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What do the world's editors-in-chief think about the future of newspapers? The Newsroom Barometer gives you the answer. This
global survey conducted every two years since 2006 under the World
Editors Forum auspice examines attitudes about newsroom strategies, new
business models, leadership, and the future of news in the digital era.
WEF polls on some of the same questions, and track important shifts at
news organizations around the world. All these elements, and the
comparison between the different issues, provide a picture of how
editors foresee the future of their jobs and the future of journalism. The
2010 Newsroom Barometer edition is to be conducted in partnership with
the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company partnership. And
the result of this fruitful collaboration will be presented at the 2010
World Editors Forum conference, to be held in Hamburg, Germany, from 6
to 8 october.
The former
annual Newsroom Barometer, released in May 2008, and conducted in conjunction
with Zogby International and Reuters, showed that the vast majority of newspaper editors world-wide were
optimistic about the future of their newspapers, but that they didn't think of
them as "print-only," having clearly accepted the multi-media
revolution.

- 86 percent of the editors believed
integrated print and online newsrooms will become the norm,
and 83 percent believed journalists will be expected to be able to
produce content for all media within five
years.
- A majority - 58 percent - thought the
decline in young readership is the
biggest threat for the future of newspapers.
- Two-thirds believed some editorial functions
will be outsourced, despite
frequent newsroom opposition to the practice.
- A plurality - 44 percent - believe on-line
will be the most common
platform for reading news in the future,
compared with 41 percent last year.
Thirty-one
cited print (down from 35 percent last year), 12 percent mobile
and 7
percent e-paper. The rest were unsure.
- 35
percent said training journalists in new media was the number one
priority
for investing in editorial quality. Recruiting more journalists was
cited by 31
percent, up from 22 percent last year.
-
Two-thirds of respondents believe the importance of opinion and analysis
pages will
increase.
For full details and commentary about the Newsroom
Barometer's results, please consult the Editors Weblog's six-part analysis:
WEF Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
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