ANNUAL REPORT 2015 3 — Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2015 3 — annual report

Welcome to Journalism’s Tipping Point

OLE JACOB SUNDE Chairman of the Board Tinius Trust

As a range of experts explore First, the good news: There finally seems to be an awakening to the notion that quality journalism is key to the survival the concept of Future Platforms for of well-functioning democracies. There are also an increa- Independent Journalism from different sing number of voices stressing that not only do we need journalism to support democratic values, but also declaring angles, there is one clear message: that quality, rather than quantity, is what engages people and makes them pay for content. Therefore, the argument is We all need to move fast to keep up. slowly but surely moving away from clickbait and reach, and in favor of quality content and engagement. tinius trust — 4

Publishers are flirting The disturbing news is that one key creation or to be held accountable for it question still has no answer: Are publis- — so far, for them publishing is simply a with the giants, letting hers doomed to become marginalized means to an end. To us, of course, it is them distribute some of as mere content producers, or can we our reason for being. The tech compa- their content and seeing actually evolve our position as indepen- nies’ main interest lies in user engage- dent news service providers? The best ment, which again drives advertising what ad dollars this solution would be for media companies money. The Western European digital approach leaves on the to develop logged-in ecosystems, gath- ad market is huge, forecasted to reach ering user data to improve personalized $38 billion in 2016 — of which $15 billion table user experiences as well as attracting is display advertising. advertisers. However, publishers have This year's Tinius Report is dedica- not yet focused on developing ecosys- ted to exploring the theme Future Plat- tems. The investments in the platforms forms for Independent Journalism from to support an ecosystem are substantial a range of different angles and perspe- and far outpace the resources of almost ctives. To examine this issue, we have all media companies. Therefore, the invited some of the leading thinkers vast majority of users for any publisher and practitioners in the world to share are anonymous, and users’ intents are their views and visions. Even though equally unknown. We know the effe- opinions differ, there are some common cts; both news consumption as well as denominators: All contributors have a advertising budgets are moving away passion for publishing, everyone agrees from publishers’ own sites towards it has to change, and they are all trying Facebook and the like. to shed light on possible paths going for- Consequently, publishers are flir- ward. ting with the giants, letting them distribute some of their content and seeing what ad dollars this approach leaves on the table. How will this influence a free and independent press — our editorial accountability, our financial stability, and our relationship with our users? From what we know, this alternative will also imply that publishers are sur- rendering the opportunity to monetize their content. Furthermore, some publishers are concerned that they will lose editorial power when the tech companies have discretion on which stories to publish when and to whom. And how will all of this influence our ability to innovate? It only becomes even more complicated for content providers as the tech companies become more interested in publishing — not for its own sake, but because news creates engagement and therefore helps them keep the attention of their users. This extra engagement is already becoming particularly important because sharing of personal information is slowing down on the social sites. Publishing is not a primary goal for the tech companies, and they have limited desired to get involved in content The Economics of Independent Media 8

ALAN RUSBRIDGER

The Relationship Status of Journalism 12 and Platforms: It’s Complicated

EMILY BELL

Death to the Mass 16

JEFF JARVIS

Journalism from 40,000 feet 22

JAN HELIN

A Platform Future for Publishing 30 Future Platforms for FRODE EILERTSEN Independent Journalism1 We Need a Data Revolution 38

ADAM KINNEY

Rise of the Distributed Domain 44

CORY HAIK

The Importance of Thinking About 48 Cross-Platform Data

DAO NGUYEN

Next Generation Publishing Products 58

ESPEN SUNDVE

Mastering One’s Domain: Some Key 64 Principles of Platform Capitalism

JONAS ANDERSSON SCHWARZ

The New Reality of Media 70

THOMAS BAEKDAL

An Outsider Perspective on Media 76

DARJA ISAKSSON

The Free Press Paradox 80

KJERSTI LØKEN STAVRUM Tinius Board 86

Ownership Must Ensure Freedom and 88 Independence of Schibsted’s Media

TINIUS NAGELL-ERICHSEN

Annual Statement 2015 90

Income Statement & 92 Balance Sheet

Notes to the Accounts 94 Annual Report 2015 Articles of Assosciation 96 2 7 — annual report tinius trust — 8

Future Platforms for Independent Journalism 1 9 — annual report

The Economics of Independent Media

ALAN RUSBRIDGER Editor in Chief of the Guardian for 20 years. Chair of the Scott Trust from September 2016 tinius trust — 10 11 — annual report

Alan Rusbridger was, Conventional thinking will not for 20 years, Editor in Chief of the Guardian. be enough to help news organisations During that time he helped lead it from being the survive — still less thrive in — 9th largest daily paper in the UK to one of the world’s leading the revolution gripping the news global news organisations. He was business. Deep pockets and structures awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for the Edward Snowden story. He is now Prin- protecting journalistic independence cipal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and is due to become Chair of the Scott will be essential. Trust in September 2016.

I write this on the day the Indepen- hundred. We are seeing huge leaps in dent’s printing presses fell silent. For technical capability — virtual reality, more than 30 years, the newspaper had live video, artificially intelligent news struggled with the increasingly difficult bots, instant messaging, and chat apps. economics of serious news publishing. We are seeing massive changes in con- In the end the owners, the Lebedev trol, and finance, putting the future of family, simply didn’t have deep enough our publishing ecosystem into the hands pockets to keep print going while inves- of a few, who now control the destiny of ting in a digital future. Print died; long many.» live digital. She is right. Facebook alone took The great Hollywood screenwriter, revenues of $18 billion in 2015 — up 44% William Goldman, wrote of his busi- year on year. In the last quarter of last ness: «Nobody knows anything.» For year Facebook’s advertising revenues anyone trying to manage a newspaper soared 57% from the same period in over the past 15 revolutionary years or 2014. If even Facebook is surprised by so — never mind today — those words the amounts of cash washing into its will have a resonance. Not because the coffers, how are the rest of us supposed CEOs and finance directors of media to plan? companies are clueless, but because Conventional thinking goes out of the external content of our industry is the window. Schibsted has sometimes so far beyond our control. Conventional thinking says it is the Tinius Trust. The digital guru, Emily Bell, vividly profligate to make losses: profit is the described the most recent transforma- key. James Murdoch famously ended a The Guardian’s tion of the outside weather recently in a 2009 lecture with the ringing declara- Columbia Journalism Review piece tit- tion that «the only reliable, durable, and equivalent is the Scott led Facebook is eating the world: perpetual guarantor of independence Trust, which was «Something really dramatic is is profit.» The founder of the Indepen- happening to our media landscape, dent, Andreas Whittam Smith, had a born in 1936 and is the public sphere, and our journalism similar mantra for his newspaper in its intended to see the industry, almost without us noticing early days. and certainly without the level of public But at the time James Murdoch Guardian through examination and debate it deserves,» spoke, his newspapers, The Times and she wrote. Sunday Times, were losing money hand thick and thin times «Our news ecosystem has changed over fist — and were being subsidised and to preserve its more dramatically in the past five years by his father. A few years earlier, his than perhaps at any time in the past five own company launched a predatory independence. tinius trust — 12 price war to put the Independent out of Schibsted has the Tinius Trust. The headache. But a much bigger — and business. The Independent made losses Guardian’s equivalent is the Scott Trust, newer — dilemma facing newspaper every single year since, but never lost its which was born in 1936 and is intended managements is whether to allow — or independence. to see the Guardian through thick and even encourage — others to distribute Most serious forms of journalisms thin times and to preserve its indepen- their content. over the years have been sustained by dence. As Bell notes in her essay, digi- one form or other of subsidy. The rea- In monetary terms, the Scott Trust tal natives such as Buzzfeed, Vox and der has seldom in history paid enough is no match for a News Corps or a Daily Fusion have built their presence by wor- to sustain the costly business of bro- Mail and general Trust. In my time as king within new distribution systems, adsheet news. The subsidy may have editor we did not, alas, devise a new not against them. been in the form of advertising — but economic model — any more than any- But is that right for so-called legacy that model has, famously, fundamen- one else has. But the Trust did carefully players? Can any newspaper with an tally changed. Most often it has been build up a reasonable endowment — in eye to the long-term future really reject an arrangement whereby profits from the end likely close to £1 billion. Facebook, Apple or Google, given that one company or individual have been Most endowments work on the prin- these three platforms practically are the transferred to make up the shortfall in a ciple that it is reasonable to spend up internet for many of their users? That paper’s publishing balance sheet. to five percent of the total endowment looks folly. Tony O’Reilly kept the Indepen- funds in any year — smoothed over a But being enthusiastically on these dent afloat from the proceeds of his number of years. The Trust and the platforms is also fraught with risk, as antipodean news chains. The Obser- Board — mostly external appointees — Bell notes. Newspapers lose control of ver’s former owner and editor, David have had to weigh whether the greater distribution. They don’t have any influ- Astor, subsidised the paper’s losses for risk to the future of the Guardian lies in ence over the algorithms which reveal, decades. Murdoch re-routed the pro- investing too much too fast, or too little or downplay, their content. fits of his tabloids into his broadsheets. too slowly. When Bell was at the Guardian as The Guardian was the beneficiary of It is a subject on which many people Head of Digital, she regularly walked profits from the Manchester Evening have an opinion. In one week recently I into my office with amazingly radical News and AutoTrader. Amazon’s Jeff read that we had recklessly invested in predictions. Most of them seemed mad Bezos is investing in the Washington an uncertain digital future — and also at the time. Some were. But many of Post’s rebirth; the previous owners, the that talented developers were leaving them turned out to be spot on. Grahams, simply didn’t have the cash. the Guardian because we were moving See how she conceives the future Ebay’s Pierre Ombidyar is financing the too timidly. now: «Even maintaining a website new web-only operation, the Intercept. Would Guardian Media Group could be abandoned in favour of hyper- Everyone (bar a few print roman- (GMG) act the same if it were a con- distribution. The distinction between tics) now accepts we must learn to be ventional company with shareholders? platforms and publishers will melt digital to survive — and also that the Almost certainly not. All newspaper completely.» cost of innovation and experimentation business models today are an act of Is she right? Well, she is now on the is formidable. faith. The Scott Trust and GMG’s act of Scott Trust, which can offer advice if Rupert Murdoch knows that, and faith has been faith in journalism. asked, but which leaves the day-to-day has been prepared to lose substantial It is a faith which has been sustained management of the Guardian to the sums to get to the other side of the river since the foundation of the Trust — and, team in charge. Luckily, we have a terri- bank. He started, and then closed, an arguably, since the birth of the Guar- fic editor and CEO. Each generation has iPad paper, the Daily, which cost $30 dian in 1821. During that time there challenges to solve. This is one of theirs. million to develop and $500,000 a week have been barely a dozen editors and, The birth of the Independent in 1986 to operate. He bought MySpace for $580 effectively, just one owner. That stabi- seemed — and was — dramatic at the million and sold it for $35 million six lity helps grow a strong journalistic cul- time. Its death in print is a sad moment years later. ture — which is the first prerequisite for to note. But I suspect it may end up as Were these profligate failures? success. just a footnote in the ultimate history of Or were they bold investments in the But how much is too much or how the whirlwind media transformation of future which didn’t work for reasons cautious is too slowly? There is, as one our time. largely beyond his control? I tend to Guardian commercial executive noted lean toward the latter camp: Whatever in late 2014, no low-risk option. else you might think about Murdoch, he Within months — at times, even has consistently been willing to try new weeks — the external weather changes. things — and to spend whatever it takes Adblockers were a cloud in the sky in — in support of journalism. late 2014. Now they’re a considerable 13 — annual report tinius trust — 14

The Relationship Status of Journalism and Platforms: It’s Complicated

EMILY BELL Founding director of the Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism 15 — annual report Journalism has fully embraced the power and reach of social media platforms, and there’s no turning back. But in the process, has journalism given up its greatest strength — its independent autonomy?

What has happened in journalism tionship between news, journalism and in the past year has created what we technology. A year ago, when Facebook might call the publishers’ dilemma. was first suggesting that publishers A central question all companies are could publish directly onto its platform now grappling with is how much of the with new instant article pages, there infrastructure of publishing and adver- was a cautious approach by a handful of tising sales to keep complete control of, selected partners. Now publishers cla- and how much to give away to distribu- mor for the rapidly growing platform to ted platforms. As the world becomes not only work with them, but to actively dominated by mobile, social gatekee- help them find solutions to collapsing pers — the Facebooks, the Apples, the business models. Facebook executives Googles — journalism is becoming a at F8 this year looked nervous. minority activity in a converging eco- «We’ve helped game developers system. make millions of dollars, but with news Over the past twelve months, we are still figuring it out…and we want technology companies have offered to help you figure it out,» said Justin strong incentives to individual publis- Osofsky, the head of media partnerships hers to create much more journalism for Facebook, managing expectations on their platforms than ever before, within the room and across the industry. with Snapchat Discover, Facebook That publishers care so much about Instant Articles, Apple News, Google’s what Facebook is thinking is a testa- Accelerated Mobile Pages, and Twitter ment to how intertwined news publis- Moments. The time has passed when hers have become with social platforms. publishing could claim to draw strength According to figures from social media from its independence. Using distribu- metrics company Parse.ly, Facebook in ted platforms is seen by some as being 2015 became the largest traffic referral the ultimate Faustian pact — indepen- source for the sites it measures — for the dence traded for a chance at survival. first time, ahead of Google. And Face- A few years ago, the news industry book also owns the messaging service A leading thinker, commen- paid almost no attention to the Face- WhatsApp and the photo sharing site tator and strategist on digital book F8 developer conferences in San Instagram, both of which are growing journalism, Emily Bell Francisco. The annual meeting where rapidly and encouraging different types is founding director of the Mark Zuckerberg talked to technolo- of social activity. Columbia University’s Tow gists about what the company would Newspaper publishers were among Center for Digital Journalism. build next was of interest only to techn- the first businesses to really understand, An award-winning print and ology reporters. But in 2016, publishers and feel, the powerful changes that the online writer and editor at swarmed into a packed theater to hear internet brought to bear. As long ago Guardian News and Media, what Facebook was planning. as 1995, newspapers were imagining Bell is a trustee on the board of Facebook has become a useful what a world would be like where you the Scott Trust. proxy for how we think about the rela- could, and probably would, publish 24 tinius trust — 16 hours a day. Such a simple acceleration are all technologies that are already publishers of much of their purpose and in publishing seemed like an extra- being used by both platform companies revenue. The more that journalism is ordinary change back then, yet it was and news organizations. With each ite- recognized as potent and essential by comparatively trivial. Today journa- ration of technology, we slide further people like Mark Zuckerberg or Larry lism faces a much bigger transition — a and further away from the notion that Page, the more beneficial it is to the profound change to every aspect of its to be a news publisher means to own field. But the limitations of platforms’ practice. everything — the journalist, the presses, transparency regarding how news is dis- Newsrooms are already moving the direct relationship with advertisers. tributed still needs careful scrutiny. quickly. Key newsgathering is done Larger publishers such as the New York We know that there is enormous through social aggregator sites such as Times believe they must invest in ‘desti- amplification power in networks. The Dataminr, with social media editors nations’ for their readers and separate 1.6 billion “active” Facebook users now central players in commissioning ways of working with advertisers, in represent a figure approaching 25 per- and shaping the output of a newsroom, order to create leverage in this slippery cent of the Earth’s entire population, a rather than optional afterthoughts. and changing environment. far greater number than a single publis- Teams at operations ranging from the The sudden and irreversible shift in her has ever been able to claim. The Wall Street Journal to BuzzFeed have how we publish and receive news means responsibility they now have to distri- news and curation teams that work on that the structure of newsrooms, and bute information fairly and transpa- content and journalism only for third- the size and focus of their technologist rently across countries and borders is a party sites. teams, will have to shift as well. A news- role Facebook did not necessarily seek. The gravitational pull of large plat- room with a creative and talented head The civic and legal issues of this kind of forms is unavoidable. Ignore it, and your of product is at an immediate advantage. power over information have not been business model has to exist wholly out- A newsroom where the curation team or close to properly explored, and there side the current ecosystem, as adverti- social media editor are effectively edi- are few codes, legal frameworks or even sers, readers, listeners and viewers now ting stories and making critical strategic agreed-upon standards which we can access their news and information diet decisions will do much better than those apply to the situation. through a very small number of US-ba- that are marginalizing key distribution The European Union has been one sed companies. techniques. Data is more central than of the few regulators to make effective The game of pursuing scale is not ever; stories have to be tested as they are interventions; even here, we see the bringing the rewards hoped for in news. released; products have to be built on a solutions are rarely perfect. The famous As advertising sales hit the floor at the detailed knowledge of user behaviour; 2013 right to be forgotten ruling from the beginning of 2016, even the strongest advertisers effectively want full service European Court of Justice addresses businesses started to falter. Newspapers from publishers or no service at all. the issues of privacy against a continu- like the UK’s Independent withdrew The next set of decisions publishers ally published archive. Yet it is far from from the market, digital sites like Mas- have to make will be about how much of perfect, and favors those who have the hable swiftly closed whole news opera- the infrastructure of publishing to keep. time and money to pursue a case to have tions, and even BuzzFeed, the model for Dumping a legacy web publication sys- search results adjusted. building a new business out of viral con- tem will soon be as imperative as exi- Dealing with the complexities of tent and native advertising, was reve- ting print was for newspapers. A news setting new norms and standards, pre- aled to have missed its revenue targets organization based on a studio model serving archives for civic and democra- by a long way in 2015. Advertising as a is just around the corner, where editors tic purposes, and allowing journalists, model for publishers is broken. Subs- will work with journalists to make their publishers and the public to know why cription models are becoming more stories work on whatever platform or certain items are removed or censored attractive, but nevertheless still only medium attracts audiences or revenue. — these are all pressing issues in this work for a small number of elite publis- Where does this leave journalism? new relationship between platforms and hers. And non-profit news, with very As power structures around the globe those who seek to publish through them. small budgets but often extraordinary shudder with the revelations in the Pan- The dilemma of how to make results, is becoming a much more sig- ama Papers, it is heartening to see that money in a market which is no longer nificant model for journalism, even in the potential and impact of journalism under your control continues to be the market-driven America. are not diminished, but rather finding primary survival challenge for news. The next wave of applications that new forms through which to thrive. But the civic issue for democracy — how will change reading and viewing habits It is, without doubt, beneficial to we will navigate and clarify this new is already here. Livestream video, vir- journalism that it has managed to cap- relationship in a post-broadcast world — tual reality, messaging apps, bots that ture the attention (and a sliver of resour- is in many ways far more important. create and curate stories and automati- ces) from the platforms and search cally deliver them to your phone — these engines that have denuded traditional 17 — annual report

