World Media Leaders eSummit to Focus on Ten Strategic Challenges for News Media Post-COVID

News organisations and journalists are making rapid adjustments in response to higher digital demand, lower ad revenue, and enforced changes to the way they operate. WAN-IFRA is making changes too. From June 15-18 it will host the World Media leaders eSummit, its first four-day series of crucial online panel discussions and town hall meetings to discuss the future of news media.

A mix of town halls, fireside chats, panel discussions and roundtables, ten sessions will address the biggest questions facing editors and publishers around the themes of digital revenue, newsroom change, policy and strategy. That includes a special focus on the pressures on local media.

WAN-IFRA CEO Vincent Peyregne said, “The pandemic has undercut the predictability of normal life and our members are seeking answers to big, even existential, questions as they adjust their strategies. At some point Covid-19 will be vanquished, the industry will bounce back but it won’t be a return to normal. Getting to normal is not so much about getting back the old normality as it is about getting back the ability to know what is going to happen tomorrow. We need to understand the scenario at play, what news media will look like. On June 15-18, We’ve brought together a diverse and experienced group of editors, CEOs, journalists and senior executives to share their insights and solutions on the road ahead.”

Gathering the lessons learned, the World Media Leaders eSummit will catalyze a broader conversation about the future of news and will support a valuable new impetus for transformation. The World Media Leaders eSummit will seek to answer these questions:

• How long will it take to get revenues back on track?
• Which publishers were best prepared for the crisis?
• What can we do to win back advertisers?
• The case of big advertisers: has the crisis changed how they support trusted media?
• Is the not-for-profit model the way to secure the future of quality local and public service journalism?
• How do we onboard and keep our new digital subscribers?
• Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transition in local and regional publishers – how can we maintain this pace going forward?
• What have we learned from stumbling into the remote newsroom?
• Going viral: How do we build on the trust gained from the Covid-19 crisis and keep up the boost in the audience?
• There will be another crisis. Do you feel better prepared for going forward?

PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
Confirmed Speakers include Siv Juvik Tveitnes (CEO Schibsted Media Division), Maria A. Ressa (CEO and Executive Editor Rappler), Rasmus Nielsen (Director Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism), Katie Vanneck Smith (Co-founder Tortoise),  Jennifer Napier-Pearce (Editor Salt Lake Tribune), Dame Frances Cairncross (Chair of Court Heriot-Watt University), Siddharth Varadarajan (Founding Editor The Wire), Warren Fernandez (Editor-in-Chief The Straits Times Singapore Press Holdings), Chris Janz (Managing Director Australian Metro Publishing Fairfax Media), Ulrik Haagerup (Founder and CEO, Constructive Institute), Ritu Kapur (Co-Founder & CEO, Quintillion Media).