International panel of experts to debate the future of UK press regulation at UCLAN

The head of the Global Forum for Media Development Bettina Peters, author of Journalism Ethics and Regulation Prof Chris Frost and Director of the Media Standards Trust Martin Moore will also be joining the 14th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston on October 20th to debate, "UK Press Regulation: Is there a Third Way?".

Bettina Peter of GFMD

Peters will be drawing specifically on her contribution to the recent report, “European Media Governance – The Brussels Dimension”, while Prof Frost of Liverpool John Moores University will contribute from his perspective as chair of the National Union of Journalist’s Ethics Council. 
Moore, long a critic of the PPC, is also a founder of the pressure group Hacked Off.

The panel, chaired by the University of Central Lancashire’s head of journalism ethics Michael Williams, also includes Bob Satchwell, the chief executive of the UK Society of Editors, Martin Wainwright, northern editor of The Guardian  and Prof Peter Cole, a former head of journalism at UCLAN and Sheffield universities and co-author of Newspaper Journalism. 

"This will be more than just an interesting discussion," said François Nel,  convenor of the forum which is a joint activity of the School of Journalism, Media and Communications at UCLAN and the Digital Editors Network.  "We intend the panel to work towards a submission to the Leveson Inquiry which we'll forward via the Coordinating Committe for Media Reform ."

To attend the open Forum at 6 pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre on UCLAN's Preston Campus - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge (though donations are most welcome), but seating is limited.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panellists and each other in a text chat room. Follow the conversation on Twitter  at#14jlp .

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is the Truth Telling master class and the autumn meeting of the Digital Editors Network, with speakers from the Manchester Evening News, the BusinessDesk.com and Paul Ekman International. The following day, Grig Davidovitz of RGB Media will also lead the News Show! master class on innovative design online, on mobile and on tablets.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and innovative digital business solutions, contact François Nel by email (FPNel [at] uclan.ac.uk ), or @francoisnel on Twitter. Follow @denupdates to keep in the loop on Digital Editors Network activities.  

14th Journalism Leaders Forum - UK Press Regulation: Is there a Third Way?

These have been bruising times for the Press.

Scandals about the conduct of some journalists have not only brought down journalists, senior executives and one of the largest newspapers in Britain, but it has also prompted the resignation of the head of the Press Complaints Commission and raised questions about  the future of press regulation. Those who seek to simplify the issues usually offer two options: press self-regulation, or government regulation. But others are looking further afield and so we're asking, "Is there a Third Way?"

To debate that issues the Society of Editors and the Digital Editors' Network will be co-presenting the 14th Journalism Leaders Forum at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. Bob Satchwell, executive director of the SoE, will anchor the panel which will be chaired by Michael Williams, head of journalism ethics at the School of Journalism, Media and Communication. Other participants will be confirmed. We intend the panel to work towards a submission to the Leveson Inquiry, which we'll forward via the Coordinating Committe for Media Reform .

To attend the open Forum at 6 pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge (though donations are most welcome), but seating is limited.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panellists and each other in a text chat room.

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is the Truth Telling master class and the autumn meeting of the Digital Editors Network, with speakers from the Manchester Evening News, the BusinessDesk.com and Paul Ekman International. The following day, Grig Davidovitz of RGB Media will also lead the News Show! master class on innovative design online, on mobile and on tablets.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and innovative digital business solutions, contact François Nel by email  (FPNel [at] uclan.ac.uk ) or Skype (francoisnel).

Play it again: 13th Forum on paywalls

If you missed 13th Journalism Leaders Forum discussion, Paywalls: build them, break them - or look beyond them, you can view an unedited recording of the discussion here.

The international panellists were:

• Robert Andrews, UK Editor of paidContent.com, for the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.
• Peter Bale is the Executive Producer of Microsoft UK, responsible for content on platforms including MSN UK – the largest commercial portal in the UK. He joined Microsoft from News Corporation where he was online editorial director of The Times and The Sunday Times.
• Frédéric Filloux, editor for the international division of the Norwegian media giant Schibsted ASA and co-author of the Monday Note .
• Martha Stone, director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA
• Gordon Crovitz, the former Wall Street Journal publisher behind the paid-content startup, JournalismOnline

François Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, was in the chair.