Death to the Mass

JEFF JARVIS Professor and director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York tinius trust — 18 19 — annual report Media must rebuild its business around relevance and value, not volume.

In mass media, we have debated for also to each other, with a commercial generations whether content or dis- model built on value over volume. Ima- tribution is king. Turns out neither is. gine if news understood its role not as a There is no king. Instead, the kingdom vertically integrated industry that owns is ruled by the relationships among its and controls a scarcity — the printing citizens. press, the broadcast tower, delivery Jeff Jarvis is professor and Relationships, of course, fuel Face- trucks, the audience, space or time in director of the Tow-Knight book’s empire as it connects people media, and lately attention — but rather Center for Entrepreneurial with each other. Relationships inform as a member of the community it ser- Journalism at the City Uni- Google as it uses what it knows about ves and as a player in a larger, complex versity of New York Graduate each of us to deliver greater relevance ecosystem of information, data, techn- School of Journalism. He is in everything from search results to ology, and relationships. Imagine all the author of “Geeks Bearing email prioritization to maps. Each of the ways that technology enables us to Gifts: Imagining New Futures these giants knows every one of us as an realize our true mission of informing for News,” ”Public Parts,” individual. Each is a personal services communities, far beyond what we could ”What Would Google Do?”, company. do with our old, one-way, one-size-fits- and the ebook ”Gutenberg Not the news business. We still all mass media of print and broadcast. the Geek.” He was creator of treat the public we serve as a mass, all If we are to reimagine news as such a Entertainment Weekly; TV the same, delivering a one-way, one- service — built on relationships and thus critic of TV Guide and People; size-fits-all product that we fill with relevance and value — then it is necess- Sunday editor and associate a commodity we call content. What ary to reconsider many of our funda- publisher of the New York has died thanks to the abundance and mental assumptions about our business: Daily News; and president and choice the internet enables is not print that we manufacture a product filled creative director of Advance. or newsstands, longform or broad- with content; that our core competence net. He is cohost of the podcast cast. What has died is the mass-media is distribution to audiences; that audien- “This Week in Google” and business model — injuring, perhaps ces must come to us to consume our con- blogs at Buzzmachine.com. mortally, a host of institutions it sym- tent; that the public is as nostalgic as we biotically supported: publishing, broad- are for our old media of print and broadcasting, mass marketing, mass produ- cast; and that we have a proprietary hold ction, political parties, possibly even our on trust and authority. We also cannot notion of a nation. We are coming at last continue to act like the proprietors of to the end of the Gutenberg Age. monopolies and oligopolies, believing Rather than continuing to try to that we can go it alone and don’t need to maintain our content factory, whose collaborate with the new entrants, like real business is selling eyeballs by the Facebook and Google, which we would ton, imagine instead if news were a ser- like to think stole the audience and ad vice whose aim is to help people improve revenue that once belonged to us. Get their lives and communities by conne- over it. cting them not only to information, but We all know the fate of Gutenberg’s tinius trust — 20 invention. I have nothing against print, industrial organizations — editorial American Hispanics (who are actually just as I have nothing against horses as on this floor, commercial on that floor, comprised of many diasporas). And a means of transportation or telepho- technology behind that door. They beware the brand and the belief that nes as a means of talking, but we can- run small, cross-functional teams that people who happen to buy our product not hold onto an unsustainable techn- include the necessary constituents — are members of a community we define ological artifact out of romanticism. I product (formerly known as editorial), around us. Find communities that are have been among those who argue that audience (though I loathe that term self-defined and underserved and learn news must become digital first. To the for its implied passivity and consump- how to serve them better. companies I work with I offer a simple tion), commercial (that is, revenue), definition of that buzzphrase:A legacy technology (no, every journalist will not Interests — Almost all news company must become a fully become a coder — the elusive hack-hac- communities are, in the conception sustainable (read: profitable) digital ker), design (not just of presentation but of Benedict Anderson, imagined enterprise before the date at which of use), and data. These teams need to communities — that is, groups of people print becomes unsustainable. And be empowered to identify a customer who likely have not met but who gather that date is...? Sooner than we wish to need and build a product to meet it. around a common need or desire. think. Many new skills and jobs are requ- Even if I do not know other cancer Digital — not just new media tools, ired in these remade organizational patients and might not consider myself but, more specifically, the internet — structures: the ability to observe, listen a member of a cancer community, it enables us to build a kind and quality of to, and empathize with a community; is clear that I share information needs journalism that simply was not possible the ability to use new products to gene- with others in my situation. There is, in old media. What makes the net new rate data about users so we can serve of course, no scarcity of interests that and valuable is that it enables relations- them with greater relevance; the ability can be served: football team fans, hips. My belief in a relationship strategy to maintain user profiles at an indivi- environmentalists, crafters, foodies, for news — which I explored in my book dual level and analyze and act on the people selling homes, people buying geeks bearing gifts: Imagining New data there. In our meeting with pro- homes, job-seekers, cat owners, dog Futures for News — inspired the creation duct development people, I also heard owners (look at Meetup.com and see of a new Master’s degree in Social Jour- interest in a new job responsibility: user just how specific this can become — say, nalism at the City University of New advocate (though I could argue that pug owners). Beware thinking that York Graduate School of Journalism, should be the job of an editor). people organize their interests around where I teach and direct the Tow-Knight In the newsrooms I visit, I often hear our newsroom taxonomy: news, life, Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism. the self-interested question: What is the business, sport. Also understand that In that program, my colleague, Dr. newsroom of the future? Perhaps the topics are not necessarily interests. Carrie Brown, and I direct our students better question is: What does the new Google News head Richard Gingras to select communities that identify newsroom make? I suggest we need to likes to use this example: He was themselves as communities (that is: not be in the business of making products fascinated by the story of former New fake, demographic labels like “millen- that more specifically serve groups of a York Congressman Anthony Weiner — nials”) and then to observe and learn to few definitions: famous for exposing public pictures of listen, so they can discern the problems his private parts — not because Gingras and goals these people share. Then and Communities — These can, of was interested in New York politics only then can we, the journalists, bring course, be geographic: serving a town or Weiner’s genitalia, but because he our tools to bear to help them. or neighborhood. There are many cannot resist the story of a fall from Thus the ability to build new produ- other communities to consider: the grace. Interests must be defined not cts and services around communities retired, small-business owners, ethnic in newsroom terms — the content we becomes a central skill of the new news diasporas, parents of small children, happen to have, the way we assign and company. Witness how Vox, Quartz, addicts, activists, teachers, lesbian organize our organization — but instead BuzzFeed, and other successful newco- women, gay men, divorcees and on ad in the terms of the interested. mers have put product development infinitum. Beware mere demographics at the heart of their organizations. At — I have less in common with people Use cases — In Geeks Bearing cuny, we recently convened more than who look like me than pollsters and Gifts, I argued that mobile forces us to a dozen of the best product chiefs in the marketers would lead us to believe, imagine and serve the many diffe- business — from the three companies and making a product or service for a rent use cases of news, just as mobile I just listed and from legacy forebears statistical grouping risks patronizing required Facebook to build or buy including The Guardian, The New York them (“what do women want?”). services for different use cases of social Times, and The Washington Post. The Beware the false community, defined connection — Facebook for organizing newcomers no longer manage silos in externally, such as millennials or friends’ information; WhatsApp and 21 — annual report

We junked up and slowed down the web with ever more ads and applications on pages, forcing our users to download megabytes when the content and information they seek can be contained in kilobytes

Messenger for communicating with revenue and enhancing relationships them; Instagram for sharing moments. through events. Schibsted, Springer We should consider the use cases of — and someday soon, I presume, Jeff news: waking up and wanting a quick Bezos’ Washington Post — are turning view of what’s happened (the home their promotional power and their user page is a rather poor answer to this data into e-commerce opportunities. need); following and receiving alerts And advertising? Just as we know the on stories that matter to us; getting eventual fate of print, we know where background on a story (Wikipedia has the commoditization of advertising fulfilled that function and now Vox is through abundance, programmatic, trying to make a business of it); conne- and retargeting leads: downward. Yet cting with members of our communi- media must still depend on advertising, ties to talk or take action. So long as we for there is not enough money from the still print a newspaper, we also should generosity of the public, foundations, reconsider its use case: Do people truly government (God help us), or commerce still need a product that tells them what partners to support even more efficient happened yesterday, which they likely visions of our work. And we can rest already know? assured that it will take generations — Thus the new news organization pro- if ever — before brands and marketers duces a constellation of services giving themselves learn that they, too, can groups of people what they need. How build direct relationships of relevance does it make money? The industry is and value with their customers, bypas- exploring various new revenue streams. sing marketing expense. None will be our singular savior (so far, The question is whether we can sell tablets, paywalls, and native advertising marketers something of greater value. I have all turned out to be false messiahs). hope we can sell them a skill. Consider At CUNY, I am trying to help public that BuzzFeed doesn’t really sell media media in the United States and The space and time as legacy companies do. Guardian on extending models of mem- BuzzFeed sells a skill: «We know how to bership and public support of journa- make our stuff viral so we can make your lism, which is the logical extension of a stuff viral, too.» Vice, similarly, sells its relationship strategy. Some enterprises talent at making stuff cool. News orga- — notably Texas Tribune — are earning nizations should demonstrate that they tinius trust — 22 know how to serve communities with content is a social token that feeds their eve the platforms are sincere when they trust and relevance — and then offer conversations. That is, when my daugh- pay tribute to the value of news and say that skill to other companies that wish ter sends her friend a video, she is not they care about its future. to do that themselves. We can do that recommending this as content her fri- I will even go so far as to say that we as consultants. We can create products end should stop and consume. Rather, in the news business should look at buil- that serve, say, beer fans, giving them she is using this media to say something ding some products and services for spe- information, convening their communi- about her or her friend or their relations- cific communities entirely on the plat- ties, and — this is an idea from one of our hip. She is saying about a video: «This forms — e.g., service to a community of Social Journalism students — organi- speaks for me.» Or: «I get the joke.» If interest on Facebook; news services on zing brewery tours. We can become ser- we follow this notion to its logical con- YouTube; alerts via Twitter, Snapchat, vice organizations that end up compe- clusion, content is no longer a product or and WhatsApp; convening communities ting with public relationships agencies, a destination — and perhaps no longer of customers via Slack. The platforms, in which I argue need to flip themselves on a brand — but merely a cog in someone turn, would be wise to help us, thereby the head and become the representati- else’s conversation. building business, soothing regulators, ves of the public to the company rather Content is not king. Distribution is and better serving their users. than of the company to the public. not king. Conversation is the kingdom. We need peace in the kingdom. All that is challenging enough to I believe we have no choice but to Because of that belief, I spend a good imagine and accomplish. But, of course, distribute what we do as widely as we deal of my time talking with publishers the net being the net, life gets only more can. How can we still presume to force and platforms about each other. I still complicated. Building relationships is people to come to our sites when our see a considerable gap of understanding made even more difficult on the distri- content can travel to them? The good between them, breeding unnecessary buted net, which forces us to interact news is that with Instant Articles and distrust. Of course, all these companies with the public we serve everywhere AMP, content can travel with business will act in their own interests; they are except on our sites. Suddenly, not only model attached. The bad news is that companies. The journalistic skill most is our content less valuable, but so is our in an era when first-party data is a pre- useful in business negotiations is skep- distribution. Of the five billion interacti- requisite to building relationships with ticism. But it is in the interests of all par- ons BuzzFeed has with its public each people, Facebook and Google know ties to understand each other and work month, only one billion occur at Buzz- more about our users than we do. So together. Feed.com; the rest occur on Facebook, we need to negotiate with them to get To accomplish that, I believe the YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and interest data about our users and usage industries need cross-pollination. Per- platforms yet to be invented. data about our content. When I say this haps the greatest benefit of Google’s And now come Facebook Instant to publishers, I hear them protest that Digital News Initiative and its Newsge- Articles and Google Accelerated Mobile Facebook and Google would never give ist events is that each side learns more Pages (AMP), further driving publishers up data. But have we asked? And when about the other. At our next convening to distribute their work. Both solve a I say this to the platforms, they say that of product development executives in problem of our own creation: We junked publishers wouldn’t know what to do news, we will invite product (sorry: not up and slowed down the web with ever with the data if they had it. Are the plat- business development) people from more ads and applications on pages, for- forms wrong? Today, they probably are. platforms so they can dig into speci- cing our users to download megabytes But Google and Facebook could fics on small matters (e.g., Facebook when the content and information they teach the news industry how to bet- and Google treat a news organization’s seek can be contained in kilobytes. We ter build and serve relationships. Why desire to update the news differently) drove them to install the ad blockers would they help us? First, European and large (can we begin to build stan- that hurt our advertising businesses. publishers — particularly in Germany dards for data exchange?). News compa- (Ultimately, we in media need to fix — declared war on Google, spending nies are desperate to hire technologists. not only the web page but also adverti- their political clout to pass protectionist I also suggest that the platforms would sing itself, representing the interests of copyright laws. Google responded with be well-served to hire senior journalists our users and setting new standards for its Digital News Initiative. Silicon Valley — just a few — not to build competitive quality.) needs friends in our industry. Second, news operations (who wants to go into In this latest structure of the net, it is in the interests of both platforms that business?) but to act as translators our web sites are no longer destinati- and publishers to create means and between our cultures and, more impor- ons. Neither is content itself. Last year, standards for the transfer of first-party tantly, to help the platforms better serve I attended the VidCon — the Comic data about users in ways that serve and their own users. That is what we all want Con of YouTube — where I learned that protect users’ interests and privacy — to do. None of us are kings. We are all in young people’s lives, content is not before regulators kill our chances to do merely servants of the public. a product to be consumed. For them, this. Third — and least cynically — I beli- 23 — annual report

A Platform Future for Publishing

FRODE EILERTSEN Executive Vice President, Schibsted Media Group, currently leading Schibsted's New Growth initiative. tinius trust — 24 25 — annual report There are two clear paths ahead of us: Submit to the platforms to survive, or innovate and thrive.

