European Digital Media Awards 2022

Catalina Albeanu is a digital editor passionate about developing interdisciplinary editorial projects. She’s currently working on setting up a directory of journalism networks in Europe as part of the European Excellence Exchange in Journalism (E3J) project. Previously she was digital editor at DoR, a non-profit independent media focused on narrative storytelling in Romania, and media reporter and events manager at Journalism.co.uk.

Since joining WAN-IFRA in 1997, Valérie has accrued more than 20 years of experience as a media journalist. Currently, she is a team member of WAN-IFRA’s Global Advisory division where she works with the Advisory Team in leading global consulting projects. She is also the Programme Lead for WAN-IFRA’s top global conferences including: World News Media Congress and our Digital Media Event Series. She has contributed to numerous research reports, including Alternative Revenue Streams for Publishers. As part of her research, Valérie interviewed numerous publishers who had found success discovering new business models – whether its through events, e-commerce, video or marketing services – Valérie has experience taking the pulse on what generates revenue for publishers.

Julia has been an online journalist for 15 years, starting out covering cultural topics and moving on towards the technical and strategic side of journalism. After six years as a feuilleton writer at Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, she changed course and now is the lead coordinator for paid content at Tagesspiegel. In that role, she provides the newsroom with data, the copy writers with topic ideas and the publishing house with the editorial view on strategic changes. She has a strong interest in all things data and has accepted that this love isn’t always mutual. The techniques and challenges of storytelling do rarely leave her mind: In her spare time, she writes novels.

Iker is the Design & Product Director at Vocento and was previously their Art Director in Innovation of Regional Newspapers and Magazines. Before joining Vocento, Iker was the Online Art Director at La Verdad and Art Director for Diario las Americas.

Federica Cherubini is Head of Leadership Development at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. She is an expert in newsroom operations and organisational change, with ten years experience spanning major publishers, research institutes and editorial networks around the world. Federica specialises in devising and implementing new and improved ways of working, bridging people, disciplines, departments, projects and cultures.

John Crowley is an editor, trainer and consultant with 25 years of journalistic experience managing newsrooms and budgets across a variety of titles. After taking on digital and leadership roles for The Daily Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and The Irish Post, he now writes across subjects including technology, business, newsroom management, sustainability, mental health and wellbeing. John has a strong track record in digital innovation and audience insights, reacting to the varied ways people now consume news. In his consultancy role, he advises companies on the ever-changing digital media landscape and how PRs can pitch journalists.

At the end of 2020, he co-published a report into wellbeing entitled ‘Journalism in the Time of Covid’. As a result he was asked to train journalists in the US and UK. John is a trained mental health first aider with MHFA England. He has co-developed a journalism wellbeing programme for Headlines Network with journalist colleague Hannah Storm in late 2021. They have published a suite of mental health resources for journalists in 2022, working with the charity Mind, and have started a new podcast called Behind the Headlines.

More than 15 years in the world of new technologies, online business development and digital transformation of media organizations. Cerezo has worked as a consultant for the main media in Spain and Latin America. He was director of research and digital strategy at Prisa between 2007 and 2012. Has extensive knowledge on digital business, reader revenue, marketing and online advertising, and web analytics and wide experience in the implementation and development of digital projects through their strategic design, planning, implementation and monitoring phases. Is the author of the books: The Liquid Media, the transformation of business models (2018), Subscription Models in the Press (2019) and Deconstructing the media: How to adapt communication companies to the digital environment (2022).

Daniel has been the CEO of RP Digital in Düsseldorf from 2019 to 2022. He has also served as the Chief Digital Officer for Rheinische Post Mediagroup and CEO at ProServ Verwaltungs GmbH since 2018. Previously, Daniel was a Management Consultant for Digital Transformation/Digital Paid in Paris after working as Publishing Director at PRISMA MEDIA TV-ENTERTAINMENT from 2011-2018. Daniel received his PhD (Dr. rer. pol.), Productivity in Marketing from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, as well as a certificate in Mastering Design Thinking from MIT Management Education.

Lyndsey Jones is a publishing consultant, digital transformation expert, strategic advisor and coach, working with media groups in Africa and Europe either independently or via WAN-IFRA, Women in News, FT Strategies and other consultancy agencies.

