WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

Alan Mutter’s blog looks like a “life insurance” calculator one.

He spends a lot of words to tell us how many years print newspapers will last.

So he produced the above graphic and started to project the decline of newspaper readership.

Well, this is one way to see the newspaper business: wait and see, wait and die.

My point of view, I am sorry, is the opposite.

And my radical question to newspaper publishers and editor is:

How many years are you going top wait to change and deliver new content, better formats and more innovative ways to present the news for a new generation of young non-readers?

What I see here in the Europe and America is that many newspapers are just trying to keep current readers.

The EUREKA monthly magazine of the London Times is a good exception of this strategy, and it’s working.

Like the ES Saturday magazine of La Vanguardia in Barcelona.

The Revista Nueva of Expresso in Lisbon.

The Spanish Público.

The new Primera Hora in Puerto Rico.

Or the most innovative newspaper of the last few years, the Portuguese i.

These are the exceptions, but for me these are some of the models to follow.

We spend to much time trying to keep and please dying old audiences.

Let’s concentrate, let’s invest, let’s believe in the future.

And the future are the current young non-readers.

A few minutes ago, the 11th European Newspaper Awards were announced and, i, the fantastic new paper from Lisbon is the big winner.

The European Newspaper Awards are organized by Norbert Küpper from Meerbusch (Germany) with the journalism magazines “Medium Magazin” from Frankfurt/Main, “Der Österreichische Journalist” from Salzburg (Austria) and “Schweizer Journalist” from Wilen/Wil (Switzerland).

A few weeks ago i was awarded as one the best designed newspaper of Portugal and Spain of the year.

Now i gets this European Newspaper Award.

This is not just a design contest.

The European Award includes “design and concept” and i is unique in both areas.

The Jury statement said;

“i” persuaded the jury through its special innovative approach. Newly established, the newspaper can start full of energy. It is precisely this that makes “informação” fascinating in all fields: Photography, page layout, alternative types of journalistic articles and innovative sections – completely focusing on the power of new ideas. All in all, a newspaper is evolved quintessentially, an all-round innovation. It almost goes without saying: The homepage www.ionline.pt has a similarly innovative appearance as the printed newspaper.”

INNOVATION’s Javier Errea has won right now more European Newspaper Awards than any other design consultant in the world.

Read here the INNOVATION MANIFESTO FOR i.

See here and here, a large selection of its best pages.

And here you can find a interview with its Art Director, Nick Mrozowski.

Yes, i is becoming the most innovative newspaper done by the INNOVATION team in the last 20 years.

A real revolution.

A needed revolution.

Launched just six months ago during the worst economic times…

A lesson for the newspaper industry.

And here are the real winners.

A young newsroom.

With energetic team of editors and managers.

And a brave company, Grupo Lena, investing in times of crisis.

The Award will be presented to i during the 2010 European Newspaper Congress (Vienna, April, 25-27).

(Picture by Joachim Blum)

This 37 year old Portuguese journalist is the publisher and editor of i, the new quality national compact and compelling daily newspaper published by Sojormedia that was launched in May 2009.

Martim was the former editor of Diario Economico and later became the Communications Director of SONAE.

I had the opportunity top work with Martim and his team in the planning and implementation of a simple idea: let’s produce a new and relevant on and off line daily newspaper for the new generations of professionals in Portugal, hiring young journalists and giving them a “no limits” freedom to report, edit and present exclusive news and tell stories that move people.

In less than six months, i has become the most innovative newspaper of Europe, and the best designed newspaper of Spain and Portugal.

And Martim is now one of the main speakers in any big newspaper congress.

His case, a new quality newspaper when many old ones are not sure about the future of this industry, is a great example of courage, entrepreneurship and vision.

So Martim is, for sure, a Media Innovator!

(I took the above picture during my last visit to Lisbon before the launch of i: from the left to the right, Martim with his Commercial Director, Joao Pedro Mendes, and the President of Sojormedia, Francisco Rebelo dos Santos)

Some basic facts about the new “i” newspaper to be launched this Thursday in Lisbon:

First INNOVATION meeting with the directors of Sojormedia: August 2008 in Faro, Portugal.

First INNOVATION prototypes presented in Lisbon: December 16, 2008, still with no final name.

Publisher: SOJORMEDIA, a regional multimedia group owned by the Lena Group.

CEO of  SOJORMEDIA and “i”:  Francisco Santos.

Publisher and editor-in-chief: Martim Figueiredo.

Managing Editor: André Macedo.

Assistant Editors: Silvia Oliveira and Francisco Camacho.

Assistant Managing Editors: Miguel Pacheco and Monica Bello (online)

Art Director: Nick Mrozowski.

Commercial director:  Joao Pedro Mendes.

General Manager: Rui Paulo.

Editorial System: Milenium from Protec Media.

Design of the news editorial and management facilities: INNOVATION’s Calau & Riera from Barcelona, Spain.

Online design: the team of INNOVATION’s dosalcubo from Buenos Aires, Argentina, led by director Leandro Armas.

URL: www.ionline.pt.

INNOVATION consulting team: Carlo Campos as the Project Manager, Javier Errea as the Chief Design consultant, and Laura Cruz, Miguel Angel Jimeno, Eduardo Tessler, Jorge Heili and Chiqui Esteban.

Journalists: 80 (among them, 6 designers)

Page average: around 56

Full color.

Stapled.

Size: 35 cm x 25 cm.

Published only from Monday to Saturday.

Cover price: Monday to Thursday, 1 euro; Friday and Saturday 1,40 euro.

First run: almost 100.000 copies.

Investment: more than 10 million euros.

Promotional campaign by Ativism

Contacts: “i”, Tagus Park. Edifício Tecnologia I – corpo 1, 2740-257 Oeiras, Portugal. Phone (+351) 210 434 000

(In the picture above, another early INNOVATION prototype of “i” with a masthead, features, type, and colors that you will not see in tomorrow’s real number one)