Diary note: the next meeting of the Digital Editors' Network and the 14th Journalism Leaders Forum is scheduled for the autumn 2010.

For updates: Follow us on Twitter @jleaders / @francoisnel

13th Forum: Norwegian media giant Schipsted editor Frédéric Filloux joins international paywall panel on 29th October

" 'Free', as a business model, is a figment of the imagination.

"In itself, 'Free' is not a business model, it is only a component of a broader revenue system," says Frédéric Filloux, editor for the international division of the Norwegian media giant Schibsted ASA and co-author of the Monday Note .

"Unlike Chris Anderson, author of the book 'Free' ($18.00) — a bestseller not a bestfreebie — I happened to actually practice the free 'model'," continues Filloux, a former managing editor of Liberation who was also a founder of one of the most successful free quality daily newspapers in the world. 20 minutes is now the most read newspaper in France with 2.7m readers in eight major cities.

On 29th October, Filloux will join the discussion the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum discussion, Paywalls: build them, break them - or look beyond them.

Also on the international panel are:

• Gordon Crovitz, the former Wall Street Journal publisher behind the paid-content startup, JournalismOnline
• Peter Bale is the Executive Producer of Microsoft UK, responsible for content on platforms including MSN UK – the largest commercial portal in the UK. He joined Microsoft from News Corporation where he was online editorial director of The Times and The Sunday Times. He was a founder of FTMarketWatch.com and was a Reuters correspondent and editor for most of his career.
• Martha Stone, director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA
• Robert Andrews, UK Editor of paidContent.com, for the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.
• François Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will be in the chair.

To attend the open Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register HERE soonest. There is no charge, but seating is limited.



If you can't be there in person, you can also participate online. The Forum will be Webcast live. More details here. [Log in as a guest].

Gordon Crovitz, ex-WSJ publisher and co-founder of start-up Journalism Online, joins paywall panel on 29th October

Arguably, the Holy Grail for newspapers has been how to get consumers to pay a reasonable price for online content. An increasing number of publishers in the US and internationally think that Gordon Grovitz and his partners at the technology start-up Journalism Online may just have found it.

In August, four months after setting up business, the company announced that more than 500 newspapers, magazines and online-based news sites in the United States and around the world had signed "Letters of Intent" with them. “Just one month later, we have passed 1,000, reaching more than 100 million online users, and the pace is accelerating," said Crovitz in a company statement.

On 29th October, Crovitz, who had walked out of this jobs as Publisher of The Wall Street Journal, Executive Vice-President of Dow Jones & Company, and president of the Company’s Consumer Media Group, when News Corp took over, will discuss his new project in greater detail when he contributes to a panel discussion about online paywalls at the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.

Other confirmed panellists are:

• Frédéric Filloux, editor for the international division of the Norwegian media giant Schibsted ASA and co-author of the Monday Note .


• Martha Stone, director of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA’s Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project


• Robert Andrews, UK Editor of paidContent.com.

François Nel , director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will be in the chair discussion on, 'Paywalls: build them, break them - or look beyond them"

To attend the open Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge, but seating is limited.



If you can't be there in person, you can also participate online. The Forum will be Webcast live. More details here.

13th Forum: Paywalls - build them, break them or look beyond them?

The newspaper business has never been simple, but the business model has typically been straightforward: compile news and information for which readers pay in time and money, and then also sell their attention on to advertisers looking to connect with customers.

It's not surprising then that when print publications migrated online, they brought their traditions with them. Those on the editorial side of the business, soon found out it wasn't as simple as it seemed. Those on the commercial side of the business are finding that out, too.

With advertising revenues collapsing, Rupert Murdoch hopes readers will pay to read his websites. Research commissioned by the American Press Institute showed that 58% of publishers in the US and Canada are considering following suit. And technology giants Google, Yahoo and IBM , as well as start-ups like JournalismOnline, are stepping up to help them do so.

It's not been difficult to find detractors. Amongst them are leading UK news executives and commetators who are adament that the free-to-pay transition won't work. And a recent paidContent UK / Harris Interactive study shows that UK readers would resist the move, too.

