As INMA's World Congress closed in New York on an upbeat note, there was time to ponder how priorities had changed, notably in areas such as paid content and paywalls.
A delegate survey by RAM showed that while a stark focus on digital transformation remains, there is less emphasis on collecting revenue from consumers. Some 46 per cent believed consumer paid content and 27 per cent believed paywall development were 'absolutely crucial' in 2015, compared with 59 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively, two years ago.
The same survey showed two thirds now prioritise mobile revenue streams, compared to less than half in 2013, and the rating for data analytics has risen to 58 per cent from 41 per cent.
The 85th annual World Congress brought a record 500 attendees from 45 countries, leading to a second room at the TimesCenter having to be provided. More than 60 speakers addressed plenary sessions, preceded by a case studies seminar and 'media disruption tour' of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Medellín-based El Colombiano won 'best in show' in the annual awards (see separate story) with seven companies - led by worldwide winner Storyful - honoured for their investments in the process of innovation via the Global Innovation Awards.
The conference content was wide-ranging, a Sunday programme of 'brainsnacks' preceding the main plenaries. Contributors from the South Asia and Asia Pacific region included Michael Chu (director of marketing, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong), Damian Eales (group marketing director, News Corp Australia), Shantanu Bhanja (chief digital officer, HT Media, India), John Nery (editor-in-chief, Inquirer.net, the Philippines), Sarah Judkins (group director - Transformation), NZ Media & Entertainment, New Zealand), and Chang-hee Park (chief operating officer, JoongAng Ilbo, Korea).
Two years after Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post, interest continues in what he will do with it... and how. Among insights delivered by president Steve Hills were the addition of 60 editorial staff, creation of a network of newspapers whose subscribers get free access to Post content, and an app on Amazon's Fire tablet.
Some while after his original 'Newspaper Extinction Timeline', Australian Ross Dawson was back with a more positive "yet different" forecast for print media. There was research too, from Boston Consulting partner Neal Zuckerman this time on the future of branded content.
Panel discussions looked at where advertising and marketing are heading, with Mark Hollands, chief executive of Australia's The Newspaper Works one of five panellists in a session on 'proving advertising works', telling of the group's initiative to measure cross-platform performance. Also from Sydney, Fairfax Media's Stefan Savva talked of his company's experiences with mobile.
Key executives from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the New Yorker shared insights on paid content, and Big Data 2.0 and programmatic buying deliovered further enlightenment, especially on the different speeds at which news publishers are pursuing these opportunities.
A 'media disruption tour' took participants to Bloomberg, Food52, Complex Media, Vice Media, the New York Times R&D Lab, and Business Insider.
Executive director and chief executive Earl Wilkinson looked back on "a world-class conference in world-class venues that told the story of news media companies winning the transformation battle".
It was - in the metaphor Wilkinson coined to describe how legacy and digital media companies are rapidly becoming like each other - "two ends of a rope, burning toward each other".
Next year's INMA World Congress will be held from May 22-24 in London.
Pictured: TNW's Mark Hollands (second left) shares views on audience measurement in one of the panel sessions with Trevor Fellows (Wall Street Journal), Jim Friedlich (Empirical Media), Siddharth Suri (Microsoft Research) and Michael Zimbalist (New York Times).
On our homepage: Damian Eales addresses the Brainsnacks audience. Photos David Page.