RIND Survey - Press Institute of India › file-folder › rindsurvey › April 16 low res.pdf · However, riding the digital wave has never been easy or smooth. Yes, social is where

A Journal of the Press Institute of India - Research Institute for Newspaper Development

April 2016 | Volume 37 | Issue 4 | Rs 40www.pressinstitute.in

SurveyRIND

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NO PERFECT SOLUTION SANS COMMITTED RESEARCHWith drupa just a month or so away, companies are vying for attention with new product launches, displays and offers of solutions. The thrust as always is on innovation, quality control, enhanced automation, reduction of waste, etc. One of the companies planning to reveal an array of new products, including plates, CtP and controls at drupa 2016 is Cron. Its high-tech plant for lower-cost, precision plates focuses on the eco-friendliness of new plate technologies. What many of us forget is that it is usually quiet and painstaking research (reflected by this picture taken at Cron’s facility) that aids technological progress. You can read more about developments ahead of drupa on pages 33 - 37.

3April 2016 SurveyRIND

FROM THE EDITOR

Sashi [email protected]

Let there be progress and change, and let us learn from shared experiences

If there are companies like Cron who have decided to retain offset competitiveness against the growth of digital print, there are others who are trying their best to keep up with “the quicksilver pace of new, tech-driven media processes in India”, a pace that seems to maintain a momentum all its own. Veteran journalist Pamela Philipose has captured well the flavour of “the throes of a great churn” as she puts it, after attending the WAN-IFRA Digital Media India 2016 Conference held in New Delhi in February. So, there is progress, there is change, and, of course, there are challenges.

At the two-day conference, some significant points came to the fore: not every single new Internet user is proficient in English; Hindi content grew five times that of English; search queries in Hindi grew at a ten times faster pace than those in English; and, significantly, by mid-2017, the Hindi ad inventory will overtake the English ad inventory. In fact, the share of local language adspend on digital is expected to rise from 5 per cent last year to 30 per cent by 2020. Ad revenues will be under threat as the future becomes digital. And, what might not be welcome news to news publishers and television channel owners, — with newspapers, television too increasingly appeals only to the 35-plus age group.

However, riding the digital wave has never been easy or smooth. Yes, social is where the story breaks first, social is where journalists tend to follow up first. But being on social media and garnering ‘likes’ is not enough, mainstream media houses would need to translate the ‘likes’ into a continuous engagement, Philipose echoes the views of some of the speakers.

At the conference, Philipose listened to Torry Pedersen, CEO/editor-in-chief, Verdens Gang AS (VG), Norway’s largest media house. The only way to go it seems, according to Pedersen, is to experiment and learn from each other’s experiences. He makes some very pertinent points. One, you have to be the fastest – the Usain Bolt of the media. Two, you have to be live and present, and to be alive today

all you need is a selfie stick and an iPhone. Three, your content will have to create emotion -- of course, you have to be opinionated. The biggest proportion of traffic from our Facebook is the opinion section because people like to express their views and you have to let them do it. Finally, you have to instil the ‘fear of missing out’ in your audience, so that people keep coming back to you.

The discussion about going digital is usually preceded by a caveat on the consequences. Ricardo Gandour, director of Brazil’s Estado Media Group, which includes the 141-year old flagship daily newspaper, O Estado de SPaulo, says fragmentation of media introduced by digital technology and now amplified by powerful social platforms comes with a risk to journalism and democracy. “Social media has boosted superficiality, with instant responses of either like or dislike, contributing towards a polarizing society. We are losing the nuances in our debate,” he warns, adding that media literacy is also suffering. Young consumers are often unable to tell the difference between opinion and fact. They also no longer have the hierarchy of news, reinforced by the print layout and design, to draw on. Gandour will share his findings at the World Editors Forum in Cartagena come June.

Among the 2015 World Digital Media Award winners is The Guardian, ranked as the Best News Website. The citation reads: Guardian News and Media’s unrelenting pursuit of a digital-first agenda, including its in-house metrics analysis shared with journalists, has made it a leader in technology, but not at the cost of the basics of good news. That, I thought, sums it all up rather well.

4 April 2016SurveyRIND

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Cover page photo: Cron

Legacy media and the digital challenge 6Pamela Philipose

Digital transition, Norwegian Style 8Pamela Philipose

How stable are digital platforms? 10Pamela Philipose

The ‘chilling effect’ of subtle pressures 14Gayatri T. Rao

Does page size matter? 16Matt Lindsay, Mather Economics

Systematic approach, with lower GSM newsprint 19Mohanraj P., The Hindu

Adopting new technologies for sustainability 21Samer Sabri Abdel Qader, Masar Printing & Publishing

Award-winning video 22By special arrangement with WAN-IFRA

Industry Updates 28

Other News 42

Events Calendar 45


Legacy media and the digital challengeProgress is all about change but change may not be all progress. The challenge is finding ways to respond to the consequences of change without being subsumed by them, says Pamela Philipose. Undoubtedly the media scene in India is presently in the throes of a great churn and the manner in which mainstream media groups are reacting to it -- or should react to it -- was a theme that ran through the discussions at the Digital Media India 2016 Conference held in New Delhi on February 22 and 23. Philipose, who attended the conference, sent us this report

The quicksilver pace of new, tech-driven media processes in India was reflected in a presentation made by Rajan Anandan, vice

president and managing director, Google South East Asia and India. According to him, India is still getting started as part of the Internet eco system and will see exponential growth in the near future. By the end of December 2015, there were 350 million Internet users – up from 100 million in 2011. Large as this number is, it constitutes only 30 per cent of the country’s population and there are another billion Indians to count. By 2017, there could be about 500 million Internet users in the country.

There are several interesting trends within this transformation that Anandan highlighted. One is that much of the growth in Internet use is through mobile phones. He predicted that once the price of smartphones drop to anything between Rs 2000 and Rs 3000, there will be an explosion in usage. Two, that the profile of the Internet user is also set to change. The present cohort of urban, male and English

THe GreaT CHUrn

English; search queries in Hindi grew at a ten times faster pace than those in English; and, significantly, by mid-2017, the Hindi ad inventory will overtake the English ad inventory. In fact, the share of local language adspend on digital is expected to rise from 5 per cent in 2015 to 30 per cent by 2020. The third distinct trend is the popularity of online video, which has 100 million users presently, even before broadband has been mainstreamed. People, it seems, just prefer digital content that has a large visual component.

Each of the developments holds enormous significance for legacy media. For the Express Group, “digital finally arrived in 2015”, according to Anant Goenka, whole-time director and head of New Media. The Express digital platform notched 50 million unique visitors last year. This means that while The Indian Express in its print avatar comes in the top five or six newspapers in the country, its digital counterpart is second in the pecking order. But Goenka is aware that this trend is by no means an unmixed blessing. As he put it, “Ad revenues will be under threat as the future becomes digital. Charging for news content is a brave step, which I’m not even going to try.” He worried about the fact that newspapers are being forced to sell their digital inventory very cheap, adding that there is a decided trust deficit between newspapers like his and the big Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and Google.

Goenka could have been speaking for many representatives of legacy media present in the room grappling with similar conundrums. Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, ABP News Network, was upfront about the monetisation challenge that news

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Rajan Anandan.

language users will soon achieve saturation point and more rural, female and local language users will come online.

Underlining this are some factoids: over the past 18 months, every single new Internet user is not proficient in English; Hindi content grew five times that of


Anant Goenka.

television is facing, “All we can see is that our TV revenues are likely to shrink and we don’t know where fresh sources of money are going to come from.” Television has long been the platform on which news broke but today news is more likely to break

is presently having to deal legally with at least five such instances.

What, then, is the way ahead for legacy media? Sanjay Trehan, business head, Digital Content & Syndication, Hindustan Times Media, came up with string of syllables in response: ‘Co Mo Vi Na

on social media. “Somebody tweets, somebody posts, it becomes a Whatsapp comment – that’s the reality,” quipped Venkatramani. He had some reality checks for his audience: the average time spent on the Internet in India is about five hours a day, while television viewing is down to 1 hour and 58 minutes, with news accounting for around 30 minutes a day. In fact, along with newspapers, television too increasingly appeals only to the 35-plus age group.

So what is the way forward for legacy media? Of great priority, according to Venkatramani, is the need to create specific content for digital platforms, re-cycling content that has been customised for television is not enough. For instance, since video content unlike TV content is likely to be consumed by young people, stories should ideally have a duration of under three minutes and their scripting has to be different if they have to be impactful. “At ABP News Network, we had to almost re-engineer ourselves to produce content capability in the digital space. We push a lot of videos on FB for it to roll, become viral and move on; we had to unlearn a lot of the classical television approach,” he said.

Such transitions come with two big headaches. Given the distinct possibility of shrinkage of revenue, legacy media practitioners will have to increasingly

Ashok Venkatramani.

adapt to new sources of revenue such as native advertising. The second big worry is the lack of a regulatory framework. One’s content can be stolen or one’s logo could be slapped on fraudulent content in order to give it authenticity. ABP News Network

Sanjay Trehan.

So’. ‘Co’, according to him, stood for the converged newsroom because legacy media would need to move away for their old model of stop-start journalism and cater to news that is rolling. “We found a converged newsroom is necessary to cohabit 650 journalists armed with all kinds of weaponry. Technology is its invisible backbone,” Trehan noted.

The next syllable, mo, stands for mobile. Like Venkatramani, Trehan also believes it is important to design products for the mobile web. Monetising such content, he admits, is difficult and raises questions of how cross screen usage is to be measured and charged. Coming to ‘v’, or video, Trehan regarded it as the third “big priority” for legacy media because it will account for 50 per cent of the digital ad spend. The tricky part here is in deciding how much an organisation should spend on creating original video content. ‘Na’, or native, follows next. Native advertising, a very serious trend, is basically digital marketing through the deployment of immersive apps and sites. But Trehan cautions that it must be deployed in a way that does not destroy the credibility of the media product in which such advertising is situated. “For us in Hindustan Times, which enjoys huge credibility, the dilemma is in how we should draw a clear line between original content and advertising content.” He finally came to ‘so’, or social media. Being on social media and garnering ‘likes’ is not enough, mainstream media houses would need to translate these ‘likes’ into a continuous engagement.

Some legacy media have already made some of these transitions. According to Soumyadip Choudhary, technology editor and product manager, IBNLive, the social media presence of his organisation has helped it to absorb the shock of change. At present, IBNLive has 2.15 million followers on Twitter and 3.7 million friends on Facebook. It also uses YouTube, Google, Vine, Periscope, Tumblr, Instagram and Whatsapp,


the instant messaging platform. The effort has been to grow organically.

“We don’t want to force people to come and like us, they must come on their own. Therefore, social is where the story breaks first; social is where we follow up first; social is where we seek reactions; social is where

Rajesh Priyadarshi.

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we seek stories; social is where we build stories; social is where we go live. Our reporters do livestreaming on Periscope -- a Google app through which video can be broadcast to the world and where followers can join and comment,” he revealed. Choudhary ends with some words of advice to his peers in legacy media, “Don’t be afraid to automate. Content is king. Remember hashtags are important but are not the prime driving force. Users don’t really care about who created a hashtag. The important thing is to get it to trend.”

BBC Hindi followed a similar trajectory. According to Rajesh Priyadarshi, digital editor, BBC Hindi,

Norway is nothing like India. For starters, its total population at 5.1 million is smaller than that of any Indian metropolis. Yet India can learn a great deal from Norway precisely because it is far ahead on the learning curve in terms of how legacy media can transition to the digital space and that was the theme of the keynote address delivered by Torry Pedersen, CEO/editor-in-chief, Verdens Gang AS (VG), Norway’s largest media house, at Digital Media India 2016.

VG began as a newspaper 70 years ago. At some point during the turn of the millennium it had to face up to the reality that the Norwegian public is opting for digital media platforms at a frenetic pace.

The figures Pedersen presented said it all: 84 per cent of Norwegians today owns a smartphone; 87 per cent access the Internet every day. From 1998

Digital transition, Norwegian Style

Facebook has become a parallel platform, “We also do Google HangOut quite regularly, inviting questions and placing the feedback on the screen. We also put out excerpts of this on our website and radio. Our Facebook live chat is one big stream of ongoing conservation.” But he emphasised that

to 2015, digital as the primary source of news shot up from 6 to 80 per cent, even while newspapers declined from 43 to 31 per cent in the same period, with television and radio remained fairly flat at 52 and 40 per cent respectively in 2015. Newspaper reading having peaked in 2002, the printed newspaper in Norway is expected to be extinct within the next six to seven years.

Underlining this is the fact that ad revenue from print, which accounted for 60 per cent of VG’s ad revenue in 2009, had declined to 24 per cent by 2015.

Going by these trends VG realised that if it had to remain as the foremost institution of its kind in the country, it would have to change its game – and fast. This was, in the words of Pedersen, all about

“winning the battle for attention and revenue” since money always follows eyeballs.

