Using audience needs to unlock digital transformation – Report on the latest round of Table Stakes Europe

2024-01-30. Our new report shares lessons from European news publishers who embraced a digital- and audiences-first approach to transform their newsroom operations.

by Teemu Henriksson teemu.henriksson@wan-ifra.org | January 30, 2024

The report, “Change agents: Using audience needs to unlock digital transformation,” is based on the 2023 round of Table Stakes Europe, a WAN-IFRA programme in partnership with the Google News Initiative, in which 24 news publishers undertook specific change management initiatives to address key challenges in their digital transformation journeys.

  • The first part of the report explores the strategies the companies used to make rapid progress with their transformation, win over colleagues, and spread new ways of working across their organisations.
  • The second part looks at how the publishers realigned their journalism to meet the needs and interests of specific audiences, allowing them to build stronger relationships with their readers and engage targeted audience groups. 

Table Stakes Europe teaches change management skills to people working in news organisations. TSE participants undertake specific — and significant — change management initiatives, including diversifying their revenue streams, embracing new digital platforms and expanding the audiences they serve. The audienceS-first methodology behind Table Stakes can be applied to any publisher, regardless of their market size, subscription model, or current digital transformation stage.

The report includes the following case studies:

  • General-Anzeiger Bonn, Germany
  • Grupo Joly, Spain
  • Hamburger Abendblatt, Germany
  • Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany
  • Karjalainen, Finland
  • L’AGEFI, France
  • L’Opinion, France
  • Our Media, Slovakia
  • Ringier Hungary, Hungary
  • Rossel Est Médias, France
  • Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany
  • Wiener Zeitung, Austria

The case studies in the report are also included in the Best Practice Showcase, which features initiatives carried out by TSE participants since the programme’s start in Europe in 2019. The TSE Best Practice Showcase is available in all four languages and is searchable by geography, topic, or news product type.

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Teemu Henriksson

Research Editor

teemu.henriksson@wan-ifra.org