It is spring 2016 in San Francisco. It is ference about innovation and future rolling out Virtual Reality to the mas- the best of times. We are first row at opportunities, and more like a victim ses, Facebook is also putting energy into F8, Facebook’s own show-off tech con- therapy session for “Old Europe.” The the far less sexy endeavor of improving ference, gathering some of the best air is filled with panic and reeks of fear, the news portion of its core service, the and brightest digital minds, developers with most panelists crying for regula- News Feed, for its 1.6 billion users. New and partners. This year’s very special tion and competitive government pro- initiatives, products, features, and capa- guests: carefully selected publishers tection, rather than focusing on compe- bilities such as Instant Articles, Face- from around the world to feed the beast ting through innovation. The publishing book Paper, Save to Facebook, and news that drives engagement. On stage, 32 industry is hardly present, they are busy bots are all aimed at improving the value year-old Mark Zuckerberg is on a mis- at home cutting costs. The concerned for and engagement of its users. Des- sion, with ambitions to make the world industry executives on stage are from pite the best of intentions, Facebook’s a better place. The impressive way his transportation, energy, banks, health- activity within news is also producing company is turning it into tangible rea- care, retail; because the US tech giants some unintended consequences: One lity is indeed inspiring for millions, if are not merely controlling the Internet is undercutting the funding of indepen- not billions, of people. Mark Zuckerberg — they are eating the world, the cities dent journalism by taking over the lion’s is not only innovating on the Internet, and the economy. share of newspapers’ historic adverti- he is becoming the Internet. Pause the film: Amidst exciting sing revenues. Another is even more In Munich, it is gray and cold. It and pioneering plans such as Artificial significant: Facebook may soon become is the worst of times. We are at DLD, Intelligence (AI) powered services, the newspaper of choice for most people a European tech conference. In stark using unmanned airplanes to deliver in most markets — all without contribu- contrast to F8, it feels less like a con- the Internet for “the next 3 billion,” and ting to the production of a single piece

frode Eilertsen,an Executive Vice President of Schibsted Media Group until recently in charge of Strategy, Products and Technology, has been a driving force in Schibsted’s digital transformation into a global internet company. He studied law in Oslo, earned a degree in computer engineering from Dartmouth and his MBA from Harvard Business School, and spent two decades in the technology sector in Boston and Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist, founder and CEO of startups, and as a global leader of technology in the energy sector for McKinsey & Company. Today, Eilertsen leads Schibsted’s New Growth initiative. tinius trust — 26 of content or acknowledging editorial World War II. It was indeed the best ctive — one focused on building a long- accountability. of times for 60 years, with readership term, top-of-mind, sustainably loyal Cut to the helicopter shot: Software and revenue growth. Publishers were relationship with its users, and using is eating the world, and information able to do something that now seems this foundation to continue growing is transforming it. 60+ years into the impossible, making record profits while users and expanding an ecosystem of Information & Communications Revo- also providing a service whose reach innovative services on top of its plat- lution, we have reached what London engaged and informed the entire popu- form — the platform giants’ foray into School of Economics Professor Carlota lation, whose product protected free news services is motivated by a profo- Perez calls the deployment stage of the speech and facilitated open democratic und battle of engagement. 5th technology revolution where the discourse, and whose independence Why is that? Because engagement benefits (and disruptions) of informa- and integrity held powers-that-be acco- — the active and extensive usage of a tion technology are finally starting to untable. Brands were top-of-mind in any platform — is both finite and essential affect society at large, transforming market, and the owners were among the to the success of any platform. Enga- every industry, every job, and every per- most respected and recognized figures gement, when measured in time spent son’s daily life. in society — all because news publishing online, is naturally finite for each user. As a traditional bellwether for many concerned and engaged us all. The number of minutes spent on one industries, the media is feeling impact As we know, this era came to an end site means less time available to spend of this change most urgently, as inde- about 10 years ago and has been follo- on another site, or reading a newspaper, pendent journalism is hit by the disrup- wed by a rapid decline — first in print, or watching TV. It’s a zero-sum game, tive changes in consumer preferences: and then also through a perfect storm and hence a fierce battleground for Habits and needs of readers and citizens in digital with emerging platforms supremacy between the different plat- have completely changed — going from becoming substitute news providers. form ecosystems. The reason the battle print to digital, generic to personalized, As legacy media predominantly focu- is fierce is because engagement is essen- and from info scarcity to abundance and sed its attention on “classical” business tial to monetization, service innovation overload. levers rather than trying to innovate and user retention: The more time users The result is that dissatisfied rea- and compete, becoming masters of spend on a site, the more ads can be ders are mostly unwilling to pay much, cost control, Silicon Valley revealed its shown to them (monetization), and the if anything, for subscriptions to yester- appetite for entering the news services more their data is captured to improve day’s news products, and when combi- category: news aggregation, newsfeeds, and identify new services; and the more ned with the perfect storm of platform Google AMP, Facebook IA, Google Rea- time and services a user consumes on a companies commandeering publishers’ der, Facebook Paper, and more recently, given platform, the more likely she is to advertising revenues, the result is dis- bots. continue using the platform in future. ruption and upheaval. Value chains But why? But how does this battle of enga- and business models of publishers must Why do Silicon Valley tech compa- gement connect to news publishing? be reconstructed, jobs of journalists nies all of a sudden not only want to Let’s assume that people engage with and editors must be re-examined, the work with publishing content, but also the things that address their under- publishing product must be re-invented, become the distributors and providers lying needs. In a modern world, our and the role of independent journalism of choice for consumers? basic human needs generally fall as a pillar of free society must be reaffir- At first blush, the answer seems in three categories: the human, the med. In sum, publishing is increasingly easy— it’s all about taking over the citizen, and the everyday being: marginalized, with lower revenues to lion’s share of publishers’ advertising produce journalism, and with the distri- revenues as these revenues increasingly —— The Human need is the manifesta- bution, monetization and the very inter- migrate online. And this is true; from a tion of the fact that humans, at our core, face with readers increasingly being business perspective, there is no doubt are social beings. We seek and need controlled by platforms. that this is the end goal for the inter- contact with other human beings, and So publishers are facing a very net giants. After all, more than subs- we cherish extensive and rich commu- hard choice: surrender, or innovate and cription- or transaction-based revenue nication and interaction with others. compete. models, advertising is still the undis- puted “killer” business model online. ——The Citizen need is a reflection of So why are the platform giants News and classified advertising repre- those things that make us more than a so interested in the future of sent both high-volume and high-quality mere beast. Our thirst for enlighten- inventory that is essential for the likes ment in the form of knowledge and publishing? of Google and Facebook to be able to insight, as well as the practical need for To properly answer this question, we monetize their user bases. being informed of the world around us need to look back at publishing after However, from a platform perspe- that affects our lives. 27 — annual report

——The Everyday Person represents hms”) that factor in who you are, where end-to-end streamlining and automa- our daily need to accomplish routine you are, and what you want. tion. These are the characteristics of any household tasks in our lives — small Now let’s apply all this theory to “unicorn” service, be it single-product jobs, repairs, the purchase of products publishing — let’s start with the reader offerings such as Uber, AirBnB, Spotify, and services — and to be entertained. perspective, historically an overlooked or Klarna, and in particular platform A large part of the Internet economy is area within publishing, and consider the ecosystems such as Google and Face- all about addressing our everyday needs impact that the information revolution book. in more convenient, faster or cheaper has had on us all, best illustrated by the Personalization is a self-reinforcing ways. research of the University of Southern game that heavily favors platform giants California’s Dr. Martin Hilbert: In the and their logged-in ecosystems, for the As seen in this model, news publis- middle ages, the average European citi- simple reason that both personalization hing represents one of the most essen- zen would be lucky to read the equiva- and data collection require lots of data tial pillars of human need and engage- lent of one book (the Bible, naturally) in about each user. Thus platform ecosys- ment — which is why news publishing a lifetime, and even 100 years ago that tems are focused primarily on colle- has been so central to society in the print number had only increased to about 50 cting data about a user across devices era, as well as one of the most important books; today that trickle has grown to (only possible if a user is logged in) and engagement platforms in the digital era. a tsunami of 15,000 newspaper pages using this data to build rich user profi- Engagement, in the form of the frequent per day! As content creators and contri- les, which in turn makes it possible to consumer usage of a platform that news butors, we have gone from creating 2.5 offer deep personalization and effective media represents, is the real motiva- pages a day just 30 years ago to almost automation. Nobody currently captures tion behind platforms’ interest in news 500 pages today — a 200-fold increase. more data, or invests more resources in publishing. What is my point? That at the gene- turning this data into valuable persona- sis of the World Wide Web in 1993, the lization and automation, than Google Why platforms and ecosystems role of publishing was what it had always and Facebook. are changing the game been: to carry out its noble mission of Why is this new solution paradigm societal enlightenment and authority good for the user? While our needs as human beings — accountability as the gatekeepers of Simply put, because it solves their including our need to be informed citi- scarce news content — information, problems, helps them do their jobs, and zens — are constant, over the past 10 insights and analysis about the world perform their tasks. In today’s world, years some technology and product inn- around us. Simply put, publishers were this solution paradigm makes everyday ovations have fundamentally changed entrusted with the power to decide the life easier. And users flock to those who the world and the everyday context in what and the how: what to dedicate con- offer the best personalization and auto- which we humans operate. The emer- tent creation resources (journalists) to mation. gence of smart devices, an explosion and thus which news events to report in sensors (from GPS to audio/video/ on, and how to cover the content they Why publishers are losing to photo recording to health monitors), chose to include — and what to leave platforms and, why it matters and cloud computing making all ser- out. The differentiator is what defined vices and data sharable and available great journalism, powerful writing and Publishers sit on one of the most valua- across devices anywhere and anytime, distinctive storytelling. ble engagement pillars of the Internet, has resulted in each of us being tethered Fast-forward 22 years, and it is have large volumes of premium adver- to a 24/7 life recorder. This convergence indeed a world turned on its head. tising inventory, and have potential has of course created new problems in Along with the smart device and sensor access to great data about their readers the form of information overload. explosion, we have information over- — data that in many respects is as good Thankfully, along with these pro- load. News content is everywhere, and as the data Facebook and Google sit blems have come new remedies in the the majority of such content is neither on. This is the key to create personali- form of a revolution of data and advan- exclusive in source or distribution. What zed services and sustainable business ced analytics/artificial intelligence is still scarce and sorely lacking is order models: The more data you have about a (a.k.a. “Big Data”), as well as the lin- amidst the chaos. user, the easier to fine-tune and improve kage of this data to individual identity The solution is found in persona- existing services to increase their usage (logged-in across devices). This has cre- lization and automation. If you look at (and data), and the easier it is to detect ated a whole new personalized product any online service that’s enjoyed any trends and patterns that can be used to solution space aimed at addressing our modicum of success in recent years, innovate and launch new services (… human needs and helping us accomplish it’s been characterized by being always to then generate even more data about our “consumer jobs.” The solution is tai- logged-in and cross-device — tailored, users). Logged-in users also create the lored by personalized filters (“algorit- friction-free and time-saving due to opportunity to become a foundatio- tinius trust — 28 nal platform for an entire ecosystem of together, could use our combined posi- news source — and that is before the users and businesses to build on, launch tions and local knowledge, enhanced machine is even fully up and running. and interact. This dynamic, with a core with a step up in new digital disciplines You see it in the way that Facebook uses of user data facilitating user engage- such as data science and analytics, soft- its algorithms to control what you see, ment and growth, is a new type of win- ware engineering, and product design, filtering out art (nudity) but allowing ner-take-all scenario that risks having a to create better local ecosystems, with hate speech, all while taking down news few players controlling not only part of better services for people and society, pages under pressure from political the value chain, but the entire environ- than the Silicon Valley tech giants. regimes like Turkey. Still, they claim ment — the Internet. The question is: Given this analy- “we have no role” when confronted with Look closely at what both Facebook sis, given the battle for engagement, editorial accountability or their respon- and Google are doing, buying and buil- given that the paradigm shift towards sibility as a de-facto publisher. ding, and you’ll see that they are aiming logged-in engagement ecosystems has So let’s just imagine for a moment straight for the heart of publishers’ been going on since the iPhone launched what will happen when a handful of glo- business, building ecosystems based on in 2007, why aren’t news publishers bal platforms get to exclusively decide an engagement strategy of publishing responding forcefully, using their position what information we see, control what combined with intent data. Facebook of strength to unite, innovate, compete kind of journalism is promoted, and is evolving its Newsfeed from a pure and win the battle of platform-based eco- dictate the economic terms of funding friends feed to an increasingly curated systems? independent journalism — all without news service (high engagement) while The short answer is: Because publis- caring about or investing resources into rolling out Facebook group-based Local hers don’t actually capture data about producing any journalistic content of Marketplaces (rich in valuable intent their users, and as a consequence don’t their own. data) in their app, and combining these really know them. Therefore publishers Why does this actually matter for with the most powerful social graph are unable to meet today’s user needs you and me? What is our motivation and audience-targeting machine in the around personalization, or even use for preventing the tech giant platforms world. their data to enhance the value of their from winning? Google comes from the position of advertising solutions. Because a few global platforms owning extremely powerful intent data That’s the short answer. To properly from the US and China taking control of through search, and right now is making answer this question, it’s worth taking the creation, economics, and consump- publishers a very compelling offer of an honest look at our starting point as tion of news will be bad for innovation, access to their platform’s news content well as our motivation. journalism, readers, and, ultimately, and user engagement. Their strategy is Our starting point as publishers is society. the same as Facebook’s, to leverage pre- that legacy media is not only being dis- It will be bad for innovation, since mium publishing inventory with user rupted, but nearing outright extinction: the platform giants are not focused on intent data, and their goal is clear: to win On the news product side, consumers innovation in journalism per se; and the user engagement battle and capture have moved from print to mobile, where since they already control the interface the lion’s share of advertising revenue. their needs are not met by today’s legacy to the users, they effectively make it Let's pause for a minute: If the tech news products, and they are therefore impossible for publishers to innovate giants are replicating publishers’ core increasingly consuming news off-plat- around news services. domains, of which they have little spe- form. On the business side, consumers’ It will be bad for journalism, because cialist or locally relevant knowledge, it willingness to pay is at best a mere a journalist or publisher is no longer free triggers an observation and a question. fraction of traditional print subscrip- and independent when someone else is The observation is: If publishers tion prices, at the same time that plat- dictating reader access and journalistic are sitting on one of the Internet’s most form companies are chipping away at formats, and completely controls your valuable and vibrant engagement plat- the advertising revenue that publishers economic means. You lose responsibi- forms, with valuable user intent data, increasingly just to survive. The end lity, you lose independence, and you it means that we are sitting on a great result is that the majority of news con- lose authority and credibility. unfulfilled potential to build ecosys- sumption is taking place away from It will be bad for readers, as it will tems ourselves. Picture a Norwegian domains controlled by a content produ- not be transparent what they get to see or Swedish ecosystem, where you log in cing editor. or why they see it; as potential benefici- once and get easy access to all quality Platform companies are winning, aries of innovation, they lose out; as par- content and journalistic stories from and this is — regardless of their best ticipants in a democracy, they risk being sources you trust, where the data you intentions — an undeniably bad thing. uninformed “filter bubble” casualties. share is used transparently to create We see it in the democratic process in Most importantly, it will be bad for better services for you, and is protected the US, where over 60% of American society. Any democratic society needs a in a way you can control. Imagine if we, citizens cite Facebook as their primary free and independent press to hold aut- 29 — annual report horities accountable, to uncover abuses Imagine if we assumed responsibi- Build the foundations of of power, and to ensure that citizens are lity for our own destiny: Complemented informed, engaged and empowered to our strengths as publishers with invest- a functioning democracy, participate in the democratic process. ments in tech and product to take con- by closing the gap trol over user data and user interfaces, to between what people Two options: surrender or innovate, improve and deliver tailored, already know and what innovate user-friendly, content-rich and expres- sive editorial and advertising experien- they should and/or want Platforms are changing the game, and ces, which in turn ensure happy, loyal to know — so that people they are coming for publishers’ rea- users and advertisers willing to spend ders and advertising revenue, which time and money with us. are empowered to make is bad news all around. And yet, we as This imagined path represents an informed decisions publishers still posses unique exper- alternative digital future for publishing about their personal life, tise, valuable positions and unique local driven by innovation, redefining what knowledge that together can create new news services are in a digital age, ser- community, society and opportunities. ving society and its citizens, and gene- governments. As I write this, publishers around rating the kinds of profitable revenues the world are considering their options. necessary to ensure long-term sustaina- We can surrender. We can say that ble independent journalism. the platform battle is over, declare Google, Facebook and Apple winners A possible digital publishing and join one or multiple of these and future – an alternative mission try to make the best out of the situation. and ecosystem The problem is that while the New York Times and Washington Post (or Buzzfeed Allow me to go one step further and for that matter) might be able to scale share a possible publishing mission. A English-language journalism globally mission that could become a future path via distributed publishing, very few for digital publishing and journalism other local markets and languages can that is not beholden to the editorial and scale. Certainly not the Nordic langua- commercial mercy of California-based ges, and not even the large European tech companies. languages such as French, German or This mission, a redefined reason Italian. Even forgetting such concerns for publishing’s existence (and one that as editorial independence, transpa- Schibsted believes in) is to build the foun- rency, integrity, or ability to innovate dations of a functioning democracy, by — the core advertising monetization closing the gap between what people model is broken, and it's hard to see how already know and what they should we can fund a critical mass of indepen- and/or want to know — so that people dent editorial teams of competent jour- are empowered to make informed decisi- nalists. ons about their personal life, community, Alternatively, rather than surrender, society and governments. we can imagine… In order to realize such a mission, Imagine an ecosystem that is not our publishing vision (or ambition) must Google/Facebook. succeed in transparently and intelli- Imagine that a critical mass of qua- gently connecting and engaging people lity content is available in a premium with credible and relevant informa- journalistic ecosystem. tion at the right time and place, through Imagine that our data is incredi- adaptive, highly granular, rich storytel- bly valuable for monetization and for ling. developing a personalized, trust-based At first blush, a critical reader may relationship with the user that can then argue that this may sound like the be used for the development of more timeless and noble mission that has innovative services, taking advantage always defined publishing around the of the fact that publishing is one of the world, that continues to set publishers most engaging activities in our lives. apart from the pure technology-driven tinius trust — 30 companies. However, when matched engagement and news consumption. publishers come together in an ecosys- with today’s altered reader habits and But can we compete, differentiate tem, pooling data about content and needs (individual filtering, balanced and win? Absolutely! We publishers users, supported by a platform ecosys- selection and synthesis, insight and have unique advantages that we must tem business model that ensures the understanding) in a highly complex, use to innovate and deliver a superior friction-free flow of content and data information-overloaded, multi-device, news experience. This includes edito- across all. To beat the platforms, we always-connected world, this mission rial accountability through full trans- must ourselves be a platform — to pro- changes publishing’s parency on how algorithms work regar- vide the technical glue and the brains ——competence to place new disciplines ding users, unrivaled curation expertise for login, data analytics, personalization and expertise in the form of sophistica- to yield superior algorithms, and deep and advanced publishing functionality ted technology coupled with rich data content creation. needed for optimal flow of pooled con- and advanced analytics, at the very Based on these advantages, and tent and competitive ad targeting. No heart of the newsroom; combined with great data and techno- individual media company in any mar- ——way of working to become data-ba- logy, we at Schibsted have found it easy ket — be it Germany or Spain, France or sed and user-centric; and to imagine future news services in the the United States, India or Brazil — is big ——products to become 1:1 (logged-in) form of an intelligent personal digital enough to do this alone. Not even Schib- rather than broadcast in news curation, editor… sted in our unusually strong markets of user-centric rather than content-cen- ——…that draws on a content pool of tho- Norway and Sweden. tric in news presentation, and two-way usands stories to offer complete, yet Is this all difficult to achieve? Of social and engaging. highly filtered, news coverage to close course it’s difficult, particularly for an The platform companies are being the gap between what you know and industry not accustomed to collabora- so successful in their quest to become need to know, tion, nor used to moving with urgency primary interfaces for news consump- and agility. But we have the choice as an tion precisely because they have the —— …that adapts the storytelling to each industry, to either imagine and explore competence that publishers sorely lack. user, going below the article level and a future together, or risk not being a part Their platforms and way of working are personalizing the content atoms and of a future at all. iterative, data-based and user-centric, visuals of a story, We believe we have a purpose to and their products are highly persona- fulfill, something worth fighting for — lized. —— …that is transparent about why and maybe now more than ever. For us to succeed, we must therefore how content is selected to each user, and So if we are even close to be in embrace these changes and match the who can be trusted to provide a balan- position to make that difference – how capabilities of the platform companies. ced view of the world, could we not do our very best to try? And as a pre-requisite and original Just imagine… motivation for it all — we must start —— …that delivers a seamless experience to know our users by taking control of across all devices, our data and user interfaces. As Schib- sted’s Adam Kinney discusses in more —— …that engages users in tailored dis- detail in his article We Need a Data cussions around content, Revolution, we must start to individually identify and capture data about —— …and that links content with reader our users over time and across devices action— actionable journalism—for peo- (through log-in) and translate this data ple to take action as engaged citizens into deep knowledge about our users. based on what they read and learn And then use this knowledge to shine a user-centric light on everything we do As Schibsted’s Espen Sundve furt- — as journalists, as editors, as product her discusses in his article Next-Gene- developers, as entrepreneurs. ration Publishing Products, these ima- ginations are opportunities publishers What we must do: Create a next- have to reimagine publishing products generation publishing service that no Silicon Valley tech company can match. It requires that publishers have Taking control of our data and user the will individually to change their interfaces and stepping up in the core competence, way of working, and pro- domains of global tech companies gives ducts. us the right to play in the battle for user At an industry level, it requires that 31 — annual report tinius trust — 32