Soumyadip Choudhary.

some of the old rules of legacy media continue to be valuable on digital platforms as well – nothing, for instance, is published without proper checks.

Change, as they say, is the only constant. Two things are clear though: legacy media has no escape from planning for a digital future and there is no single answer to how such a transition can be achieved. In such a scenario, the only way to go it seems is to experiment and learn from each other’s experiences.

(The writer is a senior journalist and Indian Council of Social Science Research senior fellow now researching on the media.)


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Torry Pedersen says editors need to understand what the audience is interested in.

That VG has succeeded in achieving this, given the many challenges that it faced as legacy platform transitioning to digital, could be seen as a tribute to Pedersen’s business acumen and leadership talent. The strategies VG employed are educative for editors across the world grappling with similar scenarios, including those in India.

For Pedersen, an enthusiastic ownership of digital culture is important. As he put it, “You cannot give the upper hand to conservatives and the legacy culture. My newspaper is expected to cater to an 80-year-old man living up north and a 20-year-old girl living in a tony part of Oslo. That can’t be right.”

But to achieve a change in thinking, everybody in the organisation had to be taken along. Pedersen built consensus in the newsroom through the simple expedient of holding daily morning meetings with staff, where the main topic of discussion was about the changing media universe.

Today, apart from the newspaper, VG has a strong presence on social media platforms. But the emphasis at all times is on its own website: 4 per cent of its traffic comes from its Facebook account, 68 per cent from its main page. This transition from being primarily print to building a formidable presence in the digital space had its challenges. The common error everyone makes, according to Pedersen, is to underestimate the mobile: it’s portable, it’s

small, but it’s also personal, he emphasises. This means that editors need to understand what the audience is interested in, “Four prerequisites need to be highlighted: One, you have to be the fastest

– the Usain Bolt of the media. Two, you have to be live and present and to be alive today all you need is a selfie stick and an iPhone. Three, your content will have to create emotion -- of course you have to be opinionated. The biggest proportion of traffic from our Facebook is the opinion section because people like to express their views and you have to let them do it. Finally, you have to instill the ‘fear of missing out’ in your audience, so that people keep coming back to you.”

Pedersen recounted how VG used a Justin Beiber concert in Oslo in October 2015 to achieve saturation coverage. The Canadian singer who has a great fan base in Norway – especially among girls aged 11 to 16 -- abruptly cancelled his concert in Oslo after performing just one song, accusing his fans of grabbing at his hands and feet when he had bent down to mop some water on the stage. Although a particular media company had exclusive rights to the Oslo concert, a video posted on VG’s website of that particular moment went viral: 4.8 m watched it on the VG website -- which is huge considering that there are only 5.1 m Norwegians. Of these 1.3 million engaged with the content in some way by either sharing it or commenting on it.

But if entertainment is important, so are serious in-depth stories. Stickiness is achieved through a combination of entertainment and enlightenment. Pedersen’s parting postulate was that technology must not be feared but embraced. “In the rush of digital technology it may seem as if all the profits are going to go away. But today the majority of VG’s revenue comes from digital services. Journalism is not disrupted by technology. It helps you tell the story even better; it is enabling journalism.”

Pamela Philipose


The conversation, moderated by T. Gautham Pai, group managing director of The Manipal Group, had three participants, all of them

well-known figures in the digital space: Ritu Kapur, co-founder, the quint.com, Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor, thewire.in and Sruthijith K.K., editor-in-chief, Huffington Post India. Pai set the ball rolling by observing that India has seen a great deal of technology-driven disruption which has led to the demonetisation of traditional media businesses. But he also underlined the positive outcomes that have resulted, democratisation being one. Important, too, was his observation that the linear manner in which media had changed in an earlier era has now being replaced by exponential transformation.

Kapur, the first to respond to Pai’s opening remarks, observed that the term ‘disruption’ needed to be defined more clearly, although she admitted that disruption seems to have indeed occurred, most significantly in the speed with which content is delivered on digital.

Sruthijith, who came across as the most enthusiastic votary of the digital model of the three speakers, argued that all the conversation-generating content today is being put out by digital platforms. “We are in the infancy of this phenomenon. For Huffpost in Korea, 90 per cent of its audience is coming from mobile. In India, it is already 50 per cent,” he revealed. Caveats like ad blocs and the like aside, he believed that digital media have already begun to disrupt the Indian news media industry. The value of newspaper advertisements, according to him, lay in the ability of the newspaper to deliver the right audience, and this could change in favour of digital in the future.

Striking a note of caution was Varadarajan, who argued that if digital ends up forcing traditional

How stable are digital platforms? One of the more stimulating discussions at WAN-IFRA’s Digital Media India 2016 conclave was the one that concluded it, focusing on four questions: Digital pure players – can they disrupt the Indian news media industry? Is there a sustainable business model? How do they reach digital audiences? How do they monetise content? Pamela Philipose who sent us this report says there are no clear answers yet and the jury is still out

players to up their game, then there will be positive consequences for both; but if it causes newspapers and television to abandon what they are doing so well and try to emulate digital, the upshot would hurt all media players whether legacy or digital. As he put it,

“We are part of an eco system where print plays a very big role -- 90 per cent of the material we have comes from legacy journalism. Take a story like the botched up sterilisations in Madhya Pradesh. It is difficult to imagine a digital platform breaking it. Certainly many of the think pieces that are generating discussion on JNU, for instance, have been from digital media. But the kind of reporting resources that newspapers like The Times of India or The Hindu have, we cannot match.”

Varadarajan firmly believed that legacy and digital have to be seen as part of the same eco system, benefitting from, and feeding off, each other, “This may sometimes lead to a herd mentality and that would be a bad outcome. A good outcome would be when both draw from each other. I dare say neither should even think of surviving without the other.”

Kapur, while agreeing with Varadarajan, recalled the early 1990s, when TV18 -- a channel she was associated with -- was starting. Some people had told them at that juncture that there will be no television without DD; others felt that television would kill newspapers. As things turned out, that did not happen. It took television 15 to 16 years to grow, but newspapers did not perish.

About the digital media, Kapur felt it will grow at a much faster pace than television did but predicting their impact would be difficult. While agreeing that a lot of digital content comes from legacy media, it is also true that newspapers now carry stories that digital media have already broken. She also talked


about how new technology was making digital reporting much easier, illustrating the point with an anecdote of how one thequint.com reporter used her tech tools – a mobile phone and Whatsapp -- to send across an image of yellow Lamborghini in flames which she had happened to spot on her way to work. Once the platform put it out, it featured across all media platforms.

Varadarajan agreed that the newsgathering abilities of digital are phenomenal, adding that the larger an institution is, the more averse it becomes to taking risks. He referred to another car story – that of an Aston Martin allegedly driven by an Ambani scion which got involved in an accident in Mumbai. Legacy media buried the story but it was featured prominently in the digital space. Digital has also been able to generate informed opinion at a level disproportionate to its relatively modest presence. He cited the example of an interview done with Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, who had remarked on live television that the former president, Abdul Kalam, was a nationalist and humanist “despite being a Muslim”. While TV was not eager to highlight this major lapse of judgement on Sharma’s part, Varadarajan himself wrote about it in thewire.in and it soon became a major topic of discussion. But even as he related this experience, he reminded the audience that the ownership issues that affected legacy media also affected digital media but, being smaller, they could afford to be more nimble.

Are there any disadvantages in being purely digital players, Pai wanted to know. Sruthijith in response argued that ultimately, it is the capacity of the organisation to hire talent that is key: it has nothing to do with print as a format per se -- all of the strengths of print can be replicated in digital provided it has the talent. He recognised, however, the challenges. For one, the digital space is witnessing a lot of churn – in

Delhi alone there are 13-14 local portals all reporting in real time. For another, print ad revenue is at least five or six times that of digital ad revenue – and within the digital space, most of the revenue being generated presently is going to the big players like Facebook, Twitter and Google. He takes heart from the fact that more and more people are now getting information only from portals and the capacity of online to attract ads is infinite.

But Varadarajan felt that this, precisely, was the problem. While the potential of online media was infinite, so far no way has emerged that would make this model profitable. The overheads of newsgathering are still being sustained by print. “We are looking at a potentially serious crisis for which nobody seems to have any answers. We are chasing the illusionary golden goose and end up appealing to conscientious readers and concerned citizens to support us. Will we really have the staff to do in-depth investigative stories? Of course, a story like the burning Lamborghini may serendipitously come our way, but will we be able to do a detailed story on, say, how the Government of India’s excise policy on cars is leading to higher diesel consumption? We chose a not-for-profit model for thewire.in because there are no profits,” he said.

Varadarajan also observed that the print media, unfortunately, print media – which has the heft to do great investigative stories – is choosing not to do them. Pai, responding to this comment, pointed to how newspapers and television channels are now hosting their own websites with the intention of keeping online audiences coming to them. Such proliferation of digital media may be occurring but, according to Varadarajan, a shakedown amongst digital players is in offing, just as there was a shakedown in the television space because no channel was actually making money

(L-R) Gautham Pai, Ritu Kapur, Sruthijith K.K. and Siddharth Varadarajan are all set to start the discussion.

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-- television channels were being run for purposes other than journalism, such as lobbying and the like.

“Digital has the ability to do things differently but we will have to see how this happens. Can we, for instance, create different classes of readers, with some offering to pay a little more for media content?” he wondered.

Monetising on digital is not easy, agreed Kapur, “Some television did become profitable. In digital no one has been profitable – everyone is running these platforms out of commitment, passion, or whatever.” The hope, of course, is that eventually advertisers will go where the audiences are and this, in turn, would need digital players to create various levels of content and spend time building loyalties with audiences. She pointed to some, like Newslaundry, that have adopted paywalls. Talking of her own experience at thequint.com, she revealed that 85 per cent of the platform’s audience come via mobile,

while her advertisers seem to be more interested in desktop. She ended on a note of cautious optimism,

“We knew when we started thequint.com that for the first two years at least we will not get revenue. We concentrated instead on putting together an editorial team. But things are changing and today we find there is some modest revenue coming in.”

Ultimately, it is about unlocking value, according to Sruthijith. The positive aspect of running digital platforms is that they do not need huge infrastructure costs that weigh legacy journalism down – all they need to do is to find the income to support the salaries of a small team of 20 or 30 individuals. This, he believed, is eminently doable, “Look at Buzzfeed. It started as a small startup but is valued at more than a billion dollars today.” <

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The ‘chilling effect’ of subtle pressures

A lively debate on censorship of the media took place at last year’s WAN-IFRA India Conference, with three senior journalists – Sachidananda Murthy, resident editor, Malayala Manorama and The Week; Unni Rajen Shanker, editor, Indian Express; and Mukund Padmanabhan, then editor, The Hindu BusinessLine – sharing their experiences and views on the implications of censorship today, and what freedom of the press means. Gayatri T Rao reports

While in its strict sense, censorship connotes issues of state-restraint, for the purposes of the discussion on the subject at the WAN-

IFRA India Conference last year, it was looked at in a slightly more relaxed informal, way. Moderating the session, Mukund Padmanabhan set the tone by defining what he considered ‘censorship’, and listing three broad threats to the freedom of the press. “We’ve got to see censorship as anything that has

a chilling effect on the freedom of expression,” said Padmanbhan. Expressing the view that in India, the experience of media freedom is pretty unique, he said “We’ve had flaws, we’ve had problems and we’ve had pressures. But we’ve certainly had a much, much better record than the other countries – take Sri Lanka, for example. Pakistan, China. Southeast Asia as well... but sometimes we don’t acknowledge it enough.”

Another aspect that was seldom acknowledged, Padmanabhan said, was the fact that from the ‘co-optive’ press of the 1950s and 60s, India had moved to something much more robust. “But at the same time,” he cautioned, “there are things that have a chilling effect on the media.”

Talking of threats to the freedom of the media, he said while there still was pressure from the government, the press was better equipped to deal with it than it was three or even two decades ago. The real pressure is felt at the grassroots level, he said. “If you are a district reporter and you want to take the SP or collector on, you have a real problem; much, much more of a problem than somebody sitting in Delhi, writing for an English magazine or newspaper,” he elaborated. The second kind of threat comes from official or constitutional bodies, Padmanabhan said,

MEDIA CENSORSHIP

and, referring to an incident in which The Hindu came up against the power of the legislature some years ago, he called for the codification of privileges. The Court is also a constitutional entity that poses a threat – contempt of court is a provision of law, but it only says that a judge can hold a person or entity in contempt of court if he (the judge) is scandalised, without going into the just causes of being scandalised. Similarly, persons in power use the Defamation Law to ‘penalise’ the press, Padmanabhan pointed out. These cases take years to resolve, and very little comes of them, but the process itself is the punishment, he noted, adding, this type of action also has a ‘chilling effect’.