Other have suggested alternative non-commercial and commercial business models.

So, what is the way forward on paywalls? Do we build them, break them - or look beyond them?

Leading a discussion on that question at the 13th Jouranlism Leaders Forum on 29th October will be Martha Stone, director of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA's Shaping the Future of the Newspapers project, and Robert Andrews, the UK Editor of paidContent.

François Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will be in the chair.

To attend the open Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge, but seating is limited.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists and each each other in a text chat room.

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is autumn meeting of the Digital Editors Network, with speakers from Microsoft, UCLan, The Guardian and the Press Association (This event is now Fully Booked).

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and innovative digital business solutions, contact François Nel by email or Skype (francoisnel).

12th Forum: Replay lively debate on the future of journalism

It was always going to be lively.

And the debate on the issues facing the future of journalism, in general, and the shape of the industry in the North West, in particular, with BBC factual radio editor in Manchester Ian Bent, ITV Granada news chief Richard Frediani, The Times' development editor Joanna Geary and the Media City UK developers spokesman Paul Newman, was certainly that - and a stark reminder that an industry consensus about whether news is a lecture or conversation is still a long way off.

I you missed the 12th Journalism Leaders Forum chaired by Mike Ward, head of the School of Journalism, Media and Communication at UCLan, you can watch an unedited recording of the webcast here. You'll also find the Twitter stream at #JLP.

For more information or an invitation future events (which are free and open to the public), email Francois Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme.

12th Forum: ITV news chief, Times web guru & Media City:UK exec join discussion on the future of journalism

If you needed further evidence that it's not all grim up North, consider this:

In 2011, Media City:UK - now shooting up in Salford Quays on the edge of Manchester - will be the new home to five BBC London-based departments, including two TV channels and two radio stations representing £225m of BBC production spend and £275m of BBC commissioning spend. And that's only the start of it. The 200-acre development is expected to be the cornerstone of up to 15,000 jobs in TV, film and the creative industries.

What will this mean for the future of journalism in the region and further afield?

Find out from Paul Newman, spokesperson for the developer Peel Media, who is one of the panellists on the next Journalism Leaders Forum on May 12th.

Other participants include Ian Bent, the BBC factual radio editor in Manchester, Richard Frediani, head of news at ITV, and Joanna Geary, web development editor at The Times. Note: Culture secretary Andy Burnham had intended to participate, but has cancelled citing a diary conflict. [He offered to participate in a future Forum; we intend to invite him, again]

Mike Ward, head of the School of Journalism, Media and Communication at UCLan. will chair the all-alumni panel discussion that follows a reception to launch an evolving exhibition and book project, Journalism at UCLan: past, present & future, which will mark the 50th anniversary of England's oldest journalism programme.

To attend the open Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please RSVP to Debbie Williams by email or call +(0)1772 894759. There is no charge.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion.

You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists and each each other in a text chat room.

The Forum is scheduled as part of the Journalism Leaders Programme's Spring seminar, Innovation and the Market: Understanding Users, Delivering Value, Growing Revenue, which runs from 11-15th May in Preston, Liverpool and Manchester.

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is the Spring meeting of the Digital Editors Network, which includes presentations by Robin Goad of Hitwise, Nick Turner of Cumbria Newspapers and Patrick Altoft of Branded3.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and strategic solutions for the Networked Age, François Nel, by email or Skype (francoisnel).

12th Forum: Andy Burnham on the past, present & future of journalism

[Update: Please note that Andy Burnham has had to cancel his participation in this Forum because of a scheduling conflict and has indictated that he hopes to participate in a future Forum. We'll certainly be inviting him again soon. 05/05/09]

Culture secretary Andy Burnham is all too aware that Government has a role to play in influencing the dramatic changes in the UK media landscape. Last week, he hosted a summit with media players to consider proposals put to him key industry bodies and companies.

On May 12th, he'll [a panel of media experts will] discuss the issues with a wider audience at the 12th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.

