Trends in Newsrooms 2009 released

The 2009 edition contains case studies and interviews with newsroom executives and an analysis of current media trends from newsrooms worldwide. The report aims to share ideas on how to most effectively use video and other multimedia platforms to share news, as well as how to make these media forms profitable.

The survey looks at journalists in Africa who are still picking up on online journalism and how it could possibly cut costs by publishing news online. It also looks at the challenge of finding readers in Africa who have easy access to the Internet.

“In some ways, Internet is both a blessing and a curse for African journalists,” explained Bertrand Pecquerie, director of the World Editors Forum.

“A blessing, because it is possible to create new media at a low cost, even on a daily basis (blog, newsletters). And censorship is more difficult on digital platforms than on print. But the Internet is also a curse, because very few Africans have free access or low cost access to the Internet. So the contradiction is that, if news production becomes easier, for the audience it is still rather costly. And very few African regimes will fight for a free flow of information.”

Trends in Newsrooms 2009 is based on postings from the Editors Weblog - www.editorsweblog.org - a publication of WEF that tracks the daily innovations in newspapers around the world.

For more information on Trends in Newsrooms 2009, go to www.trends-in-newsrooms.org/home.php.