The third area of threat comes from within – from people belonging to political parties and sometimes even ordinary people, Padmanabhan said. Commenting that Indians, as a people, take offence very easily, he said provisions of the law are invoked if religious sentiments are hurt. A court case happens invariably and, often, non-bailable warrants are issued for comparatively insignificant issues, locking people into an unnecessary process. “I think this really needs to be debated in this country,” he said, and felt courts should make a difference between frivolous litigation and serious ones. Winding up his introductory speech, he said there are other areas of pressure, such as corporate pressure – the pressure from the management… “we have to live with [these]. We are media organisations.”

Reminiscing about his first-hand experience with press censorship, Sachidananda Murthy said he was a 19- year-old reporter at that time of the Emergency,

“and that is when the whole brutal power of restraint


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was felt.” Every newspaper had its designated censor office. Only after the censor officers approved content could the day’s edition be printed. “The censor officers… would not only read through the copies and mark things in red, but also keep the copies with them as a record to prosecute the paper and the journalists, so it was the most stifling period – the 19 months of Emergency.” Dozens and dozens of journalists were arrested in different places. Newspapers were closed. Printing presses were confiscated. He also recounted the experience of being taken to the state intelligence headquarters and questioned over the reporting of a series of religious discourses by a particular swami as a cover to make oblique comments on the then ruling power.

While asserting that India had emerged from that kind of censorship and, indeed, that the entire democracy had benefitted from the experience, Murthy also noted that India continued to rank low in the Freedom of Press Index, because “the kind of intimidation that happens to journalists and newspapers is enormous.” He cited recent cases of attacks on journalists in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to back his stand. “We have to take this forward and fight for it. This fight has to be relentlessly fought because we may not have one Emergency, which was authorized by the Constitution and imposed by the State. But we have many emergencies going on,” he said.

Elaborating, he said at the district headquarters level, there were many layers of pressure from outfits such as local land and sand mafias who woo or threaten the press into subordination. “This is the living challenge, that there may not be a censorship working from the direction of the state, but many pressures working on them. And that is increasing, however robust we may say we are,” Murthy said.

Frivolous litigation also diverts journalists from their real work, he said, but expressed satisfaction

that “due to the plurality of the Indian media, nothing much gets suppressed.”

Taking up on the point Murthy made about frivolous litigation, Unni Rajen Shanker said “I work for a newspaper that does a lot of unpleasant stories. Almost every day we get a libel suit for defamation. Sometimes it becomes a sort of harassment.” Also, the court may not always come to the rescue of the organisation, but instead, contempt of court issues may be brought up, to further complicate issues, he said.

Shanker made the point that a lot of media freedom that is enjoyed comes from the owner of the media group in question. It all depends on how the owners tackle pressure. The kind of interface that media houses have with the government has a bearing on how pressure is handled, he said, and cited the Yakub Memon episode. Though several newspapers and television channels had violated the police diktat not to photograph or videograph Memon, only three TV channels got notices from the government - because they were dependent on the government for licenses, and government used that as a tool.

The same situation exists for corporate houses that have multiple interests, including media, Shanker pointed out. They have to go to the government for several licenses. Those organisations that are focused solely on the media have the freedom to say no to a lot of pressures but those which have forayed into other fields may not be able to resist much pressure, he noted. Social media also has a role to play in freedom of the press, Shanker said. He expressed the view that the social media is a “very unreal place” where “unnamed people come out in millions and attack you and set the agenda”. A government which is hypersensitive to social media could prove dangerous, he added.

L-R: Sachidananda Murthy, Mukund Padmanabhan, Unni Rajen Shanker. Padmanabhan set the tone by defining what he considered 'censorship', and listing three broad threats to the freedom of the press.

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When customers block ads, they affect revenue, and the loss of revenue is the cost of page size growth and slower load times. The

question is: what is the optimal point of page size? What amount of tolerance does the user base have for additional page load time? Airlines understand the trade-off between more seats on an airplane and user experience, and they attempt to find the point that maximises operating margins. Publishers need to find a similar balance.

According to the HTTP Archive, http://httparchive.org/index.php, a repository of web performance information, the average page size was 716kB in January 2011. In January 2016, the average page size surpassed 2.2 MB, more than three times the average four years ago. Interestingly, average Internet speed is three times faster than it was in 2011, http://bgr.com/2016/01/02/us-internet-speeds-average/.So how does degraded user experience affect the site publisher? Are there material changes in user behaviour if page load speed slows due to additional size?

Evidently, there are. In 2012, Amazon found that a one-second increase in page load time could cost it $1.6 billion in sales each year. Google estimated that a four-tenths of a second reduction in providing search results costs it eight million searches per day. In response to poor mobile user experience, Google has launched Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) to improve the mobile web experience.

For publishers, the economics of page load speed are much different than online retailers, but the potential for lost audience and advertising revenue would seem likely. It is estimated by OnlineGraduatePrograms.com that one in four web page visitors will abandon a website if it takes more than four seconds to load.

Does page size matter?Many news media companies have recognised that they have a lot of tags on their sites. One major newspaper website in the United States has 88 tags, 64 of which have to do with advertising, and this site is not an outlier among its peers. The degraded user performance from so many tags is a likely major cause of widespread adoption of ad blocking software, the bane of the news media digital business model, says Matt Lindsay, president, Mather Economics, who is seeking a research partner to measure the changes in revenue due to increases in page weight on news media sites

For comparison, the same research found that 40 per cent of Americans stop accessing a mobile shopping site if it takes longer than three seconds to load.

Mather Economics is seeking a research partner to measure the changes in revenue due to increases in page weight on news media sites. The research will measure the changes in user behaviour and, most importantly, the economic effects, specifically changes in advertising revenue and audience revenue, resulting from slower page loads. We have discussed this project with a couple of news media clients and hope to begin the research this year.

The rationale for the research is that growing page size is certainly a trend, and it appears to be affecting users’ experience. But what does that mean for digital businesses in terms of revenue and operating margins? Airlines know that adding more seats on an airplane is bad for the customer experience, but the additional revenue justifies the negative customer response.

As with all research, the critical success factor is data. To measure the economic effects of page size, we need to observe at a user-page level (a specific page delivered to a unique user of the site) the difference in revenue from advertising and audience streams.

This is a challenge using common tools such as Google Analytics and Google DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) since data from these tools do not merge by user-page. Similar problems exist for other common data capture tools, including Omniture and OpenX. These tools capture data using their own tags. When they are merged after the fact, the data files reflect the taxonomy each tool uses to organize the site activity, which requires aggregation to a common denominator prior to merging. That common denominator is never the page-user level of detail. A

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better solution is to capture all necessary data in a single file when the page is rendered. Fortunately, we have a proprietary tool that does that, which we will use in our research project.

When a page loads, several things happen. The sequence and prioritisation of events is determined by the way the site is developed. But most often, the content is the first to arrive. Advertisements are not far behind, and they are often the largest component of the page by a wide margin.

JavaScript tracking scripts typically run last and in most cases are asynchronous, meaning they do not block the rest of the page from loading while they execute their script. In practice, this means that a page is usable long before (relatively speaking) it is completely loaded.

Our research approach is to capture data on all revenue streams at the user level under alternative page sizes. We will randomly serve different versions of the same page and capture advertising revenue and audience revenue, either subscription or premium content purchases, at the user level. Once we have sufficient data for analysis, we will use econometric models to isolate the effect of page size on these revenue streams. Findings from this research will be shared in a subsequent article. Once the project is completed, we should be able to effectively answer the question of the true cost of larger page size. We may be able to help the airlines, too.

(The writer has more than 20 years of experience in helping businesses improve performance and drive revenue through economic modeling. In consulting roles over the past 15 years, he has shared his expertise and developed pricing strategies and predictive models for such clients as the Intercontinental Exchange, Gannett, The Home Depot, NRG Energy, Tribune, IHG, McClatchy, the Everglades Foundation, the Walton Foundation, Dow Jones and The New York Times.)

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Newstech participated recently at the WAN-IFRA Middle East Conference cum Expo, the only company from India. On display were the Newstech mailroom and ink pumping system, targeting the smaller circulation papers in the region. Roy Alex, executive director, and Yogesh Patil, executive manager, Technical Services, were present. Picture shows Alex describing the mailroom system to Sheikh Sultan Bin Al Qasimi, chairman, Sharjah Media Centre, UAE, and Saleh Al-Humaidan, chairman, WAN-IFRA Middle East Committee.

Newstech exhibits at Dubai Expo

The Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), formed jointly by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), has announced the launch of the world’s largest continuous survey of media usage, product consumption and ownership – Indian Readership Survey (IRS) for 2016.

The 2016 IRS data will be released by January next year, followed by regular quarterly updates. The survey increased its sample size by 40 per cent at an all-India level, targeting a total of 3.30 lakh respondents, across 91 Individual districts and 101 district clusters.

To ensure reliability of the IRS, the technical committee has enhanced the process of back-checks and included a third party auditor for monitoring the end-to-end process of survey design and quality control checks. The survey has also added numerous safety enhancement layers, powered by technology. Some of these include a tracker for GPS locations of interviewers, enhanced audio recording and electronically addressed forms.

RSCI is an industry body formed jointly by MRUC and ABC to bring out the Indian Readership Survey. MRUC is an industry body created with the purpose of providing its members with credible and consistent research enabling critical marketing and business decisions. ABC, founded in 1948, is a not-for-profit organisation certifying circulation figures for member publications, through a process of audit.

Indian Readership Survey 2016 is launched

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Roy Alex explaining the mailroom system to the dignitaries, including Saleh Al-Humaidan – chairman, WAN-IFRA Middle East Committee, KSA.

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PRODUCT STANDARDISATION

Systematic approach, with lower GSM newsprintNewsprint of lower grammage – around 42 GSM – is the need of the hour for the newspaper industry to contain costs of production. The use of such newsprint results in nearly 6 per cent savings in newsprint costs, says Mohanraj P., AGM, Production, The Hindu. However, for the printer, the use of lower grammage newsprint presents a great challenge vis-à-vis sustaining quality and optimising productivity

Mohanraj P., assistant general manager, Production, The Hindu, says that The Hindu started trials with 42 GSM

in 2012 and subsequently began using it in select printing centres. In 2014, production was shifted entirely to 42 GSM. The Hindu operates Manugraph and Mitsubishi presses. They also use coldset and heatset production technology. Two printing facilities with Mitsubishi presses operate in heatset, while three others with Mitsubishi presses operate in coldset. Manugraph presses are operated in seven locations and print in coldset.“Heatset and coldset printing processes demand

different newsprint properties. That is the first hurdle we faced. What we needed was a ‘best fit’ that would suit both processes so that we did not need special efforts to manage our inventory. Using many varieties will lead to quality inconsistency. Hence we

decided to use only a select few brands,” Mohanraj explained.

Benefits of recycled newsprintWith experience and constantly testing the

materials, The Hindu found that recycled newsprint has better strength, runnability and yield than virgin fibres. Fluff accumulation levels are also lower in recycled fibres. Now, more than 90 per cent of paper used by the organisation is recycled newsprint.

Several trials and laboratory tests were carried out before venturing into lower GSM newsprint. According to Mohanraj, 42 GSM newsprint has about 10 per cent lower tensile and tearing strength, higher porosity, lower thickness and lower opacity when compared to the 45 GSM variety. This is sure to affect production and printers should expect to make adjustments in pre-press and press to reduce the impact of these factors, he advised. As for printability parameters, high print-through was noticed.

To reduce the effects, the Total Ink Limit was reduced from 240 to 220 to be in-line with the

Increase in web breaks to the tune • of 5 to 6 per 1000 rolls in heatset and 2 to 3 per 100 rolls in coldsetIncreased fan-out problems• High shrinkage of web in heatset• Reducing the web tension can • reduce the runnability problems.

Issues The Hindu faced with 42 GSM

Mohanraj P. explaining the quality of newsprint's GSM and their properties.

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latest ISO 12647-3: 2013 specification, he added said.

Considering that many Indian newspapers are using FM screening as a means to reduce the amount of ink on the paper and assist in easy migration to 42 GSM paper, The Hindu made trials with FM screening recently. “We found that FM screen produced good results with good quality originals, reduced ink consumption and also print-through,” Mohanraj revealed. However, pictures were grainy if the original was bad, dot loss was reported in highlights and very high levels of process control were needed in press and pre-press. “After much consideration, we decided to stick with AM screens,” he said, adding, “in our

plants, we use 120 LPI for coldset process and 133 LPI to 150 LPI for heatset process. At high LPI, the tones are smooth and the quality is good.”

(Mohanraj P., who holds a graduate degree in printing technology, has more than 18 years of experience in newspaper printing. He has taken many initiatives for waste reduction, print process standardisation and systematic maintenance at The Hindu. This report had appeared in the WAN-IFRA India 2015 Printing Summit Conference Summary.)