Stéphane’s professional DNA is rooted in 25 years of BBC international journalism. He went into broadcast media after a pan-European MBA that took him from France to the UK and Germany. He has spent more than half his life abroad, including post-apartheid South Africa and likes to call himself a serial foreigner. He puts warmth, authenticity and performance at the centre of his coaching work. He enjoys looking at events and the world from as many perspectives as possible and very much welcomes coaching clients from diverse frames of reference. He has co-designed and co-facilitated workshops focusing on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within and outside the media industry.

Joan is the Echo Editor (Social Media Editor) at the Standard Group Ltd. She is passionate about using digital media to better the lives of people and businesses. Joan has worked in the digital space for nine years, working with various media houses in Kenya in digital/online and social media content development for TV, radio and print. She has been involved in content production, social media and website updates and management, digital marketing, online public relations and social media campaigns execution​.

Dan runs Inbox Collective, a consultancy that helps news organizations, non-profits, and brands get the most out of email. He specializes in helping organizations build loyal audiences via email and then converting that audience into subscribers, members, or donors. He’s the creator of Not a Newsletter, a monthly briefing with news, tips, and ideas about how to send better email. He previously worked as the Director of Newsletters at both The New Yorker and BuzzFeed. He’s been a featured speaker at events like Litmus Live in Boston and the Email Marketing Summit in Brisbane. He’s also widely quoted on email strategies, including in publications like The Washington Post, Fortune, and Digiday.

Leonardo Pescante is deputy editor in chief, in charge of digital at 24heures.ch, a French-speaking media in Switzerland. After studying mathematics and management at the University of Lausanne, he worked for almost 15 years at Swiss Radio International. He contributed to the transformation of this radio station, broadcasting in nine languages, into an internet platform that became swissinfo.ch. Leonardo also participated in the launch of the national music website Couleur3.ch and the website of the French-speaking Swiss television rts.ch. In 2011, he joined the editorial staff of 24heures, where he accelerated the digital transition with the move to the paid web.

Eve Rickles-Young is the Digital Media Manager for The Salt Lake Tribune. She has been working in marketing for nonprofits for most of her career. She has a background in art history and loves the creativity of the field. Eve moved to Utah from New York City in 2018 for the mountains and outdoor activities.

Penny Riordan is the Director of Business Strategy and Partnerships for Local Media Association. She runs the LMA Digital Club, including two web conferences per month where members collaborate with industry peers on important digital revenue, product, audience and content topics. Penny also supports the work of the Oklahoma Media Center and LMA’s new initiative on locals news startups with the Tributary in Jacksonville, FL.

Sophie Rohringer is Audience & Analytics Manager at DuMont’s publication “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger“. In this role, she provides dashboards, reportings and data analysis to the newsroom, marketing and management, enabling them to make data driven decisions in their daily work. She is also part of the strategic team focusing on optimizing paid subscriptions. Taking part in Table Stakes Europe 2021, Sophie and her team are working on creating audience centric workflows within the company to drive a sustainable growth in digital subscriptions. Her role allows Sophie to combine her journalistic background, analytical mindset and her passion for digital journalism.

Dean is Director of Insights and Editor-in-Chief of WAN-IFRA, he is responsible for coordinating all activities related to the organisation’s array of multimedia publications. He has more than 25 years’ experience working in the news publishing industry, much of that time spent researching, analysing, identifying and ultimately reporting about global media developments.

Up until recently, Ramaa was Senior Editor in BBC News. Her work included driving digital transformation and innovation focused on bringing in new and underserved audiences to the BBC. More recently, after a year long fellowship Ramaa has been sharing her leadership journey as a woman of colour at the BBC. In addition she has designed and delivered a successful Race & Inclusion programme to the BBC’s News board last month. Ramaa was also a member of the BBC’s Coach Network and offered coaching and leadership masterclasses to executives across the BBC.

Nick is responsible for subscription sales of the digital products of the German financial daily Handelsblatt and the business magazine WirtschaftsWoche – all part of their “Subscriber-First” strategy. He brings almost a decade of experience as a coach and advisor on paid content topics at WAN-IFRA, working with news publishers across the globe and especially Europe. While very happy to talk for hours about an audiences-first approach to conversion and engagement (plug for Table Stakes!), he is particularly excited about VR and the future of digital journalism. 

Brian is a Senior Editor at WAN-IFRA and specialises in reporting about reader revenue, advertising and general management topics for our website and reports. He is the editor of WAN-IFRA’s Reader Revenue newsletter and a contributor to our daily Executive News Service newsletter. Before joining WAN-IFRA, he worked as an editor at several daily newspapers.