Journalism from 40,000 feet

JAN HELIN

Former editor in chief and CEO for Aftonbladet for eight years.

If you want to understand Let’s zoom way out to look at the big picture. Not just the future of journalism, as if it were an isolated question. Let’s not even start with current the future of journalism, we hot topics, such as whether an algorithm is better than an editor, or if bots first need to take a step back to will replace apps. Let’s go all the way up to where the air is thin. We’ll be able to see understand the forces that are quite a distance, but I should warn you to be careful about the free flow of ideas that is brought on by the exhilaration of oxygen deficiency in pushing it inexorably forward. combination with magnificent views. Things might appear obvious and easy in that state of mind. It might remind you of that liberating first drink on a long flight. Then when you’ve landed, everything's a mess again and lots of people start bugging you about everyday stuff. But for now – let’s stay up high and look down.

jan helin was the editor in chief and CEO for Aftonbladet for eight years. Before that he had a long career as a reporter and staff writer for Aftonbladet. This spring he is beginning a new position as Head of programming for Swedish National Television company SVT. 33 — annual report

Information is just streaming ous national state — the caliphate — is city, are walking firmly and decisively along in a way that makes it more acces- the political idea that is growing fastest towards their daily bread. This is a sible and cheaper than ever. But it also right now. Opposing forces that want to migration of the sharpest brains from seems that people are really only using promote humanistic values are labeled all over the globe, on their way to one it to explore what’s already familiar to “politically correct” and are hated and more day of developing the world’s fas- them. In the United States, 60 percent threatened in social media. In tougher test growing journalistic platform. of internet users now say their primary and liberally underdeveloped environ- Nick Wrenn, head of Media part- news source is Facebook. To become ments, they are labeled “kafir” and nerships at Facebook, has convened informed citizens, they trust an invi- are hated, threatened and decapitated. a meeting of Scandinavian publicists sible algorithm that they don’t under- These are the darkest conceivable poli- to get feedback on a product called stand and can’t hold accountable for tical times. Again. Instant Article and launch a num- curation of the news. People are increasingly streaming ber of news items on the platform. Technology is beginning to across national boundaries for two rea- Every Scandinavian publicist of note develop itself, all on its own. Up until sons. Either they are fleeing for their is represented. He presents the news: this year, artificial intelligence was sci- lives from areas hit by war, poverty or ence fiction, a stream of algorithms that famine, or they (a much smaller, but ——Mentions. A special function reser- might turn into reality sometime in the equally clear stream from all over the ved for notable people, journalists, future. But in March this year Goog- globe) are migrating towards the large artists and politicians with their own le's DeepMind artificial intelligence technical centers on the American followings. Via Mentions they get access program defeated Mr. Lee Sedol, the West coast and the Chinese East coast. to tools such as live video and live inte- human world champion in the ancient Their proven brainpower gives them raction. Chinese board game of Go. We were the opportunity to work with some of forced to move the future 10 years clo- the most powerful institutions on the ——Ask the Leaders. An interactive ser to us. CNN ran full speed ahead. In Earth today. Google, Apple, Facebook, program format and pure editorial pro- April, they were the first western media Amazon, Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu ject where Facebook users can have live company to release a newsbot on Face- are neither American nor Chinese discussions with a public personality book’s Messenger platform. Powered by companies whose purpose is to strengt- without being filtered by a program host. artificial intelligence, it can handle your hen the US or China. These internet Sky News has already tested this format request for news in a second. The CNN giants are global entities with no natio- as the first partner. The first guest was bot isn’t very smart yet, but it’s learning. nal concept beyond paying as little tax British Prime Minister David Cameron, Capital is streaming more freely to them as possible, which is why his- who interacted and answered questions and faster in a way that makes it look torically large amounts of capital are for two hours with Facebook users. more like information than money, at now floating in tax havens outside of least from on high. And this money flow American territory. Internet giants are —— Live video. BBC and Danish TV2 no longer heeds the boundaries that we rebuilding our world, but not our nati- are actively using this live service on the formerly used to define nations — in ons. They are revolutionizing the way Facebook platform to profile their corre- fact, Capital has fundamentally lost its we distribute information, but have no spondents with an audience that doesn’t connection to nations. The disruption obligations to free and independent watch linear TV. of the financial sector will most likely journalism. resemble the revolution in the media But what do these five meta trends —— 360 video. Facebook’s video player industry, but the scale will be much have to do with the future of indepen- can now handle a format where you can more massive. Will there be any money dent journalism? Let’s descend a bit and twist the image so that you see everyt- around to finance free and indepen- have a look around at how each manifest hing in 360 degrees. This was effectively dent journalism to report on this huge with our feet back on the ground: illustrated by a YouTube star who filmed change? himself surfing through a rip curl, and Politics is not keeping up. Political Information and journalism you can experience everything in 360. undercurrents with roots in Europe’s darkest corners are making coinage out It’s the morning rush hour in the Facebook has worked out a publis- of Capital’s disinterest in the Nation, in neighborhood surrounding London hing strategy that they are very actively combination with increased migration, University, heading towards Facebook’s marketing to European publicists. Nick and are trying to re-establish nationa- European head office. Going through Wrenn presents the newly formulated lism. These forces are calling journalists rush hour on the way to the office is a vision for Facebook publishing: “Con- “enemies of the nation” and directly very concrete experience of the new nect people to the content and creators threatening free media. The ethnically, world order. A steady stream of people, that best inform and entertain them.” culturally and religiously homogene- ages 20 to 40, of every possible ethni- Can anyone with something to say tinius trust — 34 remain uninvolved? put a massive number of developers to The startup trend in publishing is Facebook currently has the world’s work on building amp — Accelerated clearer now than it was a few years ago – best audience segmentation for targe- Mobile Pages. amp cuts across all exis- startups build their brands deliberately ting information. But they have a low ting platforms, including Facebook. to try to become so strong they trump level of intentional data. This is one of The prototypes they’ve shown so far are the platforms they’re built on. It appears Facebook’s few weaknesses. Simply put, lightning fast and glide seamlessly over to be an alternative survival strategy. we could say that the internet began your own platform and social media. The outcome of that is undoubtedly with anonymous users, went to identi- Facebook and Google are just now some good journalism. Whether it also fied users and is now rapidly moving to moving in completely opposite directi- works for survival remains to be seen. a place where we know what users want. ons. Facebook is making its platform The two clearest cases are Buzz- A marketplace is extremely good at gat- more into a walled garden where you Feed and Vox. Both started as platform hering data on what user intentions are are welcome to plant things, but they do players, and Vox still to some extent is. when it comes to consumption. This is not want roots to grow outside of that Founder Jim Bankoff started Vox as a what we identified in the Schibsted Glo- garden. They have succeeded in getting tech company with a passion for jour- bal Publishing strategy during the fall of publishers all over the world to reduce nalism. Their platform is impressive, 2015, and presented to Schibsted’s board their presence in the food chain to being but today they have adopted more of a at the beginning of December 2015. production companies and content sup- cross-platform strategy. They don’t pull The strategy in brief: Using Schib- pliers. Google is opening its platforms enough traffic directly to their platform, sted Media Platform, we structure the more and more. It’s visible for anyone to so instead they are shifting their focus data and load the publishers’ inventory see that this is a battle between a propri- to lead quality development in journa- with data from marketplaces, as well as etary internet and an open web. listic niches and branded content for all other companies with significantly reve- Ever since Amazon’s founder Jeff platforms. In this they are challenged aling user data. The publisher in turn Bezos bought the Washington Post, it has by the scruffier BuzzFeed and one of provides frequency, reach, premium been under complete digital renovation. the coolest publishing brands on Earth: advertising inventory and interest data Next to the Schibsted Media Platform, Vice. to the ecosystem and a deeper under- it is the most advanced platform for They all specialize in engaging users standing of the user. publishers in the world. The platform, on a deeper, more personal level than This was in large part a more pre- called project Loxodo, permits (among traditional media. They are daring to cise version of Schibsted’s earlier eco- other things) panel testing of content go deeper into niches in order to build system strategy, which — in my view against competitors’ content or against credibility and relevance, compared — was lacking in its view of publishing. that of the Post itself. It includes built-in with legacy news media that often emp- Now the strategy is in place and the modules where an editor adds three hasize readership and breadth over media platform is under construction versions of headlines and pictures; an niches and personality. This is an inte- — but where is Schibsted’s promotio- optimization algorithm decides which resting development in journalism. The nal road show to publishers around the version to use, based on user data. The question is: Can it survive without a firm world? We have nothing to be ashamed platform can send out different versions proprietary platform? Or are we witnes- of. What we have produced so far in the to social media platforms and its own sing a march into the abyss on platforms Schibsted Media Platform is the best platform, depending on which combi- that offer effective distribution, but no content management system I have ever nation of text and image performs best. sustainable business model? come across in the publishing world. But The platform also supports optimiza- Another question is if Schibsted is to move it requires a top-level dialogue tion of a data-informed ideal publishing able to light up the future path for publis- with partners, coupled with a slow and flow. The Washington Post promotes its hers globally. An overall map has been methodical selling job, if we want to be platform widely. According to a con- drawn by Schibsted’s global publishing part of the game. And I’m afraid there versation I had in March with the Post's strategy. The rest is a question of will, isn’t much time. Chief Product and Technology officer ambition and beliefs. Google in this respect has the exact Shailesh Prakash, they now have five same strategy as Schibsted — to charge partners on board for Loxodo, and five Technology and journalism publishers’ inventory with data about more in the pipeline. user intentions. Google has the world’s No one says it out loud, but consider Austin, Texas bubbles over with largest collection of intentional data for just a moment whether Jeff Bezos faith in the future, developmental opti- via its search engine. They have an plans to fill the Post’s inventory with mism and the will to seek in-depth effective ad platform in Double Click. Amazon’s gigantic volume of intentio- understanding of digitalization during Their weakness has been that they lack nal data…Is Schibsted’s publishing stra- the week of South by Southwest Inte- a platform for publishers’ content. But tegy about to become someone else’s ractive. they’re changing that now. Google has reality? 35 — annual report