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WAN-IFRA based in Paris, France, and Frankfurt, Germany,

with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is seeking to recruit

MANAGER / ASSISTANT MANAGER – Programme & EventsA full-time position for our subsidiary in Chennai, India

The selected candidate will be responsible for developing conference programmes,marketing and sales of our events and expo in the South Asia Region.

You will fit perfectly into our team, if you - have at least 5 years of experience in marketing and sales - have excellent communication and organisational skills - have social media skills - are fluent in English - are strongly interested in the media industry

Your benefits: - you will be part of a truly unique, knowledge management programme - you will experience working with top execs in South Asia’s top news brands & suppliers - you will play a key role in building and developing our events and new initiatives - a competitive performance-related compensation package

The position requires travel to organise events and other marketing related activities.

Please submit your application and CV in English language with your salary expectation and the earliest day you can start working at WAN-IFRA by email to [email protected]


Samer Sabri Abdel Qader said the Masar plant is state-of-the-art, built on half-a-million square feet of space. To cater to

multiple product lines, it has a host of equipment – newspaper web, commercial web, sheet fed and digital.

While following the highest international standards demanded by the region and customers, Masar delivers huge volumes with the latest in technology and experienced personnel. The entire Masar complex is a well-structured, planned unit.

Customers in the UAE demand very high levels of versatility, reliability and support, and Masar has built capabilities to deliver all of these, said Abdel Qader, addressing the gathering at Mumbai using an online platform. Its high-end printing quality allows newspapers to enhance their branding and attract advertising clients. Fully automated loading facilities bring pace and ease to overall operations at the printing plant.

Masar has recently started using Kodak Sonora News Process-Free plates, a thermal plate, which completely eliminates processing, water and chemicals used to process plates. Abdel Qader

Adopting new technologies for sustainabilityMasar Printing & Publishing is Dubai’s leading high quality printing and publishing house. As part of Dubai Media Incorporated, it has a team of dedicated professionals to cater to customer requirements. The company offers a host of product solutions to the market – books and magazines, newspapers, catalogues, brochures, calendars, diaries, journals, newsletters, flyers and coupons, business stationery, invitations and cards. Samer Sabri Abdel Qader, director, Digital & Prepress, had discussed the various aspects of using new technologies for sustainability and new business at the WAN-IFRA Conference

Fewer operational stepsWith the removal of onsite processing, there are

fewer operational steps. This, combined with the high level of automation, allows Masar to go to press faster while freeing up staff for other tasks, thus increasing overall productivity.

Digital inkjet is making waves in the industry and is considered the best technology for short-run and variable data production. Masar is one of the earliest investors in the technology. It bought a Kodak Prosper 6000C Inkjet Press. With the digital press, Masar is now able to produce customised newspapers and quality books-on-demand as well as direct mail applications. It now has more efficient page inventory management, less waste, smoother production processes and a better reader experience.

Asked about the maintenance requirement of the digital press, Abdel Qader said digital presses do need maintenance to the same extent as conventional presses and said it is very important for investors to enter into a service contract with the supplier. In-house staff attempting repairs may not be a good idea, he cautioned.

(Samer Sabri Abdel Qader joined Masar’s senior management team at the early stages of the project in 2006. He played a big role in establishing one of the best printing plants in the region, following the highest international standards and certified by WAN-IFRA and Fogra. He has strong Management, IT, Printing , Digital and PrePress experience. He currently takes care of the Commercial PrePress, Newspaper Prepress, and Digital Printing Departments at Dubai Media Inc’s printing sector, including Masar Printing & Publishing and Mohammad bin Rashid Holy Quran Printing Centre. This report had appeared in the WAN-IFRA India 2015 Printing Summit Conference Summary.)Samer Sabri Abdel Qader.

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asserted that the ‘process-free’ operation permits substantial savings in power consumption and costs as well. “There are environmental benefits, too. We have eliminated the disposal of chemicals and waste water altogether,” he added.


World News Publishing FocusYour Guide to the Changing Media Landscape

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH WAN-IFRA

The people of Singapore are traditionally reserved and insular in more ways than one, so getting them to open up and tell their life stories is no

mean achievement. To do so as part of a joint print/online/video project so popular that it is now starting its second “season” is a real mark of achievement.

“‘It changed my life’ is about a turning point – an experience that sets people on a path to where they are now,” explains Shawn Lee Miller, filmmaker and producer for the series. What Miller has created is a series of cinematic-quality three-minute interviews with individuals, whose experiences, struggles, and setbacks have transformed their lives, often requiring near superhuman effort to overcome. The result is extraordinarily moving and has clearly struck a chord with the online audience.

“One profile features a woman who found that she had a sickness that prevented her from eating and meant that bleeding, however slight, was dangerous to her life. She refused to let it take over her life and remains very positive about it,” said Miller. Other examples feature an ex-convict determined to turn over a new leaf and a mother talking about how she coped with her severely disabled child, learning sign language to communicate and ultimately build a very touching bond with her

Award-winning videoWith its award-winning video series, 'It changed my life', The Straits Times in Singapore shows how the digital world can be inspired by the classical world of print, and how the strengths of each can come shining through. a report by Steve Shipside for WAN-IFRA

daughter. They are precisely the kind of powerful human stories that people immediately want to share with colleagues and friends, and that is precisely what has made them a runaway success online.

The making of the projectHosted on Singapore Press Holdings’ own Razor

TV video channel, ‘It changed my life’ showcases professional video production values but was born directly from a print concept. In the end, it is a hybrid print/online project in which each aspect stands alone as a pristine example of the potential of its medium.

As Miller explains: “The video is an accompaniment to the print series, and print and video work together as a weekly story about different people in Singapore who have gone through challenging times, sicknesses and disorders – and have succeeded.” In fact, the story series began with a print journalist, Straits Times senior writer Wong Kim Hoh, who is so well-known for his written profiles that the public come to him with their stories. He and Miller discussed how this could be developed, and as Miller notes, “He gets the profiles, but his articles are long, and so I do a video version that is three minutes long and so a lot more web friendly.” They also began trawling social media for various stories that are shared on Facebook and thus had already demonstrated the power to resonate.

Getting the right feel to videoHaving established the storylines, Miller’s next job is

always to get the documentary feel of the shots. “The key thing we wanted was for it to look different from the typical news video, so we used DSLRs and in

"The key thing we wanted was for it to look different from the typical news video."


The double sensors and build-in microprocessors make IDS-3D multifunctional in a revolutionary manner. A unique patented image based solution that combines colour and register control in one camera and that can also be configured for detecting production failures. All functionalities are executed with joint intelligence and without the need for register marks or colour bars.

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" 'It Changed My Life' is about a turning point - an experience that sets people on a path to where they are now."

particular a Canon EOS C100 with interchangeable lens for the greater depth of field and cinematic look. The real challenge wasn’t technical – it was more that these people are relating stories from their past, and videos are a visual medium. You’re talking about taking drugs and life in prison [for instance], but it’s all retrospective, and I didn’t want to resort to using still pictures to tell that, so I needed a creative way to bring the story out.

A lot of that came from natural symbols – a window, for example, takes on a whole new meaning when it is centre screen while the voice-over of the narrative tells a story. So we looked for those kinds of symbols. Because the writer would arrange to meet people at their houses, we try as much as possible to do the shoot there.”

Film background helpsFrom a professional perspective, it is key that Miller

did not come from a newspaper background. He found himself working for The Straits Times after having started out at Razor TV, the video arm of the holding company. Initially he was doing short news clips for

the website and the joint project with the print journalist enabled both him and the series to spread their wings. Miller’s training was in film and TV at school, then he worked for six years in the TV industry, debuting as a director of documentaries. That background can be detected in the framing, timing, and pacing of the three-minute videos he does for The Straits Times. At the beginning, he was working on hard news videos for the publisher, usually one minute or less. “In hard news I couldn’t really show off my skills [big smile], so this series was a chance to show them off a little bit more.”

Happy 'ending'The result is a second season of the series,

complete with a sponsor. As well as a traffic generator, it is seen as a bridge-building tool with the community it reports on and represents. The video quality alone would have recommended this series for the award – in particular the determination to bring documentary values to a highly-sharable,


online-friendly format, despite its inherent restrictions. What made it stand out from a publishing point of view, however, was the way it represented a best-of-breed collaboration between print and the talents of the video department.

Both played to their established strengths, with the print version sticking to its long-format and in-depth approach while the video brought that to a wider audience. In the process, the newspaper showcased its strength of talent while firmly establishing its credentials as a paper of the people it serves and informs.

(This article was originally published in the November-December 2015 edition of World News Publishing Focus, the bi-monthly magazine published by WAN-IFRA.)

Singapore Press Holdings (sph.com.sg) is the main newspaper publisher of the island state of Singapore, famed for titles including the flagship Straits Times, the New Paper and Lianhe Zaobao, and innovative brands such as Stomp and Razor TV.

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Here is a look at the list of the other winners and what made their entries special and successful.

Best News WebsiteWinner: The GuardianA genuinely global news site with input from three continents, the Guardian has made waves with big-ticket campaigns such as Snowdon and government surveillance but retains the loyalty of its readers with less talked-about, but no less worthy, stories about health and women‘s issues that don‘t always feature on rivals‘ home pages. Guardian News and Media‘s unrelenting pursuit of a digital-first agenda, including its in-house metrics analysis shared with journalists, has made it a leader in technology, but not at the cost of the basics of good news.

Best Digital Advertising CampaignWinner: Telekurier Online Medien, Austria Project: Bildung Braucht Innovation (Education needs innovation) George Nimeh, former chief digital officer, underlined the potential of creativity in overcoming obstacles when he observed that, “We decided the ad-blocking stories we hear today, and other larger issues, are sending a signal, and that signal is about non-transparent data gathering and the cost to the consumer of the speed it takes to download. So with that larger issue and context, we felt like we needed to create something special to do something about that. Part of the result was a cross-media campaign about the work of OMV in supporting women and education. This aimed to bring the excitement of

science to the very young while allowing users to choose to receive the marketing message implicit within it.”

Best Data Visualisation ProjectWinner: Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Project: Norwegian homicides over a 10-year periodStorytelling was empowered by chasing down the raw data. The team from NBC identified and examined every single murder in the country after being inspired by the impact of a single missing-girl story. In the process, they made clear the role of mental illness in the murder rate and, with that, highlighted the importance of taking mental health seriously. An amazing work of journalism, backed with powerful visuals. “The graphics are elegant and original. An outstanding journalistic work supported by data,” noted judge Ismael Nafría of Grupo Godó.

Best in Tablet PublishingJoint winners: Axel Springer, Germany, and Aftenposten, NorwayProjects: EPOS (Springer); Aftenposten+Joint winners are a rarity at WAN-IFRA because the results don‘t come down to sentiment but a careful system of points. This time, however, the judges‘ combined points ratings set these two products as being outstanding equals. EPOS, claimed to be the best app of 2014 in the German market, is a popular science and history magazine specialising in vivid storytelling, while Aftenposten+ prompted judge Mario García to describe it as “one of the best

2015 World Digital Media Award winners


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newspaper tablet editions: clarity of navigation, excellent combination of short and long content. Good photography and an overall look and feel that reflect the spirit of Aftenposten.”

Best Mobile ServiceWinner: DIE WELT, GermanyProject: KOMPAKTDetermined to appeal to a younger demographic, Die Welt launched Kompakt in May 2014 as an iOS-only app. Kompakt is part of Welt Kompakt, Die Welt’s daily compact format. It has been downloaded and installed more than 100000 times, and 50 percent of its users are 30 or younger. “It‘s a fantastic app,” noted judge Garrett Goodman of Wochit. “Besides its design and simplicity, it offers a new approach to creating and consuming content. Its mobile innovation goes all the way to the content ... the courage to do something new is impressive.”

Best Reader EngagementWinner: Grupo Clarín, ArgentinaProject: Ecosistema DigitalArousing worldwide appreciation of the passion behind Argentinian football was the flag bearer for Grupo Clarín‘s Ecosistema Digital projects of interrelated and mutually supporting social media and digital creation. “Clarín has a strong and active presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Also the big data use for personalised content offering is highly innovative,” observed Rosana Fuentes Berain of Mexico Media Lab.

Best New ProductWinner: Verdens Gang (VG), NorwayProject: minmote.noMinMote, a fashion website complete with a range of daily tips and inspiration, introduced e-commerce to allow users to shop directly from an article with a single click as the mood took them. In describing the project, the company said its “commercial collaboration with Sobazaar played a crucial role in bringing in new revenue while maintaining editorial integrity and giving the user a simple and user-friendly buy option. We wanted the user experience to be very simple so they could actually get a true idea visually of the clothes that they are going to buy.”

Winners all — a picture taken at the awards ceremony.