The panel discussion, part of the Spring line-up for the Journalism Leaders Programme, will be chaired by Mike Ward, head of the School of Journalism, Media and Communication at UCLan. Other participants will include Richard Frediani, head of news at ITV, and other prominent alumni from the England's oldest journalism programme.
Also that evening is a reception to launch an evolving exhibition and book project, Journalism at UCLan: past, present & future, which will mark the 50th anniversay of England's oldest journalism programme.

To attend the Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please RSVP to Debbie Williams by email or call +(0)1772 894759

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion.

You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists and each each other in a text chat room.

The Forum is scheduled as part of the Journalism Leaders Programme's Spring seminar, Innovation and the Market: Understanding Users, Delivering Value, Growing Revenue, which runs from 11-15th May in Preston, Liverpool and Manchester.

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is the Spring meeting of the Digital Editors Network.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and strategic solutions for the Networked Age, François Nel, by email or Skype (francoisnel).

12th Forum to look at the future of journalism throught the rearview mirror

With the way ahead for the media industry far from clear, it might be worth reflecting on plain-speaking business wizard Warren Buffet's observation that "in the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield."

With that in mind, the 12th Journalism Leaders Forum on May 12th will explore the theme: Journalism: past, present &, future.

Mike Ward, the head of the School of Journalism, Media and Communications at UCLan will chair a panel of prominent UCLan alumni, including Richard Frediani, head of news at ITV Granada.

The event will also include a reception to launch an evolving exhibition and book project, Journalism at UCLan: past, present & future, to mark the 50th anniversay of England's oldest journalism programme.

To attend the Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please RSVP to Debbie Williams by email or call +(0)1772 894759

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion.

You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists and each each other in a text chat room.

The Forum is scheduled as part of the Journalism Leaders Programme's Spring seminar, Innovation and the Market: Understanding Users, Delivering Value, Growing Revenue, which runs from 11-15th May in Preston, Liverpool and Manchester.

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is the Spring meeting of the Digital Editors Network.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and strategic solutions for the Networked Age, François Nel, by email or Skype (francoisnel).

11th Forum: Reply, Review, Respond

You'll find an unedited recording of the 11th Forum here.

On a related note: Today the BBC's Business Editor Robert Peston, who could only join the Forum via phone link from London, faced questions from MPs on the Treasury Select Committee over the media's role in the British banking crisis.

Diary note: the 12th Forum and Digital Editors Network is slated for 12th May 2009 in Preston to coincide with the Spring seminar of the Journalism Leaders Programme.

Peston joins 11th Forum panel to review 'The Bottom Line' of business journalism

Update 23/01/2009: Liverpool Daily Post's dynamic deputy editor Alison Gow will also join the panel.

The stakes have never been higher.

Choices made this year will undoubtably shape the world's economy "perhaps for generations," says the academic and columnist Martin Wolf.

Arguably, that's true for all those who control all the levers of power. That means business and government leaders, certainly. It also means citizens whose collective choices are the source of that power.

What does it mean for the Fourth Estate, itself severely battered by the economic storm?

To help further unpack the issues - and to consider the implications - BBC Business Editor Robert Peston (left), FT.com Interactive Editor Kate Mackenzie, Crain's Manchester Business Publisher Arthur Porter and TheBusinessDesk.com Northwest Editor Chris Barry will join the 11th Journalism Leaders Forum panel at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston on the 3rd of February.

The Guardian's Blogs Editor Kevin Anderson will chair the discussion, "The Bottom Line: Is the business of journalism affecting the journalism of business?"

To attend this free programme at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the networking reception from 5pm - please RSVP to leaders[at]ukjournalism[do]ac[dot]uk.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists and each each other in a text chat room.

The Forum is scheduled as part of the Journalism Leaders Programme's Winter seminar, "Multimedia Content: making it, managing it, monetising it," which runs from February 2nd to 6th. Also in Preston earlier the same day is the Winter meeting of the Digital Editors Network.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and strategic solutions for the Networked Age, François Nel, by email (FPNel@uclan . ac . uk) or Skype (francoisnel).

