News Impact Summit: Personalisation, immersive experience & digital transformation of news

Personalising the way news is delivered is nothing new, but how the leading media have approached this in the most successful way to increase the audience engagement? This session features 4 media houses, namely Quartz, NPR, Yle and Adresseavisen to discuss their personalised content distribution models and what they have learned from their tested strategies.

Making your content unique is one thing; displaying your unique content is another. De Volkskrant, one of the leading Dutch newspapers, has been creative with not only the topics they cover but also how they deliver them, including the recent Trump Votewiser, a tool that proves the presidential candidate’s inconsistencies.

There are many new Google tools such as Youtube 360° and Photosphere that support journalists to tell complex uncovered stories. These tools often allow media to give an audience the experience that they cannot get otherwise. How do the leading media houses use these Google tools to tell stories in innovative ways?

Today’s journalists can take advantages of social media to detect early signs of breaking news. But it’s not an easy task to scan through a high volume of contents and verify them within a short period of time. Even worse, journalists often take unethical approach when contacting eyewitnesses. What are the principles and steps to take so that you don’t end up being an “unethical journalist”?

A series of attacks that took place earlier this year surprised many newsrooms in the world. Especially being near to the epicentre and subsequently becoming the main source of information for the rest of the world is unbearably challenging. What can we learn from VRT, the Belgian public broadcaster, from their own experiences and how are they approaching digital sourcing and verification after the Brussels attacks?

The Washington Post has developed its own headline-testing algorithm tool that helps editors identify the best headlines for online news and features. How does it work, and what are the sound tips for the editors and journalists to better connect and engage with digital audience through headlines? Doris shares some of the insights from the Homepage Editor point of view.

While many journalism startups are launched everywhere in the world, only a few end up remaining in the market. De Correspondent, the most successful online pure player in the Netherlands, and Long Play, a Finnish equivalent, are the examples of the most successful journalism startups in Europe. What are their content strategies and how do they collaborate with the audience?

Helsingin Sanomat has been spearheading the world of data journalism in Finland and Europe. Especially in the recent years, they have been focusing more on how to engage with the audience through interactives and visually engaging data stories. The most-read Finnish newspaper will share some of the recent examples of the data stories and interactives, and unveil the next steps.

Covering Russia-related topics is increasingly becoming challenging especially in the digital sphere; more and more journalists have become the victims of online trolls and phishing attacks. It has also become common that Russian hackers spread propaganda on social networks. What are the trends witnessed by the expert journalists and how can we protect ourselves and our sources in the digital environment?

The year of 2016 has witnessed Virtual Reality as the big technology trend. Newsrooms in Europe have also started to explore the opportunities with 360° videos during protests and special events, but also have created VR stories to allow audience experience something that they cannot experience in a real life. This session will debate the opportunities and challenges with the world of VR and 360° videos.