Industry updates


Jagran inks pact for Nela solutions

Jagran Prakashan, which publishes Dainik Jagran, the world’s highest read Hindi newspaper, has decided to upgrade their plate production with automation solutions from Nela. Eighteen Nela Ecobender Vs will be installed on several print sites throughout the Jagran Group, starting in the first quarter of 2016. The new punch/benders will add to existing capacities, which already contain technology from Nela. The deal was struck at the World Publishing Expo in Hamburg 2015.

The fully automatic punching and bending system Ecobender V is especially suited to fill the need of the modern printing industry. Video Control Positioning and the intuitive Nela EcoNet software are some of the main features of the Ecobender V’s market-leading technology. With a high-speed offset-plate output and precision plate-positioning, speed and register accuracy is always ensured.

The Nela Group, consisting of Brüder Neumeister GmbH, Nela USA, Inc and Nela Asia, forms the largest register and plate automation company in the printing industry. Register systems include in-line punch and bend systems for newspaper and commercial printing, as well as plate automation and transport systems. With more than 1700 Vision punch/bender systems, Nela is the leading technologist and state of the art manufacturer in plate automation and register systems in the world.

Topaz UV setters make a mark

Topaz UV setters are making an impact on printers in India. Re-engineered under the initiative of Kapoor Imaging to suit the country’s needs, quality is its USP. After launching the product at Print Pack 2015 in February, Kapoor Imaging, which markets the product in India, has completed many installations.

Topaz UV-CTP uses the most advanced and stable guide rail technology with semi automatic loading digital process workflow and high precision dot. The low cost UV plates contribute to reducing the recurring cost of plates while retaining quality. Topaz UV-CTP uses a special 405nm laser diode for exposure precision. Its external drum design ensures the best energy transfer efficiency. Sunil Kapoor, who heads Kapoor Imaging, says he has positioned the product highlighting the quality aspect, and is happy with the sales figures.

Topaz can deliver 200LPI (which was hitherto a hurdle with PS plates). He displayed samples of Topaz PS 1 Plates exposed and processed in the Topaz UV setter + processor and printed at a reputed printing house at Kerala.

Kapoor attributed the success of Topaz UV setters to the positive feedback given to PRC, the OEM. He said he had first imported the equipment and installed it at a client’s establishment. After getting complete feedback from the client, he sent engineers to PRC, who carried out the changes recommended by the engineers.

In the re-engineered version, all the critical parts, such as the pumps, motors and controllers originally used, have been replaced with products from reputed vendors like Panasonic and Fuji. Also, there is a built-in compressor, obviating the need for the customer to buy a separate one.

Further, Kapoor Imaging has posted trained engineers in strategic locations so that they can reach a client’s site in any corner of India within 12 hours.

Talking of technological advancements, Sunil Kapoor said the Laser head movement is by Magnetic Levitation "similar to the bullet train" instead of on a Leadscrew. This enables customers to get band-free vignettes (1 to 99 per cent).

The clamps used also carry a five-year guarantee. Laser products are also available with Kapoor Imaging. The aim is to provide customers a good and trouble-

Sandeep Gupta, Jagran Prakashan’s executive president (left) and Nela’s president Frank Neumeister sealing the deal with a handshake.

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free equipment when he chooses laser over violet or thermal versions.

Headquartered in Chennai, Kapoor Imaging has branch offices at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kochi, Sivakasi, Kolkata, Cuttack, Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh and Mumbai (residential representative).

manroland folding solution for Masar

Printing company Masar Printing & Publishing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has integrated the folding solution, FoldLine, from manroland web systems into its new digital printing workflow with a Kodak Prosper 6000 C. With the order from Masar, digital inline finishing equipment from Augsburg has entered another important printing market in the world. “Masar is the first in the world to acquire the fastest

digital press, Kodak Prosper 6000 C. That is why we decided to also invest in the highly developed FoldLine from manroland web systems in order to approach full and comprehensive flexibility between printing and finishing.

We aim to run the Kodak Prosper 6000 C in multi-shift-operations, a one-shop-stop from reel to delivering the final product – which exceeds the customers’ expectations,” comments Faisal Bin Haider, chief executive officer, Printing & Distribution Sector at Dubai Media Inc.

He adds, “Markets and customers are variable factors, their requirements may change in minutes. This is why the Kodak Prosper 6000 C was built to handle the full range of today’s print applications while still meeting the business goals of newspaper and book publishers as well as those of direct-mail service providers.

By gathering these technologies under one roof, Masar Printing & Publishing will have a competitive advantage, providing the local and regional customers with key solutions for making minute differences in delivering the product at the right cost, quality, and quantity, and right on time.”

The fully-equipped FoldLine for Masar will have all the possible options for maximum flexibility during production and it will be the most efficient system of its class worldwide.

From book blocks to newspapers and glued, as well as stitched commercial products, everything

can be produced with the folding aggregate. “Masar is always committed to getting the best out of the technology, be it with its Lithoman or now with digital printing. We want to support them in this, with our digitalknow-how in hardware and software,” explains Christoph Blank, executive sales manager at manroland web systems. With the software plugins (WorkflowBridge and MasterQ) from manroland web systems as an extension to the Kodak workflow, the customer can optimise, sort, and verify job sequences. The entire configuration is designed inline to fully utilise the processing benefits of digital printing at a maximum production speed.“Masar always thinks of the future and is setting a

standard early on with investments in digital printing,” acknowledges Ziegler. “This way, the customer can digitally rebuild products from the offset sector and additionally develop in-house digital innovations.” Masar responds to the changes in media behaviour with its entrance and investments in digital printing. Right now, it is very important for the printer to establish flexible business models.

These include personalised advertisements in newspapers, as well as personalised flyers, booklets, and brochures. They also aim to boost production of book blocks.

Em de Jong invests in second Lithoman

Royal printshop Em De Jong has ordered a second 96-page Lithoman to expand its capacities. In June

Masar invests in the FoldLine to optimally utilise its production process. At the contract signing (from left): Mike Ziegler, Dynagraph for Printing, Dubai; Samer Abdel Quader, chief operating officer, and Faisal Salem Bin Haider, executive director at Masar Printing & Publishing; Alwin Stadler, VP, Digital Printing, and Christoph Blank, executive sales manager at manroland web systems.

Industry Updates


2014, Dutch Princess Laurentien pressed the start button on the first 96-page Lithoman at Em de Jong. The Dutch have now invested in a second high-volume rotary press in Baarle-Nassau. In the first half of 2016, the 96-page Lithoman will take up operation and continue to increase the performance in supplement production. “For us as a press manufacturer, repeat purchases

are, of course, a fantastic confirmation of our work. Recently customers have purchased several 96-page Lithoman presses, proving their unique performance,” states Sixten Zapf, executive sales manager at manroland web systems. The customers of Em de Jong will benefit from the innovative technology and fast order processing. Managing director Stijn de Jong represents the fourth generation in the printing dynasty and knows, “We have to expand our company applying an integrated approach. This is why we are also modernising the existing equipment at our sites, in addition to our new investment. Two further Lithoman presses will receive technical upgrades for more variable production.”

For a market leader like Em de Jong, not investing means taking a step backwards. High capacities, premium printing quality, and folding accuracy: this is what the 96-page Lithoman, which will replace an older press, has to offer the pressroom. “On the one hand, the customer appreciates that maximum productivity is ensured permanently. On the other hand, the customer commends the absolutely reliable production process,” states Sixten Zapf, adding, “For Em de Jong, the flexible production options and enormous, maximum output are also important.” Adds Stijn de Jong: “This investment is necessary for us to maintain and reinforce our position in the increasingly globalised printing industry. In addition, with the new press we can produce new products and offer them to our customers.” With the two 96-page presses and the upgraded Lithoman systems, Em. de Jong can now respond even better to increasing demand from the international market.

This high market demand is the result of the hard work of the Dutch over the past few decades, with innovative products such as POS packages and online solutions. The high level of automation at Em de Jong is the key to successful production for trade, as Stijn de Jong explains: “The flexible, automatic plate changes and job changeovers, and the special folding equipment make our production enormously versatile and dynamic. We are able to efficiently print

the runs we need and do not lose valuable production time or waste any paper. The two 96-page Lithoman systems will be the most high-performance heatset printing presses in the Benelux region. With a web width of 2860 mm and eight ribbons, the 96-page Lithoman will

The second 96-page Lithoman press at Em de Jong.

produce nearly five million A4 pages per hour. The Inline control systems for cut-off and colour register, as well as ink control, ensure optimum product quality. APL (AutomaticPlate Loading) changes the printing plates on the printing couples fully automatically. The folding configuration realizes a wide variety of printed products – the customer was already impressed with this product diversity with the first Lithoman.

Customers of printed products want variable, creative print and advertising products and Em de Jong will align further locations to these requirements. Upgrades to increase product diversity will take top priority. The 72-page Lithoman in Baarle-Nassau will be equipped with an additional folding unit to produce special printed products.

After moving to Mercator in Jabbeke, a recently purchased, used 72-page Lithoman will be equipped with a folder superstructure and a second delivery for cross-fold products.

Em de Jong and its subsidiaries Mercator Press, Janssen/Pers Rotatiedruk, and Kampert-Nauta are counted among the most important players on the European market for retail advertising. In the subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Belgium, around 750 employees work on print solutions for the main distribution countries of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, and England.

Holzer Druck banks on refined technology

LED-UV is currently a hot topic in the field of sheetfed offset printing and will be shown live on the KBA stand at drupa 2016. Holzer Druck und Medien is a pilot user of the future-focused drying process. The printing company in Weiler in Allgäu, Germany,

Industry Updates


of or haven’t come into contact with the advantages of LED-UV. In the beginning only ten per cent of jobs were produced with LED-UV on the Rapida 106. Now it’s more than 20 and Holzer believes it won’t be long until 30 per cent of print jobs will be cured with LED-UV. This results in constant system changeovers, but Holzer’s press operators find it interesting. Along with this perfector, Holzer also operates an eight-colour Rapida 106 for four-over-four printing. Says managing director Klaus Huber: “The press suits our needs perfectly. It runs incredibly fast thanks to its raft of automation modules extending up to central ink supply.” Sometimes it’s harder to fill than the six-colour press as competition is a lot tougher when it comes to 4/4-colour products.

While Flying JobChange has not been used that often, simultaneous plate changing is a must on both Rapidas. Overall, make-ready times have been reduced by 50 per cent thanks to SPC plate change in connection with Plate Ident, parallel makeready processes, inline colour control and central ink supply.

Thanks to its investments in cutting-edge technology the full-service printing company based in Allgäu has generated stable sales for years. Nevertheless, it has had to do this with a lot more jobs than in the past. An end to the downward spiral can only be found by creating added-value, such as that offered by innovative UV technology. Klaus Huber: “We are very well positioned from a technical point of view and have a lot to offer Germany, Austria and Switzerland that others can’t.” The company, which has a production space spanning 2,500m², has significantly increased its added-value with almost no investments.

Michael Volkert remains cool even when the press runs at top speed, thanks to QualiTronic ColorControl.

The new six-colour Rapida 106 with coater.

banks on conventional and LED-UV printing delivered by its new six-colour KBA Rapida 106 with coater and extended delivery in mixed operation. The company is thus pursuing a clear strategy.

The 125-year-old traditional firm employs 70 staff and prints for global enterprises, such as Zeiss, Blaser, Kuka, Geberit and Liebherr. This only works in the long term by taking on the role of trendsetter. The company has placed its trust in medium-format presses from KBA for over 25 years. The kit in its high-end Rapida 106 allows Holzer to offer its customers print products which they are unable to get from any other print firm within a 100km radius. As Holzer is unable to use a purely LED-UV press to its full capacity due to the company’s size, the management opted for a mixed-operation press.

Thanks to LED-UV, Holzer was able to expand its portfolio with uncoated stock and materials and predominantly dark-coloured substrates, such as plastic and film. Neutral odours delivered by LED-UV technology often play a decisive role, especially when it comes to jobs for the tourist industry. The company has worked out a total of 14 benefits of producing with LED-UV for its clients. These include fast lead times, no need for protective coating, improvements in quality, more finishing options, but also ecological aspects such as high energy savings, lower ozone and CO2 emissions when drying and a large reduction in powder. The company has created a Lookbook comparing conventional and LED-UV printwork to demonstrate the possibilities available. Furthermore, its own sales team offers competent advice to potential customers on all topics up to entering data. Nevertheless, LED-UV requires intensive consultation. Many customers are unaware

Industry Updates


Change of guard at ppi Media

After 20 years as managing director of the Hamburg-based software company ppi Media, Norbert Ohl is to hand over to his successors Hauke Berndt and Markus Feldenkirchen on July 1, 2016. Together with Jan Kasten, the new members of the management board will continue to expand into new business areas and markets. Norbert Ohl will act as a consultant to ppi Media for one year after stepping down.