10th Forum: replay, reconsider, respond

Missed Steve Yelvington, Stephen Gray, Kevin Anderson, Simon Reynolds, Jane Singer and François Nel discussing what hard times are teaching media decision-makers about the way forward?

Read Laura Oliver's summary , replay our recording or Joanna Geary's Bambuser videostream - and, if any of the points raised have got you thinking, feel free to post a note here (or a link to your site).

Amongst the many points that has got us thinking is this: The challenge, as Simon Reynolds pointed out, is not only what we - news executives, editors, journalists and educators - should do going forward, but also what we should stop doing. What's on the top of your list?

Diary date: The 11th Forum, scheduled for 3rd February 2009, will be presented in conjunction with the North West chapter of the UK Society of Editors. For more information or to be added to the mailing list, send a note to leaders [at] ukjournalism.org .

Also: For a report on the day's [excellent] Digital Editors Network meeting, check out Sarah Hartley's [very useful] blog.

API's Newspaper Next head joins 10th Forum panel

The American Press Institute launched the Newspaper Next project in 2005 to research and test viable new business models for the newspaper industry.

With an initial budget of $2 million, the API hired Stephen T Gray, former managing publisher of the Christian Science Monitor, and he linked up with Innosight, the consulting company built by Harvard Business School’s innovation guru Christian Clayton. They pulled together a task force of 25 industry leaders (including Jennifer Carroll of Gannett and Jonathan Landman of the The New York Times) to advise.

The first report was released in 2006. The second (2.0) early this year.

At the 10th Journalism Leaders Forum on 7th October, Gray will have a chance to reflect on all this activity as part of a panel on the theme, “Hard Lessons: What are the tough times teaching media decision-makers about the way forward?”

Joining him on the panel are:

• Steve Yelvington, now Vice President of Content and Strategy at Morris Digital Works


• Juan Señor, UK director of the Innovation International Media Consulting Group


• Kevin Anderson, The Guardian blogs editor who is currently travelling across the US covering the presidential election race armed with a laptop, a mobile phone with built-in GPS and a photo camera.


• François Nel, the founding director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will chair the discussion.

To attend this free programme at 6pm on Tuesday, 7th October in Greenbank Lecture Theatre in Preston - as well as the networking reception from 5pm - please RSVP to leaders [at]ukjournalism [dot] org.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can view the live Webcast by logging in as a guest at: http://breeze01.uclan.ac.uk/journalismleadersforum/. Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists in a text chat room.

Acclaimed digital media innovator Steve Yelvington at 10th Forum on 7th October

There’s lots of talk about the urgent need to update the journalistic paradigm to suit the realities of the Networked Age. Cries for the practice of journalism to be conceived as a conversation, not a lecture has arguably become something of a mantra in progressive media circles.

One person who hasn’t just talked about it, but showed how it could work in practice - and perhaps even profit - is Steve Yelvington, now Vice President of Content and Strategy at Morris Digital Works, the consulting arm of US media giant Morris Communications.

Yelvington will join the international panel of digital media experts at the 10th Journalism Leaders Forum on 7th October. The theme: “Hard Lessons: What are the tough times teaching media decision-makers about the way forward?”

Other confirmed panellists include Juan Señor, UK director of the Innovation International Media Consulting Group, and Kevin Anderson, blogs editor for The Guardian. François Nel, the founding director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will chair the debate.

A longtime newspaper journalist, Steve Yelvington was founding editor of Star Tribune Online (later rebranded startribune.com) in Minneapolis in 1994 and built it into one of the top-ranked newspaper sites in the world.

As executive editor and network content director for Cox Interactive Media, he supervised a nationwide network of city sites.

At Morris Communications, he led site design and development operations that yielded more Digital Edge and EPpy awards than those of any other newspaper company. Amongst the most-discussed projects has been turning the small town newspaper Bluffton Today into a pioneering multimedia newspaper focused on and actively participated in by its community.

Editor and Publisher magazine presented him with the 2001 EPpy Award for Individual Achievement and the Newspaper Association of America presented him with the 2007 Online Innovator Award.

He now concentrates on longterm vision, strategy, and innovation for Morris Digital Works. He now concentrates on longterm vision, strategy, and innovation for Morris Digital Works. And, of course, he blogs, too.

