10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

Master Class moderator

Espen Egil Hansen
Founder of Fyrr.no, advising digital transformation, and former Editor in Chief of Aftenposten and VG Nett, Norway

About this module

How do we cover disagreement in society? The playbook of polarisation, extreme populism, and attacks on the press is no longer exclusive to a handful of authoritarian regimes. Newsrooms all over experience degrees of these problems and struggle to develop a consistent strategy to maintain trust. Also, with increased dependency on reader revenue, there is a balance between pleasing a core audience and striving to report fair and balanced on all views of a case. Three top editors leading their newsrooms through some of the most challenging situations imaginable will share their strategies and practical approaches.

10:00 a.m.-10:10 a.m.
(New York time)

Welcome and Introductions

Espen Egil Hansen, Moderator

10:10 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
(New York time)

Building Trust While Under Attack

Maria Ressa, CEO, Founder, and Former Executive Editor, Rappler, The Philippines

Maria Ressa is nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her investigative journalism on corruption in the Philippines. For years she has endured personal threats, arrests, and attacks on Rappler, a media organisation she founded after leaving CNN. In this session, we will cover three core points:

• What are the everyday practicalities of leading a newsroom under such extreme conditions?
• What is Ressa’s strategy to build journalistic trust and support for her newsroom?
• What are the practical takeaways for editors and newsrooms operating under more normal conditions elsewhere in the word?

10:50 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
(New York time)

Running a Quality Newspaper When the President Calls You “Fake News”

Sérgio Dávila, Editor in Chief, Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil

Modelling himself after former U.S. President Trump, Brazil President Jair Bolsenaro attacks the press, calling investigative journalism “fake news,” going after individual reporters, and steering up supporters threatening journalists. As editor in chief of Brazilian newspaper, Folha de S.Paulo, Sérgio Dávila has implemented a whole range of measures to keep journalists safe and protect his newspapers long tradition of independence. In this session, we will cover:

• How to protect your reporters when they are threatened verbally and virtually.
• How to leverage democratic “check and balances” to protect journalism.
• How to report balanced when the political elite dismisses COVID-19 as a “media fantasy.”

11:30 a.m.-12:10 p.m.
(New York time)

What’s the Best Strategy? Objectivity, Neutrality, Fairness, or Pleasing a Core Audience?

Lionel Barber, Author, “The Powerful and the Damned,” and Former Editor in Chief, Financial Times, United Kingdom

In the 14 years Lionel Barber had what he calls “the best job in publishing,” he daily faced fundamental challenges in his ambition to return the Financial Times (FT) to the “gold standard of journalism.” Externally, Brexit and the financial crisis tore the public sphere apart. Internally, he had to handle fundamental newsroom transformations:

• Polarisation could be a great business model, the dilemma of journalistic objectivity.
• How, in an age of hyper-partisanship, can journalists preserve a degree of professional detachment?
• Advice to an impatient younger generation of journalists and editors tempted to scrap journalistic traditions and practice.

12:10 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

Today's Takeaways

10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

About this module

On one side, you have a range of storytelling approaches to choose from in creating your digital journalism: sound, video, interactive graphics, long and short text, animations, data aggregation. On the other side, different devices and formats for consuming great journalism: podcasts, newsletters, mobile, social, events, push notifications, and print. What is the best practice for planning and execution when it comes to juggling all of these options? And what works in driving audience engagement that matters?

10:00 a.m.-10:10 a.m.
(New York time)

Welcome and Introductions

Espen Egil Hansen, Moderator

10:10 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
(New York time)

Engaging Audiences and Newsroom Through Visual and Data Journalism

Amanda Farnsworth, Head of Visual and Data Journalism, BBC News, United Kingdom

Having developed BBC’s cross-platform team for visual and data journalism into a group of more than 200 people, Amanda Farnsworth shares her unique insight on what works and what doesn’t at the forefront of cross-platform storytelling:

• Where do you need professional teams, and where can you provide tools and training that enable all reporters to do visual and data storytelling?
• What kind of storytelling works to get the audience more engaged in your reporting?
• How to take digital storytelling to the next level?

10:50 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
(New York time)

Covering Breaking News With Live Video – Without Going Bankrupt

Alexandra Beverfjord, Editor in Chief, Dagbladet, Norway

Having worked at the Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, Dagbladet’s editor has successfully made breaking news video core to the tabloid newspaper’s strategy. Not only does Dagbladets video reach a younger crowd, but it also reaches an older crowd, too. In this session, learn:

• How one Dagbaldet reporter can run up to 14 breaking news productions without any support.
• How they build their low-cost, high engagement video strategy.
• The best advice to news organisations wanting to get started or take their live video to the next level.

11:30 a.m.-12:10 p.m.
(New York time)

How to Develop Podcasts That Build Habits For a Younger Audience

Harrison van der Vliet, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, NRC, The Netherlands

Audio has proven to be highly effective in both reaching a younger audience and building habits. But it has to be planned, formatted, and produced to resonate with listeners. Step-by-step, Harrison van der Vliet will share his experience building a series of distinct podcasts tailored at very different audiences. In this session, we will look at:

• How to format podcasts to build daily habits
• Best practice on launching a new podcast and building an audience
• Focusing on today’s news or going behind the news?

12:10 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

Today's Takeaways

10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

Key themes for this module

No other problem keeps editors more awake at night than this one: You have built a great digital strategy, so how do you get your newsroom onboard? What capabilities are essential in making quality digital journalism, and how do you move the newsroom towards a more digital- and audience-oriented mindset? How do you make an effective interaction between newsroom, tech, product, and marketing?

10:00 a.m.-10:10 a.m.
(New York time)

Welcome and Introductions

Espen Egil Hansen, Moderator

10:10 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
(New York time)

Driving the Transformation of a Legacy Brand

Sebastian Matthes, Editor-in-Chief, Handelsblatt, Germany

Sebastian Matthes represents a new type of Editor-in-Chief. Having helped the setup of the Huffington Post in Munich and having been the head of digital and hosting his own podcast at Handelsblatt, he took over the top editorial job only a few weeks ago:

• What are his big ideas to drive the transformation of the respected business daily Handelsblatt?
• What can newsrooms learn from product organisations and Big Tech?
• What changes has he done in his first two months, and what is next?

10:50 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
(New York time)

Cross-Functional Teams at The Washington Post

Kat Downs Mulder, Managing Editor, The Washington Post

Having worked with journalism, design, and product, Kat Downs Mulder has a unique viewpoint as managing editor of one of the world’s leading media houses. Central to her leadership is forming teams with members from different departments to solve problems and develop ideas. In this session:

• Cross-functional teams: How do they work, and what does it take?
• Why forming teams around ideas and problems rather than products and tools.
• Best practise at aligning newsroom, audience and engagement.

11:30 a.m.-12:10 p.m.
(New York time)

Driving Newsroom Culture Change Across a Multi-Brand Company

Lotta Edling, Editorial Director, Bonnier News, Sweden

Scandinavian news organisations often credit successful newsroom culture change when asked about the secret of digital transformation. Before becoming head of editorial development of Bonnier, Lotta Edling was the editor-in-chief of Sweden’s leading business newspaper, Dagens Industri. In her new role, she leads development in Bonnier’s stack of leading Swedish media brands, including Dagens Nyheter (Sweden’s paper of record), Expressen (strong on breaking news and video,) and DI (leading national business daily). In this session:

• What works and what doesn’t work in changing culture across different newsrooms?
• Do you go for each newsroom its own identity and culture or a goal to have a unified company culture?
• Can different brands share content and resources without losing their unique value propositions towards the core audience?

12:10 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

Today's Takeaways