Thus, ppi Media will be breaking new ground in terms of strategy and personnel. It offers the chance for a new approach to digitizing its products, strengthening partnerships and acquiring new customers – both internationally and strategically. Besides his wealth of experience in the sales department, Hauke Berndt has introduced many new ideas and suggestions to ppi Media’s top management in order to carry on this transformation. In particular, ppi Media’s expansion into new markets is one of Hauke Berndt’s most outstanding achievements. He played a leading role in the development of ppi Media’s software products for magazine production and corporate publishing and gained a foothold in these markets for the company.

Apart from his new role as managing director at ppi Media, Hauke Berndt will also be responsible for the company’s sales operations. “I have first-hand experience of the disruptive changes in the US media industry. To pass on what I know about successful business models, and also about those that have failed, is a task I am really looking forward to as a member of the management,” says Markus Feldenkirchen, who will be focussing primarily on the strategic direction of the company and the changes

this involves. After working for the Axel Springer Verlag AG and the Berliner Wochenblatt Verlag, Markus Feldenkirchen joined ppi Media in 1999 to set up the consulting department. In 2005 he took over business operations in North America for ppi Media US, Inc., providing quality customer service for a large number of prestigious customers. Apart from his new role as managing director, Markus Feldenkirchen will continue to hold the position of CEO of ppi Media US, Inc.

Since 2014, Jan Kasten has successfully led the development, support, quality assurance, documentation and training departments.

druPA 2016

GMG to share expertise with users

The GMG booth has always been an essential destination for leading colour management experts visiting drupa. For more than 30 years, the Tubingen, Germany-based company has been providing reliable colours and maximum productivity with its highly on innovative software portfolio. "We supply color management solutions based on superb technology that respond to the challenges facing the printing industry,” says Robert Weihing, managing director, GMG. “What sets us apart from the competition are our passionate experts who really enjoy sharing their considerable know-how with users. Thanks to our GMG Academy and our GMG services and consulting offering, we’re in a perfect position to do this."

As well as extending its know-how division, GMG is also redesigning its high-quality proof media portfolio. The successful GMG proof media range is being expanded and reorganised into two lines: GMG ProofMedia Premium and GMG ProofMedia Studio. The Premium line stands for seamless quality and reliable contract proofing, while the Studio range is targeted at creative professionals who need to rapidly produce accurate colours during the design process. As a Fogra development partner, GMG was involved in defining the new FOGRA51/52 characterisation data right from the start and, as a result, GMG's new media portfolio also includes proof media with OBAs (optical brightening agents).

The new standards have also been fully integrated into GMG software. Reliable colours – even for

L-r: Jan Kasten, Norbert Ohl, Hauke Berndt and Markus Feldenkirchen.

Industry Updates


established, the company diversified to take on the broader issue of retaining offset competitiveness against the growth of digital print. The response was the opening of a high-tech plant for lower-cost, precision plate production, a focus on CTP automation from plate loading to quality controlled processing and the creation of colour management links to the actual press run. At drupa, Cron will advance these concepts further with a series of new products which will have positive impact for all offset printers from two-page to VLF."Cron has set itself the ambitious target of being the

‘guardian angel’ of offset. This will continue to excel in volume print but also has much more potential in short runs," says Mike Xiang, founder and CEO.

"We are working towards the ultimate and perfect solution: eco-friendly, high quality, economic returns, simplicity of operation and faster turnarounds. The Cron stand, located in a prominent position at the front of Hall 5, will run live demonstrations incorporating the benefits of each element of its integrated approach to offset competitiveness.

Since its founding in 1992, Cron has set its sights on redefining the direction of conventional offset print. Starting with image-setting and moving to CTP, the company now provides a portfolio of integrated digital prepress technologies that improves the quality and efficiency of print workflows while reducing turnaround times and costs, as well as the point at which print runs become profitable. Today, Cron has three major strands to its business: advanced

markets where working with standards is uncommon – are guaranteed by GMG OpenColor. Due to its revolutionary spot colour functionality, the profiling tool serves as a genuine printing machine simulator, particularly for the packaging market. GMG OpenColor can calculate profiles that allow for the precise prediction of results despite incredible levels of complexity, handling the effects of overprinting, changes in substrates, or alterations to the color sequence. A new feature in GMG OpenColor is the ability to calculate profiles for halftone proofs. Plus, to guarantee colour-accurate print output of data calculated in this way, GMG ColorProof is also being updated. Long printer set-up times and alignment phases are dramatically reduced – even if only CMYK printing is involved.

As a special bonus for users of Adobe Photoshop, GMG is launching an ingenious plug-in just in time for drupa. The compact tool is known as GMG ColorPin. With it, Photoshop users will be able to carry out operations that were previously only possible with the help of complex workarounds and a lot of manual intervention. Just the use of the MX4 separations, which are clearly superior to ICC-based solutions, makes manual corrections largely unnecessary. GMG ColorPin is incredibly efficient and brings unprecedented levels of flexibility to image processing. As a result, Photoshop users can apply profiles specifically to individual levels or masked areas. In addition, the Pro version of GMG ColorPin also allows users to utilise their own profiles and the colour reduction functionality already familiar from the GMG InkOptimizer tool.

A special version for the packaging industry adds further features to offer maximum levels of quality and performance for specialised Photoshop users. GMG will be presenting these and other innovations at drupa in its own booth, at Hall 8A B10. In addition, GMG is also involved in the drupa innovation park (Hall 7 B15).

druPA 2016

Cron to increase stand space

Cron has taken on more stand space at drupa to accommodate several new products as it continues to expand its product portfolio from its original CTP-centric foundations. Once its CTP products were

Cron's high-tech plant for lower-cost, precision plates focuses on the eco-friendliness of new plate technologies for drupa launch on the company's expanded stand space.

Industry Updates


CTP solutions for both UV, thermal and flexo plate exposure; precision offset plates for UV and thermal exposure sold under the Blackwood brand; and integrated prepress peripherals – workflow software, autoloaders, bridges, processors, punch systems, delivery conveyors and color measurement ancillaries.-

druPA 2016

Bobst to showcase new solutions

Bobst, the world’s foremost supplier of equipment and services to packaging and label manufacturers, will use drupa 2016 to showcase innovation solutions that will drive customer productivity higher, open up new capabilities and protect customers’ global investments .

Says Jean-Pascal Bobst, CEO of Bobst “2016 will be a milestone year for Bobst as we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the formation of our company. This drupa will see us clearly demonstrate that we are going forward with the same dynamism and commitment that first won us our reputation in the industry. The Group continues to expand technologies and services to continuously improve its performance supporting our increasing customer base in their variety of applications. We will unveil innovations that will address the needs of brands and their suppliers for maximum efficiency, reduced time to market and optimised printing processes. Our services offering will continue to expand and new customers features will be unveiled covering the entire product portfolio”

Bobst delivers technology to the industry that is based on its extensive in-house ‘savoir-faire’ and on continuous polling of both its customers and brand owners about the challenges facing them. As a result, Bobst leads the way in innovation, leveraging state-of-the-art technologies to deliver the solutions that the industry needs, in both the conventional and digital arenas. Among the highlights that BOBST will present at drupa 2016 will be the world premiere of a brand new Mastercut 106 PR. This new model is touted to be the most productive die-cutter ever available to the industry, thanks to a range of ground-breaking innovations that will set new standards in die-cutting. Then, a new Masterfoil 106 PR hot-foil stamping press that incorporates Foil Unwinder

+, a system which delivers up to 30 per cent more press productivity and a reduction of up to 50 per cent in foil use. A new folder-gluer to be launched at the show, along with the new Mastercut and new Masterfoil, feature increased automation, shorter set-up times, lower running costs, easier use, and will allow packaging manufacturers to realize ‘zero fault’ production.

A brand new version of the M6 UV flexo press, configured with folding carton production in mind, which will challenge offset printed carton production by offering job changeovers in under a minute - thanks to Digital Flexo technology, high running speeds, and high-speed in-line sheeting. Cartons produced on the line can then be converted using the Bobst die-cutting and folding and gluing equipment available to most carton makers. The seven-colour M6 offers what no other press in the market can – the cost benefits of purchasing board on reels, allied to the production benefits of the no-water, no-solvent, fast changeover UV Digital Flexo process.

Using new low migration UV curable inks and Digital Flexo automation, Bobst will show solutions that offer comparable set-up times to digital, allied to the highest productivity.

Extended colour gamut (ECG) printing, using four or seven fixed colours, on new ECG optimised presses, taking full advantage of substantial developments in ECG printing technology.

Also, new CI flexo, in-line flexo, gravure and new digital printing presses, laminators, coaters and metallizers, many featuring digital automation technologies for easy, repeatable and reliable operation in a digital printing and converting workflow, and new tooling software for the production of high-performance die-cutting formes, using Bobst branded precision die-board wood, ejection rubber and rules.

Enhancements to BOBST maintenance and helpline services, and a new generation Pick & Pay solution which will increase operator safety and reduce machine downtime by making first emergency and wear parts available on the machine. There

The new Mastercut.

Industry Updates


will be presentations by a specialised team of the breakthrough high-output Digital Printing Press for corrugated board and Digital Printing Press for folding carton, paper and film.

Visitors who pre-register online to visit the Bobst booth at drupa 2016 will get a Bobst Innovation Compass sent to their smartphone which will give them quick and easy guided access to those solutions on the booth they have expressed an interest in. Visitors can pre-register in this way at www.bobst.com/leading-innovation. “The Bobst booth at drupa will be a ‘must see’ for

anyone involved in packaging or label manufacture,” says Stephan März, worldwide head of the Services Business Unit.

At drupa 2016, Bobst will be working closely in partnership with other forward-thinking suppliers to the industry.

These include Kodak, who will host packaging samples and their VIP lounge, Kurz, who will host a brand new Bobst hot-foil stamping press on their stand, Marbach, Hinderer + Mühlich, Baumerhhs, Metsä, Henkel, Gebr. Knauer, and the partners in the REVO Digital Flexo project. Founded in 1890 by Joseph Bobst in Lausanne, Switzerland, Bobst has a presence in more than 50 countries, runs 11 production facilities in eight countries and employs over 4800 people around the world.

druPA 2016

Sinapse contest shortlists best designers

More than 50 designers from graphic art schools around the world sent entries for a competition being conducted by Sinapse. The assigned theme was that of a ‘virtual vitamin’ that improves print and packaging knowledge. All entries showed imagination and technical ability. Sinapse has announced the following results:

The two finalists and their respective coaches, Larissa Moreira and Albino Andrade from Brazil (on the photo with M. Ademir Redondo, director of the school), and Edoardo Androvetto (student) and Mirko Salzani from Italy will be invited to drupa. They will support the ‘production finalists’ who will be competing live to solve production problems on the simulators. The runners-up (2nd to 4th place) will have their work integrated into the simulators and

made available to all users worldwide, with their names being prominently credited. They are: Posters: 2nd: San Zeno, Italy; 3rd: Rybinsk, Russia; 4th:Tajamar, Spain. Packages: 2nd: Sena Cali, Colombia; 3rd: Senai Cep, Brazil; 4th: Ecole Estienne, France. See all design results on the Sinapse Facebook page (and website). You can add your comments. The results with the most ‘likes’ will receive a special prize, at drupa.

In the print productivity contest, in the second step of overall productivity competition, each team (about 20 teams from around the world) will have four sets of production problems to solve on the Sheetfed and Flexo simulators in each round.

Those who solve the problems with the best quality and the lowest production cost, move up in the rankings. The two finalists will also be competing live at drupa. The names of the two finalists will be known on April 18th. The drupa finals will be on June 3rd at 2.30 pm on the stand Campus Avenue – Hall 7a B01.

druPA 2016

Futec focus on auto-mated web inspections

Futec, a pioneer of automatic flaw detection systems for print and surface inspection for commercial, packaging and label markets, will be launching a range of innovative products at drupa designed to achieve maximum performance in print quality control.

Visitors to the company’s stand (Hall 15, Stand A08) will be able to see live on-stand demonstrations of Futec's proven, high-performance systems that offer print businesses quality assurance capabilities.

At drupa, Futec will be previewing the new Elastic Freeze feature; a specially-designed software for the printing industry that provides advanced algorithms for the company’s Printed Web Inspection Systems. The new, efficiency-enhancing feature helps maintain throughput by eliminating false detection errors caused by the expansion and contraction of elastic materials.

Elastic materials can be challenging for web inspection systems as signals may appear unclear due to the side and linear movement of the web and the change of flexible material, which causes ‘defect showers' – defect messages that actually show

Industry Updates


false defects. Futec recently introduced its Position Freeze software to eliminate potential movements of the web and freeze the image to make it sharper.

Futec’s quality control systems will now be even more effective as it will help to neutralise detection errors caused by the expansion and contraction of elastic materials, a common problem especially for flexo printers.

As a result, much sharper images are produced, which offers the benefit of more accurate inspection control pictures. Only real defects will be reported by the inspection system as artificial defects caused by material flexibility will be neutralised.