To attend this free programme at 6pm on Tuesday, 7th October in Greenbank Lecture Theatre in Preston - as well as the networking reception from 5pm - please RSVP to leaders[at]ukjournalism[do]ac[dot]uk.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can view the live Webcast by logging in as a guest at: http://breeze01.uclan.ac.uk/journalismleadersforum/. Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists in a text chat room.


For more information about this and other activities of the University of Central Lancashire's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and strategic solutions for the Networked Age, contact François Nel, by email (FPNel@uclan . ac . uk) or Skype (francoisnel).

Gurus Wanted: Constituting the panel for 10th Forum on 7th October

It was Jay Rosen who, at a previous Journalism Leaders Forum (the 7th, actually), suggested that, in aspects of the digital revolution, UK newsrooms were "about two years behind" the US.

If that is true, the recent trade news headlines of pending job losses at regional press giants Johnston Press and Trinity Mirror suggests that the waves of down-sizing and right- sizing and re-sizing that have been buffeting our colleagues across the Atlantic, are starting to crash onto our shores as well.

But, perhaps, there is a silver lining: Doesn’t our position as so-called laggards also open up to the possibly that we can benefit from the many hard lessons our colleagues in the US - and elsewhere - are learning through experience?

With that in mind, I've proposed the following theme for the 10th Journalism Leaders Forum on 7th October:

“Hard Lessons: What are the tough times teaching media decision-makers about the way forward?”

The key of course is who we get on the panel: for really smart - and useful - answers, we need really smart and insightful people. Or rather, smart and insightful people who are willing to share what they know. (Of course, modern technologies means we can link with folks almost anywhere.)

I know some of those - as is evident from the list of panellists in the previous Forums - but I sure don't know all of them. If you have any recommendations for the panel, it would be great to hear from you. Just post your comments here, or email me at FPNel @ uclan. ac. uk .

We're hoping to finalise the arrangement by 22nd September and look forward to your participation in the discussion, online or in person at the Forum in Preston, which is open and will, again, be Webcast live (log in as a guest).

Note:

- The next Digitial Editors' Network meeting and workshop is also scheduled in the afternoon before the Forum. More details on the DEN blog.

- This Forum is also part of the autumn residential seminar of the Journalism Leaders Programme. The application deadline for the next seminar, 'Newsroom Leadership in the Digital Age', is 12th September. Download this flyer for more details or contact me.

Play it again - the 9th Forum on Making Money

This much is clear from the 9th Journalism Leaders Forum: great minds shouldn’t be thinking alike.

The mainstream media companies who have struggled to take advantage of the expanding – and profitable - media landscape will need to do things differently. Or do more things differently. Or do more of the different things faster. Ultimately, of course, success will come to those who do the right amount of the right things at the right pace. And step one is to think differently.

Perspectives on the question, ‘If the media landscape is changing, why aren’t [many mainstream] media companies?’ from Silicon Valley (Chris Anderson), an internnational digital market intelligence company (Anton Grutzmacher), a UK media industry analyst (Peter Kirwan), a digital news entrepreneur (Rick Waghorn) were chaired by online journalism author and academic (Mike Ward). Add to that an audience of Trinity Mirror editors involved in the Journalism Leaders Programme, Digital Editors Network and others in the room and online, and you’ve got a dynamic and, potentially, very useful discussion.

If you missed it, you can see an unedited recording here.

Diary note: the 10th Forum & Digital Editors Network workshop is on 14th October & the full calendar for 2008-9 is here. Applications for the next Leaders course is also now being accepted.

Also see comments from: Oliver Luft , Andy Dickinson & Joanna Geary in text or vid.

Additional links, comments and suggestions for the next Forums – themes and panellists – would be much appreciated.

9th Forum: Why isn't more media translating into more money for mainstream media companies?

Update (17/04) : Confirmed panellists are: Chris Anderson of 'The Long Tail', Anton Grutzmacher of Hitwise, Peter Kirwan of the Press Gazette's Media Money and Rick Waghorn of www.myfootballwriter.com.