Kevin Kelly, managing editor of cult answer. you’ll understand that we are looking tech magazine Wired, has the ability to Through bots, you’ll soon be able to way too much at the US if we want to follow tangents of current trends to cap- buy things and have them sent to your understand the internet. In China, this ture the underlying movements. home, make restaurant reservations, is already a reality, and Facebook is Now he’s sitting on a stool, talking to buy food and hundreds of other ser- struggling to catch up. thousands of enraptured listeners. This vices you need daily. And it’s no coin- Apart from a number of news ser- is the year that artificial intelligence cidence that these bot-driven services vices expected to be driven by bots on took a giant step that no one thought are going to be built on chat platforms. chat platforms, artificial intelligence is would be possible for another ten years. Both the technical architecture and the mainly going into storytelling via vir- The fact that a computer beat a world user experience are prepared for this. tual reality. champion at the board game Go is a The only thing that isn’t ready yet is the Every media group is experimen- sensation. In all probability every new advertising market. There are no ad pro- ting with virtual reality in some form, innovation will be built on some type ducts developed for chat channels. But from the Swedish Broadcasting System of artificial intelligence in the years to you can bet that there will a long wait for to the New York Times. But what does come. Kevin Kelly has devised a for- that innovation. it mean? Kevin Kelly says that what mula for the startups of the future: Idea Chat platform usage is breaking all we are seeing is a transformation of + Artificial Intelligence = Future Pro- kinds of records. Facebook Messenger the internet, from being a place where duct. In another ten years he predicts alone has about 800 million active users we’ve collected information to being that the formula will change. Artificial every month. That’s more than a hun- about connecting us to experiences. The intelligence will then be a commodity. A dred times as many who used an iPhone future of live coverage is not just about stream you tap into. The formula will be when Apple launched The App Store. real time. When the team arrives on site turned around: Artificial Intelligence + Chat applications today have more users and gets their VR cameras going, you’ll Idea = Product. than all social networks in the world be able to be present in the event. We’ve Kevin Kelly could have added that combined. seen this already in 360 video, when this development is generally expected Bots are also getting names. The CNN experimented with a 360 camera to play out on chat platforms. One of the latest financing rounds in Silicon Val- during President Obama’s State of the largest paradigm shifts since the intro- ley were almost all about bots: Howdy Union address — or when ABC set up a duction of apps and Apple’s ecosystem (a bot that powers teams by automating 360 camera in Times Square during that via their App Store is waiting to happen. common tasks), assi.st, (a traveling/ powerful late-winter snowstorm. All As this is being written, Facebook has shopping chat bot) Hyper (a bot that published on Facebook. just opened up the “Bot Engine” on their makes your computer more efficient), For journalists, all of this most Messenger platform. A bot is basically a Pana (a travel bot), Scout (a gaming likely means that artificial intelligence bit of software that can carry out auto- bot) and Luka (a restaurant bot that is will completely change the way news mated tasks via a script over internet at developing into connecting users with is discovered, curated and consumed. dazzling speed, handling ad hoc user other kinds of bots). News bots might be a new paradigm, we requests using artificial intelligence So you could say that a bot on a chat might think of news apps as an early step to deliver better and better responses. platform is like an invisible app. And of packaging news that later develops Another front in the platform wars is since we all love to refer to popular cul- into bots within communication apps. emerging… ture and are depressed by references to Bots based on artificial intelligence will So far my imagination can’t see Minority Report, which described the be able to deliver ad-hoc tailored news beyond applications in text and perhaps interaction between human skin, glass that might link you to the immersive, voice. For example, you put a direct and content before it became a reality, rich VR user experience of live events. question to United Airlines through everyone is now talking about a much I’m looking forward to reading about their bot in Messenger: Is the flight on older film. Stanley Kubrik’s slow, poe- Schibsted’s bot strategy for publishing. time, are there seats left? And you’ll tic space adventure from 1968 – 2001: But for now, let’s end this refle- get an answer in less than a second and A Space Odyssey – set to the orchestral ction with a quote from Kevin Kelly can buy that seat with one click — or by strings of Johann Strauss, with the hal from Austin, Texas: «Remember, it has saying the word buy to the bot. Compare 9000 computer in a leading role. That’s always been hard to believe the future.» this with the airline’s current app, where where we’re headed. Being able to ask a some poor developer has had to contend computer whatever you want, and it will Capital and journalism with a communications manager who answer you. Or ask it to do things, and it completely loused up the app with infor- will get them done. It’s a slow afternoon in a fashiona- mation you don’t need, and which takes Read a bit further and you’ll meet ble residential area in Los Angeles. you many minutes to dig out the same my friend Tom Xiong in China, and Anthony Watson watches his pool clea- Meanwhile, the societal tinius trust — 36 upheaval from digitalization, and the digital transformation of lots of other industries, will make it vitally important to have a strong, independent media to help explain and facilitate the discourse.

ner packing up his equipment. His pool to information — to ones and zeroes. for populism. The only true cure against cleaner belongs to the 100 million peo- When the internet made distribution populism is increased wealth for the ple in the US who exist outside of the of information free, media companies people, according to Borg. People don’t financial system, with no relation to a were thrown into their most turbulent want to change overnight. We want to bank other than when he sends money period ever. So why should anyone pay experience security, be seen, and hear to his aged parents in Juárez. Each $25 to transfer money to their family in that we are important. transaction costs him $25. This drives Mexico? Digitalization has made it illo- If digital job destruction does hit the Watson, Barclay’s former CIO, nuts. gical, and also immoral, according to finance sector – which many believe will Because he knows the real cost of the Watson. He has never had to pay such happen – there will be many more visi- transaction: two cents. fees to a bank for such simple services, ble upheavals in society than we expe- Based on this type of frustration and for the simple reason that he has a diffe- rienced in the media industry, since the deep insights into banks, Anthony Wat- rent relation to his bank than a Mexican world has so many more financial people son quit Barclay’s and started Upload. In pool cleaner. than journalists. On the whole, it would little more than a year, the company has Is there anything that can change be a more just world, since it would be carried out transactions worth one bil- this world order? Digitalization says yes, harder to force Mexican pool cleaners to lion dollars. This breakthrough into the while the American banks’ deeply roo- pay crazy fees — a moral crime. But at market wouldn’t have been possible if ted ties to Washington politics say no. the same time this development would the banks had understood disruption in Some people speculate that yank the rug out from under a place it depth and adopted a reason to be stron- Blockchain, the technical platform has never been yanked before — an edu- ger than financial margins. behind Bitcoin, the internet currency, cated middle class in the western world. Instead, about $19 billion will be could be used for the world’s exchanges Meanwhile, the societal upheaval invested in Fintech this year, in compa- and marketplaces. This would mean a from digitalization, and the digital nies like Anthony Watson’s Upload. massive disruption for banking systems. transformation of lots of other indus- Banks are ganging up in order to This would theoretically mean that all of tries, will make it vitally important to defend their old business models. But the world’s back office systems would be have a strong, independent media to today they are only protected by poli- automated. According to an interview help explain and facilitate the discourse. tically motivated regulations. Techno- in Dagens Nyheter with Sweden’s for- logy is challenging them at a fundamen- mer Minister of Finance, Anders Borg, Politics and journalism tal level. And guys like Anthony Watson, this would mean that well-educated driven by both technology and a credo to bankers would be suddenly declassed. Over the Christmas holidays in 2015, offer a fair deal to his Mexican poolguy. He compares this with how the media there was a midnight raid on free jour- There are obvious parallels with the industry was completely transformed nalism in Warsaw, Poland. media industry here. Anthony Watson by digitalization, and journalists felt «All journalists, editors and news pro- claims that what is happening now with declassed. The deep concerns this cre- ducers can be fired!» announced Piotr money is that it is clearly being reduced ated on the job markets paved the way Glinski, the Minister of Culture. The 37 — annual report government could then assign its own In an interview with the German spiracy against the people. Let’s be clear handpicked new managers to Poland’s newspaper Bild, Polish Minister of about one thing – these forces don’t want state-run TV company, TVT, and Polish Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski independent media; they want politici- Radio, plus the public news agency PAP, defended the implementation of media zed media. and 17 local channels. laws and the disavowal of the Polish If Schibsted ever doubted why we’re There was no difference at all in the Constitutional Court by saying, «The here at all – go back to the core, to free wording of the official Polish explana- previous center-right Polish govern- independent journalism. This is where tion and the choice of headlines in the ment followed a political agenda that we find our raison d’être. The soul of our Swedish extreme rightwing publication was skewed to the left. As if the world, digital ecosystems. Nordfront: «New law in Poland to clean according to Marxist theories, was deci- The craftsmanship of independent up cultural Marxists in state-owned ded by fate and could only develop in journalism is under severe attack from media.» one direction — towards a new mix of several directions. It needs strong and «Culture that is publicly financed cultures and races, a world of bicyclists smart defenders more than ever. Schib- should be patriotic and tell the world and vegetarians.» sted should not hesitate on «to be or about Polish heroes.» People who ride bicycles and eat not to be» in journalism. You have the That wasn’t taken from some hate vegetables may be suspect in some ways best story in the world on the tip of your forum on the net, it’s an extract from to some. But government influence over tongue – how the strategy of the digital Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlos’s such groups in a democracy should rea- ecosystem saved free and independent inaugural speech. And to make sure no sonably be none at all. journalism. It needs to come off that one misunderstood it, her media spo- In Hungary, what Poland is trying to tongue and go out to the world – with kesman, Krysztof Czabanaski, explai- accomplish is largely already a reality. confidence and self-esteem. ned that it is about «changing public A new government body – the Media media to national media.» Council – has been active since 2010. People and journalism In this way, Minister of Culture It only has delegates from the ruling Glinski can justify the new media law, party, Fidesz – a nationalistic and stron- The hutongs in Beijing are aligned which gives him direct political control gly conservative party. All media groups mainly in an east-west direction. But it of media companies, through a well- – including individual bloggers – must doesn’t help. For an outsider it’s impossi- worn argument from many countries register themselves with the Media ble to navigate in neighborhoods whose today: Council. Media can be fined for politi- alleys were built under the Yuan dynasty «Media companies are crawling cally unbalanced or just generally unba- (we in the west would call it the 1200s). with liberals and leftists.» lanced reporting. What is balanced or Mongols under the legendary Kublai Not a word about journalism, of not is decided by the government. The Khan established the network of streets course. How it’s a process and a craft, Media Council can also demand that that still sets the tone in central Beijing. and how, if it is to be non-partisan, it journalists reveal their sources. After an intensive week of visits and must be taught and practiced with no We must be able to see this now. studies in the Chinese digital ecosys- regard to your own political opinions. How this constant hacking at media tems, I’m on my way to a dinner down And of course not a word about the is part of a policy. How the systematic in the hutongs with my friend Tom importance of an independent media, labelling of journalists as suspicious is Xiong. Once CEO of tv.nu, today he’s an free from political pressure. Instead, a an ideology. entrepreneur and founder of a startup in public statement from a member of par- And this, as well as publishers’ Shanghai. liament from the Law and Justice party self-confidence, is fading as fast as We connect on WeChat, asking who said: «Impartial media is an ideali- their business models are crumbling. about each other. A map comes up. I see zed myth that makes it harder to run this It’s starting to look more and more like Tom in the telephone, and he sees me. country.» a build-up of a perfect storm against a We write a few greetings and instructi- This is, of course, a view of media free media. ons and then turn on the voice function and democracy that will prove to be If we can’t manage to see this on our until we are 50 meters from each other disastrous. We recognize this all too own home turf, we can see in Poland and start waving. well in European countries today. Poli- how quickly these political movements We have just used one of 1200 ser- tical forces that say that independent can be converted into laws. In Hungary vices on WeChat. There isn’t any digital media are actually a political elite who we can see how they can become politi- service you’ve heard of that isn’t already suppress people and their true opinions cal practice. on the platform. Everything from air- are like a warped mirror where indepen- The populist forces growing all over port parking to ordering a cook to fix dent journalists are painted as a dege- Europe today are all directly opposed dinner, or someone to do your nails or nerate liberal invention that the nation to the media and accuse them of being clean your home. And yes, a technically must get rid of. partisan and of being a part of a con- brilliant news feature with a problem – tinius trust — 38 there is no such thing as free and inde- citizens generally lived with an informa- reminds me of «a new mix of cultures pendent news in China. But technically tion deficit. More news and information and races — a new world of bicyclists it's better than most news apps you see was good for the informed citizen in a and vegetarians.» So far, the Polish nati- in the west. The development in China, democracy. Even information whose onalists have a point. It’s not that their with digital ecosystems tightly knit into quality could be questioned was better analysis can’t be understood, it’s their the actual transaction of money for ser- – in an academic sense – than less infor- conclusions that are outrageous. vice, is what drives things like the bot mation. Partly confirmed stories could Here in the bar, a new global set of frenzy, and payment solutions on chat land a question on the agenda so that shared values becomes concrete and platforms back in the western hemisp- discussion and clarity could follow. tangible. A new community where art, here. Facebook founder Mark Zucker- Today the situation in the grand culture and technology meet — without berg’s well-known fascination with dialog among journalistic researchers respecting any national boundaries. A China isn't just about his wife’s family is roughly the reverse. Citizens live in a commercial meeting that makes it mea- background and learning the language. surplus of information. So why do peo- ningless to travel somewhere to shop It’s about what his company is best at – ple need journalism? — everything is the same. And it’s the seeing, learning, understanding and Media research is pretty much in same microbrew and the same concep- adapting with the social graph always as agreement that the publishers’ mission tual restaurants and the same boutique the foundation. must to a large extent be about verifying hotels and the same brands, and the It’s turning into a fine evening. information, curating and explaining same transport company and the same We talk about how the clearest needs complex events. big chains. But it’s a communal meeting for journalism have been turned 180 These aren’t new assignments for where the center of power is a number of degrees. Just ten years ago, researchers a newsroom, but is the emphasis? Or internet giants rather than the govern- were pretty much in agreement that the are most editorial teams still generally ment of national states. need for journalism emerged because focused on pumping out more news, The young people we observed when users generally suffer from infor- in London that morning — no matter mation surplus? where they’re from — would surely feel This is a big issue. Too big to settle more at home with the old Chinese hips- even on an evening like this with inspi- ter and his digitalized art than with the ring company in the hutongs. We claim community their nation-states are so that the award-winning Omni has gras- desperately trying to maintain. ped something that exclusively helps But what about those left behind at users curate. And Vox is also on to home? Those without sufficient brain- something, when they completely focus power or other capacities that might on explaining the news rather than enable them to manage migration to the reporting it. internet giants, into their promised land A little later at a bar that is remi- of technology and art. What’s to become niscent of someone’s living room, my of them? thoughts begin to zoom around again. How many of them will find a place The bar’s owner is what we in the West in the new global community? How would call a hipster, although he is close many jobs will its revolution – digitaliza- to 70 and from Beijing. His bar has the tion – create? And how many jobs will be largest collection of Scotch I’ve ever destroyed? seen (including Scotland). The bar is You’re feeling it now, right? The air tiny, but furnished in a way that makes is thinning out again… but the conne- it impossible to say if we are in Beijing, ction to our thoughts about journalism Vancouver, Stockholm, New York or are crystal clear: Barcelona. The owner is playing Lou This is one hell of a story. Reed on vinyl, the walls are decorated Are most editorial with his art, which could be descri- teams still generally bed as a digital rework of photograp- hic negatives. He’s working casually focused on pumping out on his computer with something at the more news, when users same time that he serves us. There are two cats on the bar counter. A modern generally suffer from bicycle is hanging on the wall. I don’t information surplus? know if he eats meat, but this suddenly 39 — annual report

We Need a Data Revolution

ADAM KINNEY Vice President of Data and Analytics at Schibsted Media Group. Previously he led Analytics at Twitter. tinius trust — 40 41 — annual report Forget hits—engagement is what will save journalism in the digital era. So why can’t we measure that instead?