Futec will also use drupa as a platform to launch new plug-and-play Smart Cameras for the inspection of web-printing applications and for the inspection and quality control of plain surfaces. Offering integrated processing technology, the compact Smart Cameras easily connect to a PC without the need to install a separate signal processing board. As a result, Futec’s Smart Cameras can be easily integrated into existing processes with minimum downtime during the installation process and during camera alignment. Futec’s integrated Anywhere/Anytime feature allows remote system access to continuously monitor production quality from any location via a web browser. The collected data can be used to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0.

Customers who have tried and tested the new Smart Cameras have cited improved quality, optimised production processes and a reduction in waste as the main benefits. Depending on the size of the web, users can connect multiple cameras to provide optimum inspection.

On its stand at drupa, Futec will be demonstrating the new Smart Cameras in conjunction with web guiding systems from Maxcess. Founded in 1977 in Japan, Futec is a pioneer of automatic flaw detection systems for print and surface inspection for commercial, packaging and label markets. The company’s strong investment in its in-house R & D facilities enable it to develop innovative technologies that help printers to improve profitability and maintain client relationships by offering 100% product transparency. The company recently expanded its European business operations by opening a European business hub to further improve the sales and technical service support in Europe. The business hub, which is headquartered in Germany, is also used as a dedicated customer training centre.

druPA 2016

More performance, automation in large format

With the enhanced Rapida 145, KBA-Sheetfed will probably be the only exhibitor presenting a high-tech large-format press at drupa. The six-colour press with coater and automated pile logistics on display will be equipped with a raft of new highlights aimed at automating the printing process further and making this even more effective. Its higher maximum speed of 18000sph (Rapida 164: 16,500sph) and new double-pile delivery are striking features. The first large-format presses with double-pile delivery are already in operation. This option is now also available in medium format for the Rapida 106.

The new double-pile delivery contributes to optimising production at packaging companies with high throughput. A waste-free delivery pile which stands next to a smaller pile of waste can be sent straight to a die-cutter or laminating machine to be converted. Productivity is increased as manually sorting through a pile for waste is now no longer necessary.

Both piles can be embedded in substrate logistics. Waste can be ejected at full speed: at 18\000sph (Rapida 145) and 20000sph (Rapida 106). What is more, start-up and run-up waste is removed automatically. Further applications are planned in the future. In addition, double-pile delivery makes non-stop pile change at maximum speed safer. Production with two piles is possible in both manual and automatic mode.

Colour imposition, dampening and the number of colours influence the substrate and can lead to variations in print length. Stretching the printing plate along the axis and radius of the cylinder (up to 0.2mm) on Rapida jumbos remotely via the console (ErgoTronic PlateStretch) can compensate for the print length. Manual intervention is not necessary. The result is improved print quality and less waste.

There have also been advances in in-line colour control with QualiTronic ColorControl. Green and red lights show the operator at the ErgoTronic console’s monitor whether the colour densities are within specified tolerances. A sound signals deviations and prompts immediate corrections. A feeder stop can be done to avoid waste if an error cannot be rectified quickly enough.

Industry Updates


Another new product to be unveiled at drupa in large format is QualiTronic PDF inline sheet inspection as part of automatic quality control during printing. It compares a freshly printed sheet with the contents of a PDF file from pre-press. After approving the reference sheet, production monitoring creates a virtual reference as soon as the OK sheet counter starts. A camera with a resolution of around 300dpi detects the smallest errors up to 90µm, even at maximum press speed. The inspection parameters can be adjusted during printing. The operator can find detailed information on possible sheet errors on the ErgoTronic console’s wall-screen. Certificates and reports provide detailed information on the print quality.

Onyx Graphics, Enfocus join forces

Onyx Graphics, Inc has announced that as a Crossroads Partner, it has developed a Switch Configurator that supports the specific demands of large format printers. Based on Switch automation software from Enfocus, the new solution – called the Onyx Switch Configurator – will expand benefits of Onyx Connect software for graphics, textile, décor and industrial print applications by giving users an improved solution for automating their workflow. Onyx Graphics will be demonstrating the Onyx Switch Configurator at its stand J20 in Hall 1, at FESPA Digital 2016, March 8-11, 2016 in Amsterdam.

Onyx Connect is a module of Onyx Thrive workflow software created to support large format print workflows. It is an open system that gives users a simple developer interface tool that enables them to connect their business’ workflow solution to their Onyx software. Enfocus Switch is an automation solution that enables any business to connect their investments in technology into efficient flows automating repetitive tasks while improving productivity and efficiencies. The openness of Switch technology makes it possible for companies like Onyx Graphics to use the configurators in Switch to connect and exchange data with its application.Significant improvements in production.

Onyx Switch Configurator software improves turnaround times by enabling print service providers to easily customise a range of job settings – including media selections, copies, print marks and job ticket

information. The configurator also gives printer operators greater control of bleeds, so they can produce a variety of applications without the need to redesign the original artwork.

Using the Onyx Switch Configurator, users can create prints with grommet and sewing marks that ensure accurate grommet placement and finish-ready prints, guaranteeing greater accuracy throughout the large format production process. This solution provides print service providers a better ways to manage communications and track their operations. New bidirectional communication improves the process for selecting printers, cutters, and media. In addition, customer and order information can now be connected to the production jobs, enabling automated tracking of production.“Working with Enfocus to create the Onyx Switch

Configurator extends the value of our technology by producing a solution that ensures our customers can produce jobs faster and more accurately, helping them to be more profitable than before,” says Bryan Manwaring, director of Product Marketing at Onyx Graphics. Bjorn Willems, director, Product Management at Enfocus, says, “Onyx Graphics has a wealth of experience working with large format printers. That is why we are so pleased to be working with them to create this configurator. It brings together the expertise of Onyx Graphics with the value of the Switch workflow to create a solution that meets the specific demands of large format print service providers. Enfocus is optimistic about the impact the ONYX Switch Configurator will have on businesses in this dynamic market.”

Onyx Graphics helps customers increase productivity, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge with superior print and color quality. Its passion for delivering superb colour led to the development of Onyx Color, Onyx Graphics’ own colour engine optimised specifically for large format inkjet printing. Innovative, productive, and satisfied customers around the globe help motivate the company to continually develop and enhance its leading-edge technologies. Global channel partnerships and longstanding relationships with printer manufacturers position Onyx Graphics as a market leader in powerful, reliable, large format printing workflow software.

Enfocus provides modular and affordable tools safeguarding job quality and enabling automation throughout the complete production chain. Innovative solutions improve communication between design

Industry Updates


and production while enhancing productivity and predictability through automation of routine tasks.

KBA-Sheetfed focus on data-based models

The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0 stands for the entire digital process and supply chains involved in production and business transactions between supplier and customer, and vice versa. Under the umbrella brand KBA 4.0, using digital transformation for data-based business models and more customer service is a key topic for the Koenig & Bauer Group. KBA-Sheetfed in Radebeul has already expanded its services in its comprehensive programme Service Select, intends to keep following this path and will inform users on this topic also at the upcoming drupa. KBA 4.0 is more than just digital remote access to a press. KBA-Sheetfed has carried out remote press access since 1994, back then via a modem as part of remote maintenance and for about the last ten years faster via a secure internet connection. Intelligent encryption modules in the consoles only enable KBA service technicians and certified KBA suppliers to communicate with a large number of the some 7000 presses on the market worldwide 24/7. A virtual tunnel protects the presses from unauthorised third parties accessing its data.

For the past two years KBA-Sheetfed has been working on analysing available data automatically and using this for new services relating to the presses. In the beginning it was mainly designed for performance evaluation, but it later resulted in more and more ideas for proactive and preventative service applications. One goal is a 360° user perspective enabling sales,

service and marketing to offer relevant information and added-value services on the basis of this data.

Every Rapida press features extensive control and sensor technology which captures and stores data on press activity. This includes press data, such as status and error notifications, time-stamped operating actions and other information on the day-to-day use of the press. KBA loads these log files automatically during each remote maintenance connection. Job, person and company-related data is naturally disregarded, also as this information is not included in the press log files.

Currently a growing number of KBA users participate voluntarily in a data-exchange programme. This means that their presses are permanently online. KBA-Service accesses these presses daily to evaluate data and in return these participants receive a monthly performance report.

The performance reports are an optional part of remote maintenance contracts, but the feature can also be ordered separately. The reports which are set out clearly with graphics provide information on a user’s press output, maximum and average press speeds, production availability, run lengths as well as printing, washing and job changing times. By networking customers and their presses with KBA and the service data available, KBA is able to unlock potential for optimisation for its customers and make them more successful on the basis of this data. Milestones, such as exceeding a certain number of printed sheets, are recognised at an early stage and communicated automatically as an email notification (photo 2). Just like the on-board computers found in modern vehicles users receive information on expired service intervals and inspection, maintenance or update recommendations. These are aimed at maintaining a high level of press availability and production security throughout the press’ entire service life.

CHILI rendro 1.0 releasedCHILI publish has launched a high-quality “PDF

viewing and approval inspection experience” following collaboration with Enfocus. By integrating CHILI publish’s revolutionary new technology for viewing PDFs on the web with Enfocus’ PDF quality control and workflow expertise, an add-on module for Enfocus Switch has been created called Switch PDF Review Module. Demonstrations of the new add-on module can be seen at drupa 2016 on the CHILI publish stand, F40 in hall 7a, and on the Enfocus stand at Hall 08b /

Automatically generated performance report based on a KBA Rapida’s log files.

Industry Updates


A23. CHILI rendro is the latest technical innovation from CHILI publish. It is the only rendering solution able to provide true, accurate renderings of PDFs on an HTML canvas. This fundamentally changes the way PDFs are managed because regardless of who is looking at the PDF – and whatever device they are using – the PDF can be viewed the way it was intended, both graphically and contextually.

The JavaScript SDK (Software Development Kit) format of CHILI rendro allows for tailored, scalable integration and platform independent collaboration that requires little configuration. These features make the solution fully adaptable to any work environment – from marketing service providers all the way to OEM partnerships such as Enfocus.

Says Kevin Goeminne, CHILI publish CEO, “CHILI rendro solves a key challenge for users – enabling them to better manage PDFs on the devices where they work. Having Enfocus as our first OEM partner is a perfect fit for this technology. Combining CHILI rendro with Enfocus’ excellent PDF quality and workflow solutions provides users with a powerful resource that saves time and ensures accuracy in any operation that relies on PDFs. We are pleased to be working with Enfocus, and proud of the way our technologies improve operations for our users.” Enfocus has integrated CHILI rendro into their technology to create the Switch PDF Review Module. This add-on module for Enfocus Switch gives users an HTML5 Browser based PDF review tool. This new module combines the flexibility of the browser with the powerful “PDF Inspect” features of the Switch solution.

Bjorn Willems, director of Product Management at Enfocus notes, “Thanks to the development efforts of our partner CHILI publish, we can give our users the control they want in the PDF review process from any desktop or tablet touchscreen. With the user in charge, the PDF review process is fundamentally changed, making it a faster and more effective than has been previously possible. When it comes to reviewing PDFs, the Switch PDF Review Module changes everything.”

The use of the PDF Review Module in Switch streamlines the inspection process. Once a PDF has been created, an email is sent to the reviewer with a link to the PDF. The reviewer clicks the link and the PDF is opened in the browser. The person reviewing the PDF is presented with a fully configurable user interface, depending on their role and skill level. It

could range from a very basic PDF preview with an Approve/Reject button on the bottom to an expert view that includes tools such as Eyedropper, Separation view and Wireframe. The expert view also allows the user to analyse individual objects within the PDF file, similar to the Inspector module of Switch. In both views, overprint is always honored and the users can customise the views with the customer’s logos and other brand identity. From there, the approver can choose to approve the file or not.

FFP sets new standard in flexographic printing

Asahi Photoproducts, a pioneer in flexographic photopolymer plate development, is pleased to report that its customer, FFP Packaging, located in Northampton in the UK, is raising the bar on flexible packaging printing with its Platinum Print platform, powered by Asahi. The company specializes in high quality flexographic printed flexible packaging, heat seal lidding films and films for high temperature or oven use. Says Paul Hesketh, print development manager at FFP. “Thanks to our partnership with Asahi Photoproducts, we have been able to complement our solvent based in-house platemaking facility with a more environmentally balanced water-washable plate solution, and absolutely delight our customers with the results.”

Informa announces IPEX 2017 dates

Informa has announced that IPEX 2017 will take place at NEC, Birmingham, from 31st October to 3rd November that year. The move back to the NEC sees IPEX return to its roots at a central, easy-to-reach venue popular with many European and international visitors and exhibitors. Through investment and industry consultation Informa’s aim is to make IPEX a premier ‘print in action’ showcase for the latest in professional production technology and applications in 2017, attracting visitors from across Europe and further afield. Informa has developed a new clear ‘all-inclusive’ package for exhibitors: maximum stand size is limited to 500 sqm, and the price of exhibiting includes equipment lifting (on and off), machinery mains connection and power consumption.