For mainstream media companies, the new Holy Grail or Holy Grail 2.0, if you will, is finding a sustainable business model for the Digital Age. While few now still argue that the old scarcity-economy model is broke, a look at the declining share prices of major media houses makes it clear that, despite much talk and even some action, still fewer are thought to have discovered how to fix it.

Last month, no less than Marc Andreessen (founder of Netscape & Ning) inaugurated “the New York Times Deathwatch” — and, as Dan Gilmore (would-be citizen journalism entrepreneur-turned-academic) in a blog post entitled, New York Times Needs to Wake Up: “the data he cites should be giving the Times-folk nightmares”.

This month, Chris Anderson (the Wired magazine editor who gave us The Long Tail ) asserted that “everything that becomes digital eventually becomes free” – and, I suspect, the data he cites will be giving everyone in the mainstream media nightmares.

Given that more people are consuming more media than ever before, a stark question arises: ‘If the media landscape is booming, why aren’t media companies?”

This is theme for the 9th Journalism Leaders Forum at Preston on 29 April 2008.

Amongst the confirmed panellists are Paul Bradshaw, author of the Online Journalism Blog and convenor of the recent Journalism Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Camp; Karen Swan, marketing head for Trinity Mirror Regionals; and Anton Grutzmacher, head of client services at the market intelligence company, Hitwise.

Joining the conversation from the audience will be participants in the Trinity Mirror Editorial Leaders Programme and Digital Editors Network members. Taking us through the issues will be Mike Ward, author of Journalism Online and head of journalism at UCLan.

To attend this free programme at 6pm on Tuesday, 29th April in Greenbank Lecture Theatre in Preston - as well as the networking reception from 5pm - please RSVP to leaders[at]ukjournalism[do]ac[dot]uk.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can view the live Webcast by logging in as a guest at: http://breeze01.uclan.ac.uk/journalismleadersforum/. Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists in a text chat room.

For more information about this and other activities of the Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and strategic solutions for the Digital Age, visit the programme website or contact me, François Nel, by email (FPNel@uclan . ac . uk) or Skype (francoisnel).

WAN-IFRA's Martha Stone joins 13th Forum panel for paywall debate

Paywalls: build them, or break them - or look beyond them?

That's the theme for the next Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston on 29th October 2009. Kicking off that discussion will be Martha Stone, director of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA's Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project. Charting the panel will be the director of UCLan Journalism Leaders Programme, François Nel, whose paper on innovations in online business models featured at the recent Future of Journalism conference in Cardiff.

To attend this free programme at 6pm on Thursday, 29^th October in Greenbank Lecture Theatre in Preston - as well as the networking reception from 5pm - please register at here.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can view the live Webcast by logging in as a guest. Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists in a text chat room.

Sports journalists must safeguard their freedom against large sporting bodies if objective coverage of sporting events is to be maintained

That's what was claimed at the recent 8th Journalism Leaders Forum hosted at the University of Central Lancashire on 29th January 08.

In a year which has seen large sporting organisations increasingly clash with journalists the debate was always going to be provocative and the audience was not disappointed. The panel consisted of renowned figures from the sports journalism world- Mihir Bose, BBC Sports Editor (right), Phil Townsend, Director of Communications for Manchester United Football Club, Andrew Moger, leader of the Newspaper Publishers Association’s digital rights campaign, Kadambari Murali, Sports Editor for the Hindustan Times (left) and Robert Hardie, Content Strategy Director for Associated Northcliffe Digital. The forum was chaired by Charlie Lambert, a veteran BBC North West sports presenter and commentator, who now runs the highly-regarded sports journalism programme at UCLan.

The opposing views put forward by Mihir Bose and Phil Townsend were particularly lively and served to illustrate the polarization of views between large, powerful sports organisations and journalists.

Andrew Moger said "As journalists we are letting ourselves down, we are letting a great industry down if we don't man the barricades against restrictive measures. We have been sleeping on this issue far too long. That includes publishers, owners and sports editors. We have tried to maintain relationships in the face of competition and control and we need to be much more robust on our own account."

If you missed the forum you can view the online recording at http://breeze01.uclan.ac.uk/p88174755/