INMA's Eales sets priorities for 'rebound year'

INMA will prioritise its focus on readership and product, while continuing its push on the impact of tech companies on news media, its Australian president Damian Eales says.

INMA is also to announce a new smart data initiative aimed at tying data initiatives to business objectives and incorporating a data-positive culture.

Eales - who moved from News Corp in Sydney to be the group's global head of transformation last year - announced the association's response to accelerated industry transformation in a post today.

The three priority initiatives lead a broad agenda for 2021:

-a 'readers first' initiative will help companies benchmark and secure subscription gains from the pandemic and find new avenues of growth;

-a product initiative envisages a product community and focus on product methods and structures, measurements and KPIs, prototyping and experimenting;

-the soon-to-be-announced smart data initiative.

Eales says INMA will continue to focus attention on the impacts Big Tech is having on the world of news media - in particular the enormous changes in global regulatory environments that will result - on delivering virtual training and regular webinars with three global conferences, eight masterclasses, and three regional summits.

"We will reboot physical events in 2022," he says.

Excellence will be rewarded via the global awards competition - in news brands, media platforms, subscriptions, business development and data and insights - INMA's '30 Under 30' awards scheme, and Elevate Scholarships.

"Subject to late-breaking developments", reports will focus on trust, podcasts, personalisation, Big Tech developments, product, subscriptions and data. Planned 'distillation and empowerment' tools include INMA's member directory, blogs and 'best practices' archive.

"My pride in INMA has only grown during my presidency over the past 19 months," Eales says. "We stared an extinction level event in the eye (COVID) and walked away as the No. 1 most visited press association in the world thanks to record membership and engagement from members.

"Here is to a rebound year ahead and a return to global prosperity."