Despite continuing growth in print, publishers should prepare for the future by making new digital investments now, Digital Media India delegates have been told.

The WAN-Ifra event opened in Chennai yesterday.

“The speed of disruption taking place in the industry is greater than ever, and news publishers should take note of the context of these new development happening around them,” said Michael Maness, vice president of journalism and media innovation at the Knight Foundation, in the opening session of the conference.

Digital Media India focusses this year on the challenges of multi-channel publishing and the opportunities for increasing revenue from digital media, under the theme ‘Get ready for the next big growth cycle’.

Case studies and experiences from international media companies ranged from Norway’s VG to Beritasatu Media Holdings in Indonesia, publishers of the Jakarta Globe.



Oyvind Naess, Chief of Staff of Schibsted-owned VG, spoke of the opportunities offered by video and non-linear TV. He said VG has plans to double the staff, video inventory, acquisition of programs, series and shows, and to give a bigger push to live-TV.



The two-day conference, which drew more than 110 delegates from 13 countries, is the third in South Asia. Wednesday’s events in Chennai also included a World Editors Forum seminar on ‘Journalism in the age of digital surveillance’. Participants included some of India’s leading editors – N Ravi, editor-in-chief of The Hindu; K N Shanth Kumar, editor of Prajavani; Kalpesh Yagnik, national editor, Dainik Bhaskar; and Krishna Prasad, editor-in-chief of Outlook.

WAN-Ifra