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6/23/11 5:36 PM

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Guardian News & Media to be a digitalfirst organisation

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 June 2011 16.30 BST
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Guardian News & Media (GNM), publisher of the Guardian, has revealed plans to become a digital-first organisation, placing open journalism on the web at the heart of its strategy. Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of GNM, and Andrew Miller, chief executive of parent company Guardian Media Group (GMG), today outlined to staff a major transformation programme in response to "inexorable trends" in media consumption. Rusbridger told employees that GNM would "move beyond the newspaper, shifting focus, effort and investment towards digital, because that is our future". Miller said GNM was "embarking on a major transformation that will see us change from a print-based organisation to one that is digital-first in philosophy and practice". The company said the new strategy was a response to changes affecting the entire media sector, which has seen rapid growth in digital audiences but also financial challenges for newspaper publishers due to declining print circulation and advertising revenues. It said that while print remained critical to GNM, the strategy would involve changes to its newspapers over time and investment in digital initiatives such as a new US operation based in New York and new mobile offerings. The Guardian has championed a highly distinctive, open approach to publishing on the web and grown its audience to 50 million unique browsers a month. The new strategy is aimed at further digital growth, and ensuring the Guardian's long-term financial sustainability. GMG is owned by the Scott Trust, which exists to secure the independence of the Guardian. The Group has a portfolio of assets and investments which provide financial stability for the core business GNM. The company said this meant it was launching the strategy from a position of strength. Rusbridger said: "Every newspaper is on a journey into some kind of digital future. That doesn't mean getting out of print, but it does require a greater focus of attention, imagination and resource on the various forms that digital future is likely to take. "The Guardian has consistently led the way on digital innovation and is currently showing year on year growth of 40 per cent. We are expanding into America and continuing to pioneer what we call open journalism editorial content which is collaborative, linked into and networked with the rest of the web. "We will also be changing the printed Monday to Friday newspaper to take account of changing patterns of readership and advertising. Half our readers now read the paper
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Guardian News & Media to be a digital-first organisation | GNM press office | guardian.co.uk

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in the evening: they get their breaking news from our website or on mobile. "We're encouraged that the latest NRS figures show that the Guardian is the only national newspaper to have grown its paper readership over the past year up 3 per cent against declines in the quality market of between 8 and 15 per cent. This comes in the year in which the Guardian was named Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards. "By becoming a digital-first organisation we're taking the next natural step, one which we believe all newspapers will eventually have to take." Miller said the new strategy would target growth in digital audiences, revenues and engagement, while maximising revenues in print. He said there would be a move to a direct model with greater numbers of print subscribers, which would also allow GNM to launch new cross-media content offerings. He added that resources would be moved from print and reinvested in digital growth areas, and that there would also be investment in new brand marketing. Miller said the strategy was designed "to place the Guardian on a sustainable financial footing". Miller said: "The opportunities presented by the growth of digital media are immense. The Guardian's journalism has never been more widely read. However, the same forces driving opportunity in digital are creating challenges for newspaper publishers across the developed world, including GNM. "Circulation and advertising revenues in print continue to fall throughout the sector as readers and advertisers embrace new technologies and digital platforms, and this is not a trend that's about to go into reverse. "We are going to become a digital-first organisation, and are at the beginning of a process of transformation to achieve that. The quality of our journalism, our long-term outlook, the assets in GMG's portfolio, our unique ownership structure, our progressive approach to digital media and our fantastic people mean we can do this from a position of strength. "Innovation of this kind is in the best traditions of the Scott Trust and will help us to fulfil our mission of securing the independence of the Guardian in perpetuity." -EndsFor more information please contact the GNM press office: 020 3353 2219. Notes for Editors Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes guardian.co.uk, one of the world's leading news websites, and the Guardian and Observer newspapers. The Guardian was named Newspaper of the Year at the 2011 British Press Awards. GNM is the core business of Guardian Media Group (GMG), whose sole shareholder is the Scott Trust. The Scott Trust exists to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity. GMG has a portfolio of investments, including an investment fund, a majority share in Auto Trader publisher Trader Media Group and a minority share in business-to-business media group Emap, which provide
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Guardian News & Media to be a digital-first organisation | GNM press office | guardian.co.uk

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financial stability for the core business. GNM recently announced a reorganisation of its senior management structure, with Sheila Fitzsimons taking the role of executive director transformation and Adam Freeman becoming executive director commercial. GNM also recently announced that Janine Gibson will head up its new digital-only operation in the US, which will be launched later this year. Gibson will lead a team based in New York. The Guardian has an audience of 11.8 million unique users in the US (source: Comscore May 2011) and is targeting further growth in users and advertising revenues. GNM digital facts: - In May 2011, guardian.co.uk reached more than 50 million monthly unique browsers and 2.8 million daily unique browsers globally (unaudited subject to ABC audit). - Latest figures show the Guardian's iPhone app has been downloaded more than 400,000 times and has generated 67,000 active subscriptions since relaunching in January. - guardian.co.uk has seen access from mobile devices more than double in the last year to reach over 10% of its total traffic. The Guardian recently celebrated its 190th birthday: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2011/may/16/moments-that-madeguardian-interactive. Follow us on Twitter: @GNM_Press or email: media.enquiries@guardian.co.uk.
guardian.co.uk Guardian News and Media Limited 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gnm-press-office/guardian-news-media-digital-first-organisation/print

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