The summit agreed to work collectively on vari-ous initiatives, including creating systems where organisations can warn each other quickly when they discover disinformation that threatens human life or disrupts elections. The emphasis of the ‘early warning system’ will be on moving quickly and collectively to undermine disinforma-tion before it can take hold.

The summit also agreed to work towards a joint online media education campaign, and also to co-operate on election-related information such as explaining how and where to vote.“Disinformation and so-called fake news is a

threat to us all. At its worst, it can present a seri-ous threat to democracy and even to people’s lives. This summit has shown a determination to take collective action to fight this problem and we have agreed some crucial steps towards this,” said Tony Hall, director-general of the BBC and president, European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The BBC’s partners who attended the summit were the EBU, Facebook, Financial Times, First Draft, Google, The Hindu, and the Wall Street Journal. Other partners were AFP, CBC/Radio-Canada, Microsoft, Reuters, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and Twitter.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)

Print Innovation Awards winners announcedThe World Printers Forum, the print commu-nity of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), has announced the winners of the Print Innovation Awards 2019. The prize for innovations of newspapers and mag-azines will be presented on the first exhibition day of the IFRA World Publishing Expo, on 8th October in Berlin.

The Print Innovation Awards competition honours the most innovative print products and services worldwide. The competition is open to newspaper and magazine publishers as well as advertisers or advertising agencies.

Because innovation in the publishing industry is not confined to digital, the World Printers Forum has launched the Print Innovation Awards last year, to reward excellence in print innovation.

For its second edition, 61 projects from 23 countries participated in the competition. The jury, composed of World Printers Forum Board members, evaluated the entries and awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes in seven categories.

Judges score each entry based on the outlined criteria. All jury scores were combined to cre-ate an overall score for each entry. The highest scoring entries determined the category winners. Judging Criteria were: Innovation, Creativity, Excellence, Customer/Consumer Relevancy and Value.

Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be hon-oured on stage at the Berlin Publishing Night of the IFRA Expo in Berlin.


Other News

The winners of the Print Innovation Awards 2019 are:


Other News

Delhi to host INMA South Asia Media FestivalINMA has announced the 13th INMA South Asia Media Festival from November 18 to 22 in New Delhi at The Imperial. This year’s theme is ‘What matters most now: How to win in a world of dis-ruptive changes and unprecedented competition’.

Participants can gain insights into the unique strategies and best practices of the region’s pub-lishing over two days (November 18 &19) of study tour, a day (November 20) of seminars and two days (November 21 & 22) of conference.

The conference will focus on the issues faced by the news media industry and put forward tangible remedies for industry influencers. It will take an objective look at the print industry and explore themes to reposition print alongside a fast evolv-ing digital subscriptions landscape, learn from best practices being followed by businesses globally and of relevance to publishers in the South Asia region, and understand better the transformative time for journalism, challenges and practical next steps for newsroom transformation.

The study tour includes a two-day exploration of the Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon media market. Visits to the offices of The Indian Express, Face-book, Hindustan Times Media, Times Internet, Google and StoryXpress have been scheduled. The study tour will explore these brands, news media organisations, and digital start-ups with an eye for disruption, innovation, and growth opportunities. At each stop, INMA study tour participants will get an in-depth overview and tour offices.

For practitioners seeking perspectives into con-sumers and advertiser subject matters, INMA offers two half-day seminars The morning seminar will focus on understanding the consumer ecosys-tem with two distinct sessions on ‘Impact of socio cultural patterns on content consumption and news brands’ and ‘How mobile and video journal-ism are driving a culture change?’. The afternoon seminar will look at the evolving story for news media advertising and technology with sessions on ‘Browsing through the labyrinth of smart data’ and ‘Unleashing the potential of native advertising’.

The programme is designed for CEOs, CMOs, CTOs, audience builders, revenue drivers, heads of digital, strategy and brand teams, editorial teams and leadership teams in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Africa (senior and middle manage-ment). Those keen to participate can email [email protected].

WAN-IFRA initiative to support local journalismWAN-IFRA has announced the names of the par-ticipating publishers in its inaugural Table Stakes Europe programme to support local media in its digital transformation. Supported by the Google News Initiative, the coaching programme centers around a performance challenge and builds on the success of the same programme in the United States.

The first cohort of 15 publishers will each select a challenge relating to making their digital busi-ness more sustainable - for example, doubling the number of digital subscribers.

Working together with Doug Smith, three dedi-cated coaches, expert advisors and their fellow publishers, they will meet five times over a 12-15 month period, with the full support of their man-agement and editorial teams - starting in Paris in October.

The programme is meant to accelerate journal-ism’s shift to digital from print, help newsrooms evolve their practices, reach new audiences and better engage their communities. Seven common themes have emerged to tie together the granu-lar, specific table stakes for core work, workflow, roles, skills, technology, tools, organisation and culture. All are predicated on the belief that put-ting the audience at the center is the only and best way to deliver value.

