#WEFHamburg: News companies need to be in 'perpetual beta', says New York Times CEO

Janet Robinson speaking today at the World Editors Forum, Hamburg. Image by NewspaperWorld on twitpic

News companies must be in "perpetual beta" to reach new readers and diversify revenue streams, the CEO of the New York Times Company said today.

"Forward-thinking news and information companies" must expand readers' experiences and engagement with what they offering on all platforms, especially digital, Janet Robinson told the World Editors Forum in Hamburg.

Robinson, who also discussed the Times' forthcoming paywall plans, said engagement would not only benefit readers but encourage a willingness to pay for content and better serve advertisers.

"The internet provides better tools to rack and engage readers (...) these tools must be fully employed by us all to engage with our readers," she said.

"Readers recognise quality storytelling, but quality is only part of the equation. In order to fully benefit from these new business models and offering we're fully engrossed in the pursuit of reader engagement."

People will pay "for news they need and news they trust", she said, and as such news organisations must seek to establish a "human connection" with their audiences. Readers spend more time with the print edition of the New York Times than on its website and news companies must understand how different the rules of engagement are online.

"We need to sit on our digital stoops" to find out how readers are behaving and constantly ask them and advertisers what they need and want, she said.

As part of this the Times is using social media to create a "digital stoop", appointing a social media editor, allowing readers to filter news feeds by their friends' recommendations and integrating its website with Facebook - a move which encourages readers to come to the site "as themselves", said Robinson.

"We must redefine our essential relationship with our readers and redefine the contact we have with them (...) No matter what the future holds people will always need and want to be well informed, need and want to be told a good story and customers will reward those who tell stories well," she said.

The Times is investing in new delivery models as part of new business models, she said, citing the recent announcement of a two-site charging plan for the Boston Globe online and its commitment to Ongo, plans for a news aggregation service in partnership with other news organisations including the Washington Post and Gannett.

News organisations must realise that there competitors may not be the traditional rivals they had thought, she said, referring to the partnership behind Ongo.

But the Times' commitment to digital development and new products is not at move away from its print heritage, Robinson stressed.

"We are not retreating from printing newspapers. We will be printing newspapers for a very long time to come in order to delight a very loyal base of consumers and advertisers (...) who are committed to the print reading experience," she said.

"Print is a very profitable pillar of our company and we will support it."

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