Facing the Challenges of Multi-Channel Publishing in a Newspaper Company

Newspaper companies all over the world are faced with the challenge of how to react to digital convergence and reformulation of the media field. The study describes the transfer from paperbased publishing to multi-channel publishing in a Finnish newspaper publishing company and how this was experienced by the participants. The case analysis covers the news products of the company, the editorial processes, actors in the processes, the tools used to produce and manage news content, and the problems faced. During the transfer the company expanded its collaboration network to include several other media companies and some information technology companies. Lack of a revenue generation strategy for new digital services was one of the major problems in multi-channel publishing. Although the company offered a rich selection of digital services, 90% of the company’s income still derived from paper-based publishing. The experience gained with creating the digital services was however, seen valuable as a necessary preparation for the emergent future changes.