When some of the newspaper industry’s smartest newsroom minds gather in Hamburg next month, open-minded strategies will be the order of the day.

WAN-Ifra’s 11th annual Newsroom Summit takes place in the city from May 10-11.

Among speakers is
Paul Lewis, special projects editor at ‘The Guardian’ in London, who has been a role model for embracing the changing world around him. By harnessing the power of social media and crowdsourcing, he has produced some of the most compelling investigative journalism in recent years, including ‘on-the-street’ reports of the riots in Britain last summer.



“I think actually there are very few realms of reporting that don’t lend themselves to being much more open in the way that we produce and then subsequently report the news,” he says.

The conference, organised by the World Editors Forum, the global organisation of editors within WAN-Ifra, will present “smart strategies for tough times” and respond to the realities of today’s newsrooms.

Registration details can be found at: http://www.wan-ifra.org/newsroom2012



“The Summit will identify strategies that are being implemented in newspapers around the world to make sure newsrooms are cost efficient, lean and effective. In some instances this means further integration of reporting and production teams – not only within the newsroom but across publications,” says Cherilyn Ireton, executive director of the World Editors Forum. “We will look at the need for today's journalists to be digitally agile – and comfortable producing content for any platform. We will look at the training and new skills that are needed to ensure journalists are focused on producing good quality content rather than get distracted by processes and systems.”



Other speakers include:

- Tomas Brunegård, CEO, Stampen Group, Sweden: Dealing with the enemies of change.

- Anette Novak, Consultant and former Editor in Chief of ‘Norran’, Sweden: New positions in the newsroom, the jobs you have never heard of but needed yesterday.

- Lisa MacLeod, Managing Editor, Financial Times: Newsroom 4.0 at the FT.

- Mathias Müller Blumencron, Editor in Chief of Germany’s ‘Der Spiegel’: Can serious journalism survive on mobile devices?

- Wolfgang Blau, Editor, Zeit Online, Germany: Can separate print and online operations deliver more?

- Knut Engelmann, Managing Editor, ‘Wall Street Journal Deutschland’: Expanding into new markets.

- Matt DeRienzo, Connecticut Group Editor, Journal Register Co.: Re-training journalists to become ‘digital ninjas’.

- Margaret Boribon, Secretary General, ‘Copiepresse’, Belgium: Taking on Google – and winning.

- Peter Atkinson, Group Editorial Consultant, Avusa Media, South Africa: Smart ways to reorganise newsgathering and production.

- William Davis, Editor, ‘Bangor Daily News, USA: The open source newsroom.

- Joycelyn Winnecke, Vice President and Associate Editor, ‘Chicago Tribune’: Engaging readers in real life.

- Jan Helin, Editor-in-chief, ‘Aftonbladet’, Sweden: Journalists as brands.

The conference will be preceded by a one-day workshop on May 9 on ‘creating a cross platform experience – web, online and tablet’.

The conference will be accompanied by social and networking events, including an opening cocktail at Axel Springer, Europe’s largest newspaper publisher, and a boat trip and dinner through Hamburg’s harbour.