RIND Technical SeminarsStarting last year, PII-RIND (RIND amalgamated with the Press Institute of India in 1990) commenced a series of technical seminars. The ones held in 2015 focused on Running a Web Offset Press: Best Practices, Printing Plant Maintenance, and CtP Systems in Newspaper Production. Here is the first seminar for this year:

On Friday, 29th April

10 am to 5 pm

NewSpRINT AND NewS INK IN NewSpApeR pRODUCTION

The subject, useful for production executives and managers, quality control executives, and materials executives, will include:

Session 1: Newsprint manufacturing Raw materials – virgin, recycled pulps and additives, manufacturing process and technology

Session 2: Newsprint standardisation International standards, printability and runnability parameters, testing methods, relation between laboratory testing and actual performance during production

Session 3: Ink manufacturing Raw materials and manufacturing process

Session 4: Ink standardisation International standards, printability and rheological properties, testing methods, vendor rating based on testing

Session 5: Supply chain and logistics management Case study from a large newspaper house

(Names of speakers will soon be confirmed. There will be breaks for refreshments between sessions; lunch between 1 pm and 2 pm.)

The participation fee is Rs.2500. Payment can be made by DD/ payable-at-par cheque favouring Press Institute of India and mailed to the Director, Press Institute of India, Second Main Road, Taramani CPT Campus, Chennai 600113. For more details, please contact Geetha at 044-2254 2344/ 2323 or [email protected]

ReGISTeR NOw!

Other News


Cliff Michelmore bids adieu Cliff Michelmore, who was one of BBC

television and radio's leading figures for decades, has died aged 96. The prolific presenter, who anchored coverage of the

Apollo moon landings and several general elections, was best known as the long-

running presenter of BBC magazine programme Tonight.BBC director-general Tony Hall led tributes to the

"outstanding broadcaster", who was likeable to audiences yet possessed the skill to carry out hard-hitting interviews and hold his nerve while covering events of great historical importance. Michelmore, whose broadcasting career began in the Second World War, was made a CBE in 1969. He died at Petersfield Hospital in Hampshire after being admitted last week, his son told the BBC.

In a 2013 interview, Sir Michael Parkinson ranked Michelmore with broadcasting greats Sir David Frost and Alan Whicker and hailed the standards their generation set in broadcasting.

(Courtesy: pressgazette.co.uk)

Veteran journalist passes awayM. Seetharaman, 89, who retired as assistant editor of

The Hindu, passed away at his home in Chennai on March 17. He had served The Hindu for over 20 years and retired in 1991. Prior to this job, he was with The Mail, the city eveninger, for about 20 years. A professional in the classical mould, Seetharaman was said to be a stickler for the rules of journalism and was also a mentor for many young people who joined the newspapers.

(Courtesy: Mylapore Times

Film News Anandan is deadFilm News Anandan, often referred to as the

‘living encyclopaedia on Tamil movies’, died recently after a brief illness, in Chennai. He was 90. Born as Mani, he changed his name to Anandakrishnan, but was popularly known as Film News Anandan.

Passionate about photography, Anandan started his career as a freelance photographer with Film News, which gave him the moniker. He slowly slipped into the role of

a film historian after he started jotting down salient details of the happenings in a film shoot.The lesser known aspect of his career was that he was also one of the most successful public relations personnel in the film industry when the profession was still at a nascent stage. He has worked as a PR person for over 3000 films.

Anandan recently published a phenomenal and extensive work on film history, Tamil Thiraipada Varalaru, a collection of data that he had gathered from over 16,000 feature films in different languages. He had illuminating perspectives on how the ‘studio model’ gave way to a ‘hero-driven’ industry and under what circumstances.

(Courtesy: Udhav Naig / The Hindu)

Mukund Padmanabhan is editor, The Hindu

The Board of Directors of Kasturi & Sons, at its meeting on March 23, decided unanimously to appoint Mukund Padmanabhan, editor of Business Line, as editor of The Hindu. The KSL Board also decided unanimously to appoint Raghavan Srinivasan, senior associate editor of Business Line, as editor of Business Line.

Both appointments were made on the basis of the recommendation of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee of the KSL Board. The KSL Board placed on record its appreciation of the contribution of Suresh Nambath, national editor of The Hindu, in managing the editorial transition smoothly and efficiently, drawing on the team strengths of the newspaper.

Padmanabhan, an M-Phil in Philosophy studied in Chennai, Delhi and the London School of Economics. He worked briefly as a lecturer in Delhi University before switching to journalism.

As a journalist, he has reported from various countries including Sri Lanka, Britain, Australia, Malaysia, Britain and other countries in Europe. He worked for Sunday, the weekly magazine in Calcutta and the Indian Express before joining The Hindu, where he wrote editorials and oversaw many of the newspaper's supplements including the Sunday Magazine, Literary Review and Metro Plus.

Cliff Michelmore.

www.wan-ifra.org/india2016

World Printers Forum Conference

Newsroom Summit

Crossmedia Advertising Summit

Pre-conference workshops

Best in Print awards

INCQC winners felicitation

Plant visit

Info-table Expo

Twentyfourth Annual ConferenceWAN-IFRA India 2016

Image: Samit Kumar Sinha

21 - 22 September 2016, Kolkata

RIND Survey210mm x 280mm

Anandan.

Other News


New VP Marketing for Rajasthan Patrika

Rajasthan Patrika has elevated Hemant Bamgude as VP – Marketing (from AVP). Bamgude has over 12 years of experience in media sales and marketing and has previously held responsible positions with several top media companies. As AVP, he had handled the business operations of several verticals of Rajasthan Patrika.

(Courtesy: exchange4media.com

Sandeep Khosla is Mid-day CEOSandeep Khosla has joined as CEO Mid-day. Sandeep

brings with him over 28 years of rich media industry experience, across various mandates at Network 18 and the Indian Express Group. At Infomedia18 (a Network18 group company), Sandeep's mandate was to oversee every aspect of the publication business - product design, sales, distribution and circulation of the Group. In his new role, he will report into Apurva Purohit – president, Jagran Group, and Shailesh Gupta - director, Jagran Group.

(Courtesy: exchange4media.com

Shoma Chaudhury exits Catch News

Shoma Chaudhury was asked by the management of the Rajasthan Patrika Group to step down as the editor-in-chief of Catch News. Catch News, a digital news platform of the Patrika Group was launched in 2015 under the leadership of Chaudhury and founder and former editor of Mail Today Bharat Bhushan. They had also launched a Hindi news portal in December, 2015.

Prior to joining The Rajasthan Patrika Group, Chaudhury was the managing editor of Tehelka magazine.

Sakal COO quitsSakal Media Group chief operating officer, Shailesh

Amonkar, has resigned. In a four-year stint with the organisation, Amonkar was looking at new business initiatives as well as chief marketing officer heading

sales and marketing functions for the multiple media group. Amonkar has nearly thirty years of experience, with a major stint at Bennett, Coleman & Company.

(Courtesy: exchange4media.com)

Nonita Kalra is editor, Harper’s Bazaar India

The India Today Group has appointed Nonita Kalra as editor of the Harper’s Bazaar India magazine. A graduate from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, Kalra started her career as a trainee journalist with India Today. She went on to become the editor-in-chief of Elle India for nearly 13 years where she influenced fashion, beauty and lifestyle; her ideas and her initiatives shaped careers and launched trends. With over two decades of experience in print media and television, Kalra has worked with Business World, UTV, BiTV, and Man'sWorld.

(Courtesy: exchange4media.com)

ABP formally launches ABP Asmita

ABP News Network has formally launched its Gujarati News Channel ABP Asmita for its Gujarati viewers in India and the world. With a tag line that shows strong determination of ‘Khabar Amari, Pragati Tamari’, the news channel telecasts news and news related programs 24x7. The group has started the channel on the digital platform too with a website named abpasmita.in

ABP Asmita has a bouquet of shows from early morning till midnight along with quality programs like Fatafat and Top 20, which gives short but precise information about events that occur in India and worldwide. Besides this, a news round-up known as ‘apni Khabar, Aapna Reporter that covers news from even remote regions of Gujarat is also telecast every evening at 7 pm.

EVENTS CALENDAR


2016

April

May

April 6-9, organised by FESPA, in Sao Paulo, Brazil: FESPA Brasil/ ExpoPrint Digital. More details at http://www.fespabrasil.com.br/pt/

April 7-8, organised by WAN-IFRA in Chennai: Excellence in Newspaper Printing. More details from [email protected]

April 11-15, organised by INMA, in New York: Big Data for Media Week. More details on INMA website

April 15, organised by INMA, in Hyderabad: INMA Audience Development News Media Summit. More details from [email protected]

April 17, organised by Newspaper Association of America, in Washington DC: NAA mediaXchange 2106. Only for NAA members/ more details on NAA website.

April 20-22, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Vienna: Digital Media Europe 2016. More details on WAN-IFRA website.

April 18-19, organised by WAN-IFRA in Chennai: Digital Marketing Metrics. More details from [email protected]

May 16-17, organised by WAN-IFRA in Bengaluru: New Design Conference. More details from [email protected]

May 19, organised by FESPA in Mexico City: Print Mexico Congress 2016. More details at FESPA website

May 19-20, organised by INMA, in London: INMA Study Tours/ Media Disruption/ Legacy Media Reinvention Study Tours. More details on INMA website

May 22-24, organised by INMA, in London: INMA World Congress/ INMA Global Media Awards. More details at www.inma.org/worldcongress

May 31-June 10, organised by Messe Dusseldorf, in Dusseldorf, Germany: drupa 2016: Touch the Future. More details at http://www.drupa.com/

June 12-14, organised by WAN-IFRA, in Cartagena, Columbia: 68th World News Media Congress/ 23rd World Editors Forum/ 26th World Advertising Forum. More information from [email protected]

June 17, organised by INMA, in Amsterdam: INMA Ideas Day on Audience Development. More details on INMA website

June

July 14-16, organised by WAN-IFRA in Kuala Lumpur: Audience Intelligence. More details from [email protected]

July

April 19-20, organised by WAN-IFRA in Singapore: Alternative Design & Story Forms. More details from [email protected]

April 20-22, organised by WAN-IFRA in Vienna: Digital Media Europe 2016. More details from [email protected]


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Yes, digital publishing is here to stay

Tablets might still be a niche market in India, but they are a rapidly growing and promising new media channel for newspaper publishers. Digital publishing to tablets is another step in the ongoing evolution of the media industry. This change forces publishers to define an effective multi-channel publishing strategy, enabling them to effortlessly address any channel and to monetise new channels such as tablets successfully. A special report by Stefan Horst >>> more

Dinamalar surges forward on the new media front

A 60-year-old newspaper has adapted and moved with the times, and moved quickly. Its Web site attracts more than two million unique visitors and more than 190 million page views a month; its iPhone, iPod and iPad applications have recorded a substantial number of downloads and page views, with various apps being made available on the Android platform as well. All run and managed by a small team that is highly focused on delivering value to users as well as clients, and it has paid off well. Sashi Nair reports on the Dinamalar new media success story

>>> more

Director & EditorSashi Nair

[email protected]

Assistant EditorSusan Philip

Assistant Manager & Editorial Coordinator

R. [email protected]

Design & LayoutSeetha Ramesh

Senior Manager - Accounts & AdministrationN. Subramanian

[email protected]

Manager - Advertising, Administration & Library Services

R. [email protected]

Office AssistantB. Rajendran

Published by Sashi Nair on behalf of The Press Institute of India - Research Institute for Newspaper Development, from RIND premises, Second Main Road, Taramani CPT Campus, Chennai 600 113 and printed by V.B.S. Moni at Print Shop Private Limited, 4/310 Gandhi Street, Kottivakkam, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai 600 096. Editor: Sashi Nair

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A Journal of the Press Institute of India - Research Institute for Newspaper Development

April 2016 | Volume 37 | Issue 4 | Rs 40www.pressinstitute.in

SurveyRIND

1

NO PERFECT SOLUTION SANS COMMITTED RESEARCHWith drupa just a month or so away, companies are vying for attention with new product launches, displays and offers of solutions. The thrust as always is on innovation, quality control, enhanced automation, reduction of waste, etc. One of the companies planning to reveal an array of new products, including plates, CtP and controls at drupa 2016 is Cron. Its high-tech plant for lower-cost, precision plates focuses on the eco-friendliness of new plate technologies. What many of us forget is that it is usually quiet and painstaking research (reflected by this picture taken at Cron’s facility) that aids technological progress. You can read more about developments ahead of drupa on pages 33 - 37.

Documents

RIND Survey - Press Institute of India › file-folder › rindsurvey › April 16 low res.pdf · However, riding the digital wave has never been easy or smooth. Yes, social is where