Full list of participating publishers:

FranceLe ParisienLe Télégramme


Other News

GermanyHeidenheimer ZeitungLensing MediaNOZ DigitalSÜDKURIERZeitungsverlag Aachen

ItalyEdinet srl

PortugalDiario de Notícias (Lisbon)Empresa do Diário de Notícias (Funchal)

SpainARAHenneoLa Voz de Galicia

SwitzerlandDémocrate Media Holding

United KingdomDC Thomson Media

Vikatan Group revamps print portfolioAs part of its restructuring exercise, the Vikatan Group has revamped its print portfolio with a sharper focus towards its content reorientation. The print bouquet has been realigned as core mag-azines and special interest magazines.

The core magazine bouquet consists of the 93-year-old Ananda Vikatan weekly magazine in Tamil, which has a Total Readership (TR) of 33.94 lakh (IRS 2019, Q2); Aval Vikatan, the fortnightly women’s Tamil magazine with TR of 13.26 lakh (IRS 2019, Q2); and Junior Vikatan, the bi-weekly Tamil Sscio-political magazine.

The special interest magazine bouquet includes Nanayam Vikatan (TR of 3.46 lakh / IRS 2019 Q2), a personal finance and entrepreneurship magazine; Pasumai Vikatan (TR of 8.55 lakh / IRS 2019 Q2), a magazine devoted to organic farming and inclusive farm practices; Motor Vikatan, (TR 3.72 lakh / IRS 2019 Q2), the auto magazine in Tamil; Sakthi Vika-tan (TR of 4.88 lakh / IRS 2019, Q2), the spiritual

magazine about the religious culture and heritage of India; and Aval Kitchen, the brand extension of Aval Vikatan, focusing on food, recipe and kitchen.

In the process, two of its print titles, Vikatan Thadam and Doctor Vikatan have been shelved from September, while Aval Manamagal, the quarterly bridal magazine has been converted as an advertiser driven publication in the B2B route and Chutti Vikatan, the children’s magazine will take a completely new format to directly engage with schools and children.

(Courtesy: exchange4media.com)

The Wedding Trunk launchedWedding company Weddingz.in has unveiled The Wedding Trunk, a 150- pager, bi-annual magazine, designed to provide readers with the latest trends and updates in the wedding industry.“The magazine is a go-to guide for anyone plan-

ning a wedding, it offers a mix of nuances that can help orchestrate a wedding within a specific bud-get in a smooth, seamless way,” the company said in a statement.

The premiere edition of The Wedding Trunk (September 2019 – February 2020) features diverse content, including dreamy intricacies of a big fat Indian wedding. It will feature insights from industry experts such as Ojas Rajani, Papa Don’t Preach by Shubika, Kalki Fashions, Amrapali Jew-els, Azva, Jhoomer Jewels, Floral Art By Srishti, Atisuto Events, The Photo Diary By Monisha and Knots By AMP, amongst others.

The first edition of the magazine will be avail-able across 30+ cities with a circulation of 25,000+ print copies. Priced at Rs 300, the magazine will be available on Amazon & Flipkart and will be distributed for free across all 750 Weddingz.in venues in India. A digital version (e-magazine) will also be available on Magzter and Weddingz.in website & app.

(Courtesy: exchange4media.com)

EVENTS CALENDAR


2019-20

October November

February

December

October 7, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Berlin: World Printers Forum Conference. More infor-mation from [email protected]

October 7-11, organised by WAN-IFRA, in New York City/ Washington: Audience Engage-ment Study Tour. More infor-mation from [email protected]

October 8-10, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Berlin: IFRA World Publishing Expo 2019/ DCX Digital Content Expo 2019/ Berlin Publishing Tours. More information from [email protected]

October 22-23, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Chennai: Info-graphics for Print and Digital. More information from [email protected]

October 20-25, organised by INMA, in San Francisco: INMA Silicon Valley Study Tour. More details on INMA site

October 29-31, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Hong Kong: Digital Media Asia 2019. More information from [email protected]

December 3-4, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Madrid: Claves 2020. AMI Annual Conference and Subscriptions Summit. More information from [email protected]

December 5-8, organised by FESPA, in Istanbul: FESPA Eur-asia 2019. More information on FESPA website

February 18-19, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Delhi: Digital Media India. More information from [email protected]

February 25-28, organised by INMA, in New York: INMA Media Subscriptions Week. More information on INMA website

November 5-6, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Oslo, Norway: The Newsroom Summit 2019. More information from [email protected]/ [email protected]

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October 2019 | Volume 40 | Issue 10 | Rs 50 www.pressinstitute.in

RIND Survey

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1

A CONFERENCE RAISES SPIRITS IN CHALLENGING TIMESWAN-IFRA India 2019, WAN-IFRA’s 27th annual conference in India, saw more than 340 news publishing executives from 25 countries discussing and tracing the transformation of the news media business. More than 25 suppliers from India and abroad participated in the foyer expo, displaying their products and services for the newspaper printing and publishing industry. The conference, co-sponsored by The Indian Newspaper Society, featured two parallel summits – the Advertising Summit and the Printing Summit. The ambience at the Leela Ambience Hotel in Gurugram, Haryana, seemed perfect for meeting up with friends and colleagues, exchanging views, and getting a feel of the print industry as it were. Pictures above offer a snapshot.

Documents

RIND Survey Survey... · India. There is an interesting article on the WAN-IFRA website in this connection, written by War-ren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of The Straits Times and