Over the past few decades, media tization. Often in digital publishing, companies have plunged into the digital revenue is tied to ad impressions, which world with varying degrees of success. are in turn a function of pageviews. As While some have flourished, many oth- a result, journalists are accountable for ers are still struggling to discover a busi- driving ever-higher pageviews for their ness model that works—and nearly all articles. Under pressure to chase page- would acknowledge that their profita- views, many digital media companies bility is not as high as it was in the print have resorted to creating content that is era. Meanwhile, many of the new dis- shallow and quick to produce, enticing ruptive forces in digital have embraced users into clicking with misleading or social media to drive huge volumes of exaggerated headlines. These techni- pageviews, but these new models don’t ques do drive higher pageviews—for a leave much space for serious journa- time, at least. But the user experience is lism that requires significant time and terrible, the pieces are unsatisfying and money to create. far too often fail to deliver on the headli- Fundamentally, I believe that these ne’s promise—so rather than building an problems all stem from underinvest- ongoing loyal audience, these practices ment in data and a lack of deep under- inevitably create the need to get more standing of media companies’ users. and more new users for each piece. Does Having spent a number of years working anyone believe this is a sustainable busi- in social media, I can attest that social ness model? What happens to the demo- media companies have a huge advan- cratic ideal of an informed, empowered tage over traditional media in their citizenry when this race to the bottom understanding of their users and their plays out? ability to leverage that understanding to create a highly engaging product. In Time-on-Site order to compete for users’ attention in the digital era, we must match social This trend in digital publishing towards media’s data sophistication, but in a way shallow, quick-hit pieces is a direct that plays to traditional media’s funda- result of the focus on pageviews. But the mental strengths: original journalism good news is that there is a better way. and independent editorial judgement. The focus of digital publishing should Schibsted Media Group has a great head be on building a large loyal readership— start here, and I couldn’t be more exci- people who make reading digital media ted to help fully realize this revolution a daily habit. And if you want loyal, in data. But the truth is, in many media engaged readers, you need to measure companies, this change is long overdue. them and understand them. Rather If the media industry is to thrive in the than pageviews, the focus should be on years ahead, we must join forces in data deeper metrics like time spent on site technology to revolutionize the way the and number of days visited in the last media industry uses data. week. These stats give a deeper measu- Adam Kinney is Vice Pre- rement of user engagement and habits. sident of Data and Analytics Measuring the Right Things It’s true that focusing on these metrics at Schibsted Media Group. as a publisher may cause a short-term Previously he led Analytics at Driving a data revolution starts with decrease in page views, and thereby Twitter and was a data scientist measuring the right things. Many also hurt ad revenue. But in the long run, at Google. He now lives in companies, naturally, tend to focus on this focus on building an engaged, loyal Oslo, Norway. metrics that are directly linked to mone- user base will result in more sustainable tinius trust — 42

pageviews and better opportunities for engagement, and, in collaboration with sees exactly the content most likely to monetization. the data analysts, learn why their pie- engage them every time they visit the ces had the effect they did. Journalists site or app. There is sometimes trepida- The Influence of the Right can then use this knowledge to create tion regarding using algorithmic met- Metrics the kinds of content that will appeal to hods in media. Don’t we risk removing a large number of people and keep their human editorial judgement from the Once the right metrics are being trac- readers coming back for more. Editors process, which gives each publication its ked, every aspect of digital products can learn how combinations of various own distinct voice? On the contrary, to should be oriented towards optimising kinds of content can work together to be truly effective, I believe algorithms these metrics, thereby building an drive higher engagement across whole must, like any useful tool, be handled ever-larger loyal and engaged user base. segments of users, and ultimately across by human editors. Editors, working in There are two ways the right metrics can the entire user base. Empowered with collaboration with data analysts, have have a positive impact on digital media this knowledge, editors can then plan expertise in the mix of pieces that best products: First, they can guide decision and assign a mix of stories to give their reflect both their publication’s mission making in product design and edito- publication the best chance of growing and the selection of content that will rial judgement. Second, they can guide an engaged user base. Product mana- build a large engaged audience. Some algorithmic control of specific aspects gers can learn what kinds of product content, like breaking news, can be of the product. Let’s dive into the speci- designs and flows will enable users to written quickly and cheaply. Others, fics of each. find the right content easily and quickly. like longform investigative pieces, take All of these people should be in constant a great deal of time and money. Getting Product Design and Editorial communication with data analysts to this balance right, in essence constru- Judgement continually refine their understanding cting the right palette of content avai- and experiment with new approaches. lable to serve in real time, is a human A well-run data analytics function function. Selecting from this palette to will produce a steady stream of useful Algorithmic content sorting meet each individual’s preferences is an insights about the product’s users. With algorithmic function. Optimizing the the right metrics in place, analysts can Different segments of users are inte- way that these two work together is how focus their attention on understanding rested in different types of content. Of I believe digital media can truly thrive. what types of content and media pro- course, in reality each individual has ducts create loyal, engaged users. The unique tastes and expectations from Monetization in the Digital Age analysts can then break the user base media that are slightly different from down into segments representing dif- anyone else. In describing how data Of course, for digital media to thrive, ferent kinds of users who like different analysts can collaborate with different we must also address monetization. For kinds of products and content. They will media functions above, I emphasized digital media, that most often means track cohorts from each of these seg- addressing segments of users because advertising, but let’s not forget that ments over time to see what kind of pro- segments allow us to think about the building a large, engaged audience of duct flows and content result in higher varying needs of different types of rea- users who visit again and again opens engagement and which result in lower ders. up business models beyond advertising. engagement. They will run experiments To truly give every user the best Notable examples are meters, paywall to verify their findings. experience, we must go beyond seg- subscriptions, and micro-payments. All But there’s a catch: This work will be ments to individuals. This can’t be done of these models require a loyal, enga- in vain if the product owners, editors, practically by humans alone because ged user base to really work. That being and journalists are not actively collabo- there are so many more users than ana- said, most digital media is monetized by rating with the data analysts and using lysts, editors, journalists, and product advertisements so it is worth spending their findings to drive higher engage- managers—which is where algorithmic some time addressing ads. ment levels. Journalists can learn which content sorting comes in. Algorith- Let’s assume that we have a digital of their pieces contributed to higher mic sorting can ensure that each user media product that operates as I descri- 43 — annual report

These capabilities only need to be built once if media companies join forces to collaborate on a single publishing and advertising platform. tinius trust — 44 bed above; product managers, editors, sonalization capabilities. It is not realis- companies in which they can still focus and journalists work collaboratively tic, or even desirable, for every media on their core mission, and it enables with data analytics and algorithmic con- company to build the same data functi- editors and journalists to join forces tent sorting to optimize the product for ons. In fact, these capabilities only need with data analysts to understand their building a large engaged audience. The to be built once if media companies join readers to a greater depth than ever currency of such a product is attention. forces to collaborate on a single publis- before. Significantly, such a platform Everything in the product is finely tuned hing and advertising platform. has a chance to have sufficient scale to to direct the user’s attention to the con- In this model, the participating be a global powerhouse in digital adver- tent that will engage them most. Now, media companies would provide the tising. As much as the platform would be imagine we put some display ads on the content, the user data needed to power a boon to media companies around the page. What happens? Some users will insights, and the ad inventory. The plat- world, it has the potential to be a huge see an ad that catches their eye and click form would provide the right metrics, success for the media company that can on it, taking them off the site. We have the personalization algorithms, and build it. Schibsted Media Group is well essentially directed the user’s attention the ad targeting. Each media company on its way in revolutionizing data usage away from our finely-tuned engaging would still run their own destination site to drive user engagement. But we need content in exchange for money. And if and app, but the sorting of the content all media companies to join us in buil- the ads are not as finely-tuned as our and ads displayed would be determined ding these capabilities to secure a bright original content is, then we have also by the platform. In fact, content from future for independent journalism. decreased the overall engagement of one company could even be shared with our users in exchange for money. There other companies through the platform is nothing inherently wrong with this to enable a super-personalization that model, so long as we acknowledge the drives engagement higher than would trade-off and work to minimize the be possible with a single publication decrease in user engagement. And to on its own (and with revenue-sharing minimize that decrease in engagement, arrangements to compensate the con- we must treat advertisements with the tent creators). In the end, the platform same attention we give to our own con- would take a cut of ad revenue, but this tent. would be well worth the higher user Seen from this perspective, the engagement and hence higher revenue solution is clear: Media companies do that the platform enables. not produce advertisements, but they Such a platform would have several can ensure that ads are high-quality and advantages over ad-centric platforms personalized to the user. To do this, they like Google’s and content platforms like must leverage the same user insights Facebook’s Instant Articles. Unlike with and algorithmic sorting to ensure the a pure ad platform, media companies best-available advertisement is mat- would get the benefit of analytics and ched to each user’s personal interests personalization services that build a and preferences. The vast majority of loyal audience. And unlike with Instant digital media companies outsource ad Articles, media companies would have targeting to 3rd parties, but this intro- full product control that comes with duces new inefficiencies. If a media a destination site and fuller flexibility company invests in data analytics and in monetization. Perhaps most signi- algorithms as I suggest above, then it ficantly, a media-built platform would makes sense to use these same capabi- have publishing as an inherent part of lities to minimize the engagement cost its dna, and would have a sensitivity of making money through advertising. to issues like freedom of the press and censorship that are sometimes lacking A Global Powerhouse in the tech industry. This kind of media platform has All of this is naturally much easier said many advantages. It enables the kinds than done. Many digital media compa- of data technology and practices that nies are driven by financial considera- build a large, engaged user base without tions and simply do not have the sig- the need for every company to build nificant capital and development time these capabilities themselves, it provi- required to build data analytics and per- des a viable business model for media 45 — annual report tinius trust — 46

Rise of the Distributed Domain

CORY HAIK Chief Strategy Officer of Mic 47 — annual report t

The battle for audiences will be Distributed semantics? fought and won “off-platform,” on distributed platforms where published con- Google AMP is not a distributed plat- tent is presented and consumed away form as defined above. And it really from a publisher’s own controlled user has nothing in common with Facebook interface platform (app or website)… Instant Articles other than the fact that Cory Haik is the Chief Stra- sort of. Facebook Instant Articles, Apple it’s 1) mobile and 2) fast. AMP is based tegy Officer of Mic, where she News, Google Newsstand, Google on a technology that’s been around for leads the company’s strategy AMP, Snapchat Discover — these are a long time; HTML was written by your and growth initiatives across all important players in the game of publisher’s developers. Google just editorial, product and sales. reach. And there is no shame in wan- gathered the industry to rally around Prior to Mic, Haik was at the ting that reach. Journalism cannot have a mobile standard to make it perform Washington Post, leading an impact without a reader or a viewer better. The traffic goes to YOUR domain innovative initiatives to grow — but when you grow your audience and, as such, falls in the traditional new audiences on mobile and off-platform, what are the implications? referral traffic bucket, a.k.a. on-plat- platforms, and part of two Many have written doomsday form. It’s owned and operated content: Pulitzer Prize-winning teams scenarios around this, and many of the You control it and can edit and optimize at The Times-Picayune and points seem somewhat fair. There are it in real time. You also control the user The Seattle Times. merits to both sides, and we will con- journey, conversion funnel and mone- tinue to debate this for some time. But tization levers, including all associated to start, are we even speaking the same advertising pieces. Let’s call this good language? What exactly is distributed? ol’ domain and referral traffic. What’s on-platform? Never mind how Snapchat Discover, on the other we count it all or prioritize the players. hand, is a distributed platform in its full Strategy lies in the contours of glory. It was one of the first off-platform many of these off-platforms. Given that products that publishers embraced as a much of what we’re talking about is vehicle NOT meant to drive traffic back technical and nuanced by implementa- to the almighty publisher’s own domain. tion, the winners will be the ones who The presentation is uniquely custom to understand where the opportunities are Snapchat, the edit and optimization of and build positions there quickly. content is only partially controlled, with tinius trust — 48 the monetization and analytics entirely of the Platform Specialist: demands it, in fact. out of the hands of publishers. Chat Publishers are increasingly posting There are gifts of the device that the applications such as Kik, or even chat- content directly to platforms such as publisher can take advantage of when bots — they will likely all fall in this buc- Facebook and Snapchat, so readers creating the content. For example, ket. Facebook Messenger? Well, that’s don’t need to visit each publicati- viewing 360 video on mobile is an expe- still to be seen. In general, these distri- on’s own website or app. But each rience that can be tied into your phone’s bute off-platform experiences that are platform they work with has its own accelerometer and viewed by physically more custom, built specifically for spe- technical requirements, processes, moving your phone around. This is not cific platforms and devices. This is gene- hurdles and pace of evolution. something that a user can experience on rally a new and creative space for publis- desktop. hers, but the monetization and analytics Publishers need to understand how If you take this adaptive storytel- pieces are still unfolding. These charac- many people are accessing their ling approach to the platform and dis- teristics all define the pure-play distri- content, how to generate revenue tributed world, you’d know that both buted off-platform paradigm. from it through advertising and YouTube and Facebook now support 360 What about Facebook Instant other means, and what type of con- video within their platforms. It would Articles? Is it distributed? Again, there tent is best suited to which platform. be the job of the platform specialist to is nuance here. The truth is actually Meanwhile, someone needs to be on understand those new capabilities, and somewhere in between the publisher’s the lookout for the next hot app or to think about what creating that kind of own domain (on-platform) and dis- service. content means within a newsroom and tributed (off-platform). While Face- where it falls on the priority list. book Instant content technically lives Every publishing company that off-platform, it offers many of the same values the distributed landscape must Strategic outlook elements that referral traffic to a publis- have someone within their organization her’s domain does. Not fully, but a ton who sits between editorial and business Platform specialists and adaptive stor- more than, say, Snapchat Discover — to that is helping to manage these plat- ytelling are very much a part of how start, comScore counting and mone- form relationships. This role is vital in we are thinking at Mic. We’re also loo- tization equal to that of web traffic on that it manages the relationships, helps king at our goals for growth in two clear Publisher’s X domain. Also some con- to shape the production on the ground categories: Unique Visitors (on-plat- trol over content presentation, editing level in the newsroom and also guides form) and Distributed (off-platform). and optimization within the article, and the company strategically on decisions For now, if we can count comScore and even some extra features to play with. around volume, monetization, user fully monetize, it goes into the former. There are some elements that are lost, retention and the like. For Facebook, Instant Articles slots in like the conversion funnel pieces that there. If Apple News begins to count are very important to publishers who Adaptive storytelling comScore, it would also fall into the are looking for subscribers. But Face- Distributed Domain for us. Publishers book is also pushing to open more tools Platform specialists are in some ways will likely see more of this Distributed for publishers to give them better levers. organic outgrowths of adaptive stor- Domain category, as platforms open up This marks the rise of the Distributed ytelling. Adaptive storytelling is the and work with publishers in a more inte- Domain: something that sits in between platform-by-platform approach for cre- grated way. referral traffic on-platform and pure- ating and producing journalism across Why does it matter? Because it’s play distributed off-platform. various surfaces and devices. The idea the future. But aside from that: Additive is that what is created (written, desig- channels across the distributed lands- Platform specialists ned, produced) for the likes of Snapchat cape are how digital players will grow Discover is not the same as what is cre- big audiences. Fully understanding how An important point to note is the stra- ated for, say, Apple News or video that to count, optimize and ultimately mone- tegy involved in thinking through all is built primarily for a desktop viewing tize these channels will be key. We’re of the platforms. However, this is not experience. Adaptive storytelling or still in the early days, and the landscape strategy in the traditional sense. It does adaptive journalism also takes into will continue to shift. We are widely not come from sitting in a boardroom account the devices on which users are optimistic, bullish even, that every sin- or reading through trade publicati- consuming content: gle new platform offers an opportunity ons. This comes from working within It’s a return to storytelling with a to reach new users. We just want to the platforms and understanding the device-first sensibility. One of crafting make sure we are accounting for each live changes and opportunities that news and news experiences that put and every one of them in the best way are occurring. The Wall Street Journal the user first. The most exciting part is possible across our business. recently published a piece on The Rise that it gives room for experimentation — 49 — annual report tinius trust — 50

The Importance of Thinking About Cross-Platform Data How BuzzFeed approaches data today, and why it’s always changing

DAO NGUYEN Publisher at BuzzFeed 51 — annual report as publisher at buzzfeed, I get one question more than any other: What’s the one metric you value above all others? I’ll let you in on a secret: there is none.

Jonah Peretti, our CEO and Foun- monthly traffic reports tracking Unique der, hired BuzzFeed’s first data sci- Visitors (UVs) to our website and page entist in 2010, to predict when and how views were suddenly outdated. Plat- articles would go viral on the Internet. forms like YouTube and Facebook don’t It was, and is, a challenging problem. regularly provide UVs to publishers, We are still thinking about this same so we needed a new set of data to mea- question today, but a lot has changed sure the overall reach and impact of the in six years. BuzzFeed then was focu- company. sed on entertainment and viral media. Internal Unique Visitors numbers Today BuzzFeed teams in 11 countries (using Adobe or Google Analytics) publish content from breaking news to only measure unique browsers of our scripted shows on over 30 platforms in website, mobile apps, and Facebook seven languages. For a publisher char- Instant Articles. In the case of ana- ged with collecting and understanding lytics firm comScore, UVs measure all the attendant data, the task has never our U.S. web, app, and Instant Article been more complicated, more prone audience plus desktop YouTube vie- to error — or more exciting. Even two wers. comScore UVs as they are repor- years ago, when we all lived in a simpler ted today do not include people who: media landscape, we believed there was Dao Nguyen is BuzzFeed’s no «one metric to rule them all». Today ——Watch our YouTube videos on mobile Publisher overseeing the compa- that is even more true. (over half of our YouTube views are on ny’s technology, product, data and BuzzFeed started talking about mobile) publishing platform. From 2001 pursuing a distributed strategy in Janu- to 2008, she worked at Le Monde ary 2015. Instead of focusing primarily ——Watch our videos and comics on Interactif, publisher of the leading on our website and apps, and using Facebook, Snapchat Discover, Insta- news site lemonde.fr, where she social networks as a way to send traffic gram, Yahoo, Tumblr, Vine served as its Chief Executive to them, we were going to aggressively Officer starting in 2006. She has a publish our content directly to platforms ——Use our website or mobile app degree in Applied Mathematics / like YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat. outside the U.S. Computer Science from Harvard. This meant that our daily, weekly, and tinius trust — 52

For a long time, the digital media text, image, and video content created tract us. Unique visitors matter, shares world was obsessed with driving traf- by BuzzFeed in addition to hundreds of matter, front page visits matter, app fic to their own websites but in today’s billions of data points from third party DAUs (Daily Active Users) and MAUs cross-platform world, that metric just sources. (Monthly Active Users) matter, social doesn’t encompass all of the content we We’ve found ourselves tackling media followers matter, diversity of create and produce at BuzzFeed. In fact, hard to solve problems, finding surpri- traffic sourcesmatters, time spent mat- We estimate that our current comScore sing (and sometimes entertaining) ans- ters, editorial judgement matters, UX, metric of about 80 million UVs repre- wers, which I’d like to share with you design, and brand perception matter, sents less than one-fifth of our actual here. Below is the framework on which press pick-up and moving-the-conver- global reach, based on ad hoc data pro- we’ve built our data science organiza- sation matter, scoops matter, diversity vided by partners. Less than one-fifth. tion, and some insights we’ve learned of content matters, and we are probably UVs were useful for a long time. And that I hope will be helpful as we move missing a few others. In other words – for some publishers, they still are. But more fully into the world of social plat- it’s a long list. it’s time to stop talking about UVs as forms and apps. BuzzFeed is a combination of art, a way to measure online audiences. science, and good judgement. Under- Future media companies who publish Anonymize all usage data standing that balance is a competitive on many platforms (like BuzzFeed does) advantage. will need to look beyond a simple, one- First and foremost, we respect the pri- To measure the overall reach of the size-fits-all approach to data, and get vacy of data. At BuzzFeed, our policy company, we look at a combination of comfortable with the more difficult is simple: we anonymize all usage data, metrics that are available across plat- and chaotic world of data in a platform have strict internal policies around our forms. Here is a sampling of what that environment. employees only accessing data in the data looks like. In order to do this at BuzzFeed, aggregate form and are building techni- we’ve had to scale up our data science cal safeguards that would alert us if that team, currently a team of 10 data sci- policy is breached. entists (and growing!) inside our tech group of 180 engineers, product owners, Embrace complexity and designers. The scale of our data has increased sharply as well: each month Recent debates about the most impor- we can examine over 6 billion views of tant or newest web metric do not dis- 53 — annual report

Monthly Content Views

Content views are views of BuzzFeed content (videos, articles, lists, illustrations) regardless of the platform on which it lives. Not included are homepage or feed views or impressions of link promoti- ons on social networks. tinius trust — 54

Monthly Hours Spent

As we all know, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat all count video views in different ways. Hopefully though, they count minutes in the same way, so time spent helps us understand more about what our audience is doing. 55 — annual report

Percentage Views vs. Time Spent

We can look at referral sources and platform locations to see which ones over-index and which ones under-index for time spent.

December—November 2015 data tinius trust — 56

Total Subscriptions

We define subscribers as people who have taken an action to show an interest in the BuzzFeed brand, such as people who use our mobile apps, sign up for our newsletters, visit our homepage, or follow our social feeds. This helps us understand different relationships with our audiences and how they are growing. 57 — annual report

Be humble: Data is best used for data = truth. If numbers are involved, it doesn’t mean we understand the why of learning, not vanity must be true, and the more numerous what we’re trying to predict. Correlation the numbers, the truer the truth! The and causation are not the same; and we Now that I’ve shown some really big cult of big data assumes that with need to think about when it makes sense numbers about BuzzFeed’s reach, I’ll volume of data comes trustworthiness. to act on correlation. recommend that we don’t get too high The reality is that every data colle- on ourselves. Knowing our top-line ction scheme is a set of rules coded by Data is only as powerful as the numbers is useful for understanding humans; any experiment could hide organization behind it large trends and for bragging (yes, we do inherent biases; every model’s assump- brag!), but it doesn’t help us make better tions could be wrong. If the methodo- BuzzFeed has a thriving, effective data content or connect with our audiences. logy is faulty, then it doesn’t matter how science team because the culture of the Ultimately, the reason we care about much data you have. Size doesn’t trump company allows it. Some examples of data is that we hope to learn something technique; both matter. Data scientists how culture is critical to the success of from it. We should look to other, smaller are duty-bound to question the viabi- data science: numbers for that. lity of data sets, to reconsider methods of analysis, and to question the degree ——The whole company is aligned along Questions matter more than of “truth” that can be extracted. Only a clearly articulated strategy, and so the answers then can we get closer to understanding questions that are asked have some of what is happening, which is always more this long-term thinking in mind. If you don’t ask the right questions complex than a single number can hold. then you won’t get useful answers. Yet ——Both editorial and business teams are there is an all-too-common assump- Data can tell you what happened, lean and experimental, so they can test tion that the standard questions are but rarely why data hypotheses fairly quickly. Flexibi- the only ones that can be asked. Sup- lity is key: having the data is pointless pose an editor, wanting to know how Let’s say we’ve asked the pertinent if you can’t use the data; as is speed: his stories are doing, asks for a page- questions, set up the least biased expe- having the data is equally pointless if view report. A web analytics team riments, and analyzed the optimal way. you can’t use it before it becomes out- could simply pull this data and send it Fabulous — we know something! While dated. to him. At BuzzFeed, the data science we have figured out something that team handles web analytics; so before happened, we shouldn’t assume that we ——We’ve invested in a technology infra- pulling the data, we will discuss with know why. We can certainly speculate, structure that can support data science the editor what, intuitively, she is try- and design further experiments to test needs: frameworks for large-scale col- ing to understand, and then figure out hypotheses, and even ask users with sur- lection and processing of data, tools which metrics best measure that. And veys, but it’s always unproductive (and and APIs (Application Program Inter- if we’re not currently gathering data for usually counter-productive) to think we face) for obtaining and analyzing data, those metrics, we can take steps to start know more than we actually do. ad-hoc data stores for analyses, and an doing so. This is the simplest example. Sometimes a lot of data will tell you A/B testing platform. As problems get more complex, asking what will likely happen. Predictive ana- the right questions matters even more. lysis is one of our core areas of research. —— Employees in every group and at But again, we can create a predictive every level are aware that data (and, Be skeptical about the data algorithm that works well and is based more broadly, technology) are core to There is a sadly pervasive belief that on correlations seen in the data, but it our success. In fact, all employees get tinius trust — 58

trained on BuzzFeed’s approach to data Be human: Some kinds of impact larger than another. And trying to do so and our home grown technology at ori- are not quantifiable diminishes our ability to make a diffe- entation. They also know that data has We define impact as changing somet- rence and connect with people. limits, which leads to the next point. hing in the real world, on a personal or institutional level. Some Data is under-utilized and over- recent examples we are proud of: Be pragmatic: Look at the hyped metric(s) that helps you learn ——A Texas woman who was sentenced Today, it’s hard to find a media organi- about your platform or achieve to 45 years in prison for failing to pro- zation that isn’t thinking about data sci- your objectives. tect her son from her abusive boyfriend, ence at some level. People talk about big Knowing what you’re trying to do or even though she tried to stop the bea- data, small data, lean data, smart data. learn is the first step in figuring out what ting, was granted parole after being fea- We try to not get caught up in the labe- metrics to look at. (In business speak, tured in a 2014 BuzzFeed News investi- ling. We try to focus on the problems I would say: Identify your Key Perfor- gation. we’re solving. The only way for media mance Indicators - KPIs - in advance.) organizations to get the most out of data We don’t use the same metrics for ——The U.N. Human Rights office and science is to keep questioning, colle- success on all platforms. We don’t use the NYC Human Resources Admi- cting, scrubbing, learning, analyzing, the same metrics for success for all nistration (the largest social services testing, making mistakes, and doing it kinds of videos. We don’t use the same agency in the country) included our again. metrics for success for all kinds of video What It’s Like to Be Intersex in its articles, or for all of our Facebook pages. lgbtqi (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer In conclusion It would be easier if we did! But we are and Intersex) trainings. trying to learn and achieve different Metrics should reflect what a company things with each platform, page type ——Our Snapchat edition dedicated to cares about, and so each media and video/post type. The same is true Muslim identity touched a lot of people. company has to choose its own data with our advertisers. Each advertiser We received lots of tweets and this email: points that matter. Even now, as Buzz- has its particular goals (e.g., maybe one «I’m a Muslim girl living in Australia Feed adopts a global cross-platform stra- is more interested in scale while another facing the hardship of trying to explain tegy, we are dreaming up new ways to is more interested in Direct Response), my religion to my friends and colleagues understand and learn from data. What if and metrics and what you’re optimizing almost every day and I always get called we could calculate a cross-platform lift for should reflect that. brainwashed for following my religion. for each piece of content or each content This sounds like it’s complicated Clicking on BuzzFeed today and seeing frame? What if we could predict the ROI and messy, and it is! But it’s pragmatic. a whole series dedicated to Muslims… (Return on Investment) of translating For example, for certain kinds of videos Words can’t start to explain how much a piece of content into a particular lan- we look at views on YouTube but shares that meant to me.» guage? What if we could do the same for on Facebook. We found that different advertisers? It’s an exciting time! metrics were clearer signals on these ——We can measure some kinds of different platforms. impact, and we do it regularly for our Data should inform your choices, advertisers, especially since they have not determine your strategy. In fact, clear objectives. But some kinds of over-optimization can lead to achieving impact are not quantifiable in the sense only a local maximum. that you can’t say that one instance is 59 — annual report tinius trust — 60

Next Generation Publishing Products

ESPEN SUNDVE VP Product Management Schibsted

Now that software is eating the world, original If you think the step from print to digital was challenging, prepare yourself: The next content and quality journalism have become leap for publishing and journalism is far big- even more important for social media platforms. ger, more complex and way more exciting. This next leap isn’t like going from desktop Publishers are left with a simple choice: Either to mobile, or from mobile to a watch. It’s not adding off-the-shelf recommendation engi- lead the charge to redefine journalism and their nes to our digital products and claiming we products, or become mere content providers for offer personalization, or assuming there is a quick fix for site speed and ad-blocking. external platforms, making them the de facto The next leap will be going from broadcas- publishers of our time. Schibsted, for its part, is ting (one-size-fits-all) journalism to 1:1 journalism—to get there, publishers have to fully inte- choosing to reimagine publishing products once grate the newsroom with tech and unite across brands. This is the story of why we at Schibsted again. This is the story of why and how. think so, and what it means.

Espen Sundve is leading Schibsted’s effort to build Next Gen Publis- hing products. He has been with Schibsted since 2008 and led product & technology initiatives in both marketplaces and publishing (lastly as Chief Product & Technology Officer in VG). 61 — annual report

we do, not user-centric. One example: Our Dilemma need to take a step back and talk about how we need to change before we can The user interaction model is to navi- All publishers are at a crossroads, whet- take that giant leap towards the future. gate by topic or format (not by user her they want to admit it or not. To put mode), and we primarily care about pageviews (not user events). this in Matrix terms I know my tech Our Digital Legacy peers can relate to, publishers need to choose between the red pill or the blue It’s not like publishers have comple- ——We originate all content ours- pill. tely missed the mark with our establis- elves, making the idea of being deeply Taking the blue pill means moving hed digital products. On the contrary— relevant to a very broad audience a very deeper into a role as pure content cre- many of us have managed to build expensive affair (e.g. if we wish to offer ators for third-party platforms—plat- strong digital positions for our establis- relevant content by geography or inte- forms that dictate the editorial and hed brands. rest area to specific user segments, our business rules without claiming any edi- At Schibsted, we’re proud of how VG current setup requires that we either torial and financial accountability for in Norway and Aftonbladet in Sweden extend our newsroom or buy that con- independent journalism (a cornerstone have managed to cement their positions tent). of our democracy). The drawbacks of as their nations’ primary destinations this direction are pretty clear—in parti- for news—reaching 52% and 47% of ——Advertising (that we of course cular, this results in a great concentra- the digital population respectively on depend on to make a living) is produced, tion of power around the platforms— a daily basis. We’re also proud of how served, presented and tracked outside but publishers are left with little to no we’ve managed to reinvent strong subs- the editorial content and technology choice. Emily Bell summarized this well cription brands like Aftenposten and solutions — resulting in a cluttered and in her analysis for Columbia Journalism Svenska Dagbladet into premium digital slow-loading user experience. Review recently: «The four horsemen news experiences with high willingness of the apocalypse—Google, Facebook, to pay among their audiences—and of ——Journalists, business developers, Apple, and Amazon (five if you add in how we’ve both succeeded and failed designers and engineers devise and Microsoft)—are engaged in a prolonged when daring to innovate in niche cate- implement ideas to improve aspects of and torrid war over whose technologies, gories. In fact, we’re bigger online than the product without working together, platforms, and even ideologies will win. ever before, but our current success also with no one (such as a dedicated pro- In the last year, journalists and news hides our biggest threat—namely, that duct manager) responsible for the total publishers have therefore unexpectedly the digital product experience we offer product. found themselves the beneficiaries of is a result of old rules, rules that slow this conflict.» us down in the innovation race for user When we look at trends in consump- Taking the red pill means facing engagement. tion of online content and the “rules” reality and creating an alternative—a Let me share a few of the established holding us back, we can sum them up in reality in which the publishers reinvent rules that seem to prevent us from radi- one major bottleneck: We are still bro- their established products to remain cal leaps towards a more engaging user adcasting journalism, while new digital relevant as destinations for their rea- experience: content distribution platform players ders. A reality in which accountable edi- such as Facebook and Google are offe- torial voices define the technology, and ——We create pieces of content meant ring deeply personal experiences. algorithms are used to serve and fund for everyone, and manually curate our independent journalism. front pages. This works very well when From Broadcasting to 1:1 At Schibsted, we choose the everyone is on the same level and are Journalism red pill. We’re determined to take the interested equally in the same con- leap and reinvent our established pro- tent—but they’re not. People consume Going beyond broadcasting may sound ducts—from our current line to a new continuously, and have different prior like a cliched catchphrase, but it’s far publishing suite that will be successful knowledge, interest, context and user from trivial. Publishers have, since the in the user engagement battle for years modes. beginning of journalism, created and to come. We think of these as our Next curated stories with a one-size-fits-all Gen Publishing Products. But we’re no ——We have adapted the old print mindset: One voice at a marketplace, longer big enough to do it alone. None user experience to a desktop format, dozens of bystanders; one article, hun- of us are. Either we all make this leap and later the desktop user experience dreds of readers; one newspaper, tho- together, or we all — whether we like it to mobile (with responsive pages and usands of subscribers; one radio show, or not — end up swallowing the blue pill. hybrid apps). millions of listeners; one video, billions I’d like to share our vision for Next of viewers. Gen Publishing Products. But first, we ——We’re content-centric in all that All that we do and create in publis- tinius trust — 62 hing is designed to be one-size-fits-all— as possible, ensuring a collective rai- over text), my current context and more. even our digital products. Front-page sing of awareness and insight, but other If newsrooms dare to rethink what they articles and videos meant to appeal equ- stories are more suited for smaller seg- produce (such as leaving articles behind ally to all visitors. Display banners sold ments. It’s important to challenge rea- for something more granular), we beli- by placement and reach. Apps with a ders and broaden their horizons, while eve journalism will be far more effective uniform experience independent of the at the same time remaining relevant in closing the gap between what people user. A Justin Bieber push to everyone. and providing depth when needed. With know and what they should know. The list goes on. a one-to-one relationship with each In engaging an audience, we’ve Instead of merely throwing out the (logged in) reader, fueled by data colle- always invited them to contribute buzzword “personalization” and preten- cted on their behavior, context and pre- with opinion pieces and tips; recently, ding that we’ve found the solution, we ferences, we should be far more sophis- we’ve begun offering share buttons and believe it’s essential to start by asking ticated in optimizing what we show to comment fields next to our articles. ourselves why we engage in journalism whom, and when and where we do it. We Beyond that, we’ve mostly outsourced in the first place. How can our journa- have two major advantages in this game engagement to social media. Techno- lism be 10x or 100x more relevant if we vs. Facebook and the like. First, we can logy companies are great at bringing could tailor it to each individual reader? be fully transparent in how we curate. users on a journey and connecting them Being a technologist and somewhat We embrace editorial responsibility, so for discussion. If media companies had new to the media industry, I’ve spent a while tech platforms leave the user in the better insights and data on their users, lot of time recently trying to understand dark as to how content is filtered (with they could be far more sophisticated in the true purpose of journalism. This is all sorts of resulting implications on how they tailor engagement options to important, because if we technologists privacy concerns and echo chambers), users depending on their behavior, pre- do not fully adhere to the foundational we can dare to be open about why and ferences and context. This would not principles of journalism, we can never how we curate to close the gap between only increase distribution and reach of truly join forces with the newsroom to what you know and what you should (or the content, it could also provide valua- radically improve how journalism is want to). Second, we have journalists ble audience input to enable the news- delivered and consumed. Through long and editors and their inherent curatorial room to create even better journalism. discussions and quite a bit of reading, skills: While Facebook pays 30 contract Our ambition for Next Gen Publis- I’ve realized I can express the purpose workers and have 700 reviewers around hing Products is to reinvent the product of journalism in a way that will resonate the United States that assess and train experience on all three of the jobs we with any technologist—as an optimiza- the news feed algorithm, the publishing do for our end users. We can close the tion challenge: industry collectively has thousands of knowledge gap by connecting the user Journalism exists to minimize the the world’s premier content experts— with stories, telling each story and enga- gap between what people already know the journalists. By incorporating their ging the user. and what they should and/or want to assessment and know-how into algorit- know — so that people can make infor- hms defined and owned by publishers, Our Vision med decisions about their personal life, publishers should be well-armed in the community, society and governments. fight for user attention. For our next-generation products, we To help close that gap, we can sim- In telling stories, we currently have formulated a vision: plify and say we do three jobs for the end create a single story for everyone. We user: believe media and journalism should Next Gen Publishing Products break with this and invent a new form of should deliver and tell news in a adaptive storytelling. As the creators of way that makes users feel like they We connect the user with a story. 1 content, we can and should capitalize on have their own intelligent personal 2 We tell the story. the competitive advantage we have over editor. players like Facebook. The Facebooks of We engage and involve the user. 3 the world do not produce their content, Let’s pause for a moment on the they primarily focus on how to perso- word editor. The rise of pure tech plat- To make the leap from broadcasting nalize the filtering of it (and getting forms as a primary source of journalism to 1:1 journalism, we have to innovate users to interact with it). Publishers, on and opinions presents us with a serious along all three of these dimensions of the other hand, can start to personalize societal challenge. Tech platforms inhe- journalism. down to the level of content creation. rently neglect editorial accountability, In connecting a user with a story, Ideally, the stories I read should match and also do not curate content with any we currently broadcast by showing the my level of insight, interest, and past mission to challenge individuals with same front page to every visitor. Some behavior within every topic, my prefer- what they should know. stories do need to reach as many people red way of being informed (say, pictures Trei Brundrett, Chief Product 63 — annual report Next Gen Publishing Products should deliver and tell news in a way that makes users feel like they have their own intelligent personal editor.

Officer of Vox, put it nicely in an inter- through over-personalization) while from a wider volume of content (as view with Aftonbladet’s Jan Helin when fostering dialogue and discussion opposed to the tens or even hundreds he said: «All code is political.» This of articles a day we can produce by our- is the vision of next-gen publishing: a ——An editor who knows how to selves). And not just any kind of con- vision in which publishers step up and surprise and entertain users, not merely tent, but quality journalism, which can actually dare to define the algorithms challenge and enlighten them only be achieved by media companies and the total user experience. As edi- ——An editor who allows advertising making all content available to all other tors, we’ve always had the guts to claim to have the same great user experience publishers. Furthermore, only by sha- responsibility and accountability; that is as journalism (as opposed to today’s dis- ring user engagement data collection our strength. play banners, which clutter the experi- can we gain the full user insight we To define an intelligent personal ence and encourage ad-blocking) need to rival the data power of tech plat- editor, we mean: forms like Facebook. I find it fascinating ——An editor who optimizes her ——An editor who ensures that the that even today, journalists and media algorithms to close the gap between user has a seamless experience across companies often think of each other what people know and should (not just any device as enemies. Media companies seem to want to) know; for example, making have no problem building the newsfe- sure some news reaches everyone, while eds of tech players into streams of great other news reaches only the right niche Our Path Forward content, or strengthening the domi- audience Let’s be clear: We do not yet have magi- nance of their advertising platforms, cal roadmap that shows how we’ll get while the mere idea of partnering with ——An editor who can help people to 1:1 journalism. But we’re determined other media companies seems absurd. understand complex, contemporary to build, test, validate, and fail or scale Not only do we need to collaborate on issues through personalized storytel- new products, processes and experien- capturing data to be competitive in the ling, matching each individual user’s ces. In the process, there are four major advertising market, but we also need to preconceptions to understand and hurdles we still have to overcome: allow the free flow of content between engage with the story our brands to be more relevant and to ——An editor who intelligently ——Our content is far too narrow maximize our collective reach. guides the user through a world of infor- ——Our curation process is manual This leads me to the second hurdle: mation overload, selecting and presen- ——We’re stuck in one-size-fits-all Our curation process is still largely ting relevant content from various sour- formats (i.e. articles) manual. Moving from print to digital, ces ——We simply do not know who the we invented “front editors.” Now we users are have to do it again, but this time, our ——An editor who can be trusted to front editor needs to tune algorithms give users a balanced view of the world, If any of us are to be successful at cura- rather than words and pixels. Instead of avoiding filter bubbles (isolating users ting relevant experiences for each indi- defining placement and format in cura- in their own cultural or ideological ideas vidual user, we have to be able to pull ting content, they should be concerned tinius trust — 64

with defining user segments. Let’s use a bringing them on a journey from fly-by One-size-fits-all journalism belongs national news site, the VW scandal, and readers to a loyal and actively engaged to the past. The future holds discovery a story of how an Oslo car dealership audience discussing and adding value and presentation of stories adapted to reacted to the deception as an example. to the stories, we have to know who each user, where engagement is maxi- The current way of ensuring users are our user is. As of now, we don’t. The mized on an individual basis. We need informed about this story is by placing challenge to solve here is to give users to be personal and logged in by design. the article on the top of the front page compelling reasons to be identified (log- Fully integrating the news- until the click rate suggests that it’s ged in). In doing so, we have to move room with product & technology to saturated (i.e. we assume “everyone has beyond mere vanity features (“save this have any chance at creating 1:1 journa- seen it”). Going forward, the front edi- article for later”) and marketing cam- lism. This is particular important when tor should be able to tell tech that this paigns (“log in to win an iPad” or “get it comes to rethinking how we discover, story should primarily surface to users premium free for a week”). We have to create and curate content, and how who we already know have read about make our product experience better product management grows as a critical the scandal and who live in the Oslo if you’re identified, and this requires interdisciplinary role across editorial, area. making journalism personal. commercial, user experience, software The third hurdle lies in the way we engineering and data science. create our content. In particular, we Summing Up Leaving our old competitive need to go beyond articles. The key issue worldview behind to unite publishers is that our current formats don’t allow We are at a point where media and jour- as a collective force in the fight for user for adaptive storytelling—storytelling nalism have to take a stand. Publishers engagement. Collective content and in which we adapt to users’ knowledge either must submit to the new rules defi- data about users are both essential to (what they’ve already read), interest ned by the pure tech platforms, giving create differentiated and personalized level, context and more. Circa News them our content and data and making experiences for readers and advertisers. paved the way for atomizing news, and them stronger every day, or they must We’re not big enough alone; instead of the NY Times has written about par- decide to evolve journalism into somet- making tech platforms stronger, media ticles in their blog. Furthermore, if 2016 hing that truly embraces the opportu- companies have to unite to stay ahead. turns out to be the year of the bots, with nities we have in 2016—the chance to As we have evolved to move from conversational news apps paving the invent true 1:1 journalism. print to desktop and from desktop to way, our old article format simply won’t Quite a few technologists are bullish mobile, we now, together, must decide to cut it. As tech platforms compete for about the future of journalism (myself embark on the mission to reinvent ours- user attention by redefining content dis- included), but as far as we can see, a leap elves once more—at our core—before tribution and engagement, our greatest in journalism still requires some radical someone else does it for us. That is why weapon in the fight for relevance could changes in the newsroom mindset: we are investing in Next Gen Publishing lie in our core task— content creation. Reinventing broadcast jour- products, because journalism is not Fundamentally, if we want to be bet- nalism as deeply personal journalism disrupted by digital. It’s enabled. ter at engaging each individual user— to win the battle for user engagement. 65 — annual report

Mastering One’s Domain: Some Key Principles of Platform Capitalism

JONAS ANDERSSON SCHWARZ Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication studies, Södertörn University The disruption brought by platforms hides tinius trust — 66 some of their other effects: Platforms make possible a form of total control. It is therefore crucial to see how platforms are combined, effectively creating media ecosystems.

In the Internet economy, the key to visibility. The problem is that the under- established platforms. Ultimately, those economic clout is to maintain exclusive lying principles of this platform capita- platforms that do become truly success- control over the surface on which the lism seem to beget an inherent form of ful tend to be bought up by the establis- market exchange takes place. While the monopolism. hed giants. value of individual bits strives towards As everything is rapidly becoming In an increasing number of markets zero, the value of the infrastructure digitized, let’s keep in mind that the where the major platform actors have approaches dizzying sums. This model Internet has, rather rapidly, become come to dominate, it is nowadays practi- has, increasingly, been applied to phy- privatized and is now dominated by a cally impossible for new entrants to be sical markets as well, as part of what is handful of corporations (global giants able to acquire market share. While it is sometimes called the sharing economy— like Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook hardly possible to offer as fast, flexible but should more aptly be called platform etc.), each with considerable market and affordable a cloud service as those capitalism, since it is facilitated by sta- capitalization. Although many of the of Amazon, Google, or Microsoft wit- ble intermediaries (like Facebook and individual entrepreneurs behind these hout enormous financial muscle, it is Google) that provide storage, naviga- emerging actors may be partially inde- not lack of capital that seems to be the tion and delivery of the digital content pendent of these giants, the basic pre- reason Europe is struggling to compete produced by others. These intermedi- mise is that each platform has to reach with the incumbent platform giants. aries—digital platforms—can be seen a dominant position in its respective While the world’s leading digital plat- as technological and material stages market. In addition, any new platforms form businesses have a combined mar- that provide leverage, durability, and will generally be dependent on already ket capitalization of $4 trillion, only 4

Jonas Andersson Schwarz is Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication studies, Södertörn University (Stockholm, Sweden), focusing on file sharing, online piracy, and digital consumer culture. His most recent research project (20122016) addressed the motivations for sharing among Internet users. He is the author of Online File Sharing: Innovations in Media Consumption (Routledge, 2013). 67 — annual report

% of this value has been generated by of data makes things either one or zero become realized many times, during European firms. and never anything in-between, the various different techno-capitalistic It is when considering the nature corporate tendency to full market domi- reigns, such as that of AT&T and Bell of digital infrastructure, and viewing nance, already familiar to capitalism, Labs during the mid-20th century, as it as a power principle, that platformi- becomes even more uncompromising. Tim Wu has brilliantly recounted. It is zation really gets interesting. I would My own approach comes from years often said to be in the interest of con- argue that platformization is, in many of studying the file-sharing culture and sumers that platform-based providers respects, the key principle of econo- its economic implications. The file-sha- cover as much of the available market mic control in our time, even comparing ecology is characterized by the fre- as possible: It often brings both conveni- rable to established paradigms of cor- edom to tinker and the ability to index, ence and cost-efficiency for consumers porate management like Fordism and upload and modify files and file listings when the entire range of choice is gath- Taylorism. While these paradigms, on surfaces that are owned and control- ered in one single app. Still, we might be typical for the 20th century, are gene- led by the users themselves. One of my fooling ourselves in the long run, as the rally associated with serialization, main insights has been that The Pirate glorious supremacy of digital one-stop later developments like post-Taylo- Bay serves as a de facto platform—a sin- shops seems to have deep societal costs rism are primarily concerned with gular registry and search engine, char- that are hidden at first glance, such as an coordination and lean production, ting some of the otherwise nebulous impending erosion of the middle class. where value-chain production beco- file-sharing sprawl. For many people, mes intensified, more elaborate, The Pirate Bay has come to symbolize Platforms incrementally enabling sophisticated, complex, and more coor- file sharing in its entirety. yet more platforms? dinated in time and space. However, Many things could be learned these late-20th-century intensificati- from The Pirate Bay, but one of the key The idea that we’re living in a platform ons were still based on value chains insights is that massive popularity and economy is sometimes labeled old rather than value networks. Platform market dominance can be generated by news. The really novel news would be capitalism is an even deeper intensi- reaching critical mass of utility through the emergence of structures that ope- fication of capitalism, based directly concentrating access to all the assets rate through complex, nested arrange- on two things: the nature of digital (database of objects/subjects) in one ments of platforms-of-platforms—Alp- infrastructure and the nature single place. In addition, if what is pro- habet being the quintessential example. of networks. vided is more than mere access, but the Once upon a time, Google and Face- actual hosting of content itself—much book were digital platforms simply pro- All hail the platform like another innovative Swedish tech viding search and social networking; stalwart emerging from the file-sharing Amazon was a retailer; and Apple a digi- As established media powerhouses culture, Spotify, managed to do—then tal hardware manufacturer. However, worldwide—be it the BBC, Springer, the dominance is additionally solidified, these actors have long since diversified The New York Times, or Schibsted—are and future competitors are discouraged into various other markets. Technically, challenged by international platform even further from viable market entry. they also work as platforms on which giants, one key solution has, strikingly, «Actually, capitalism and competi- other platforms are, in turn, built. Plat- been to build their own platforms (or tion are opposites», Peter Thiel has con- forms have to be situated in ever-wider so their publicly stated intentions go, at vincingly pointed out. That firms seek systems of mutual interplay, co-depen- least). Alternatively, another solution market dominance is nothing new; what dence, and productivity. To begin with, has been to simply begin collaborating is new is the all-or-nothing nature inhe- platform companies are directly depen- with the tech giants, as Facebook’s bud- rent to digitization, where services and dent on either venture capital (priva- ding Instant Articles and Google’s Digi- platforms tend to become totalitarian. tely traded companies) or stock market tal News Initiative show. In an era of platform capitalism, firms valuations (publicly traded companies). While the digital nature of plat- have incentives to create what could be Facebook, for example, can make stun- forms is truly new, the imaginaries of called creative monopolies; conditional ning investments thanks to credit-based real-time matching, feedback and auto- systems within which new services are liquidity resulting from the company’s mation, fueling a lot of current develop- constantly offered and new markets extraordinarily high valuation on the ments, echo a form of information idea- emerge—provided that the platform stock market. Moreover, none of the glo- lism reminiscent of the late 20th century owner maintains a monopolistic control bal Internet companies would be what and the modern planning of that era. over what happens. they are today if the leading telecom Further, when seen as an overarching At the same time, it’s important to corporations hadn’t allowed a relatively structural principle, platformization has admit the huge innovative potential free flow of data in their cables and radio a worrisome tendency towards monopo- that comes with information empires. links. Budding platform companies like listic control. Much as the binary nature In modern history, such potential has Uber would never have been possible if tinius trust — 68

Facebook has the irrevocable and absolute sovereignty to boot you out if you break the rules.

larger platform companies like Apple apps (App Store, Google Play) with the structures that they make part of. Some- and Alphabet hadn’t allowed a certain mapping services offered by the same times, when people praise the relative degree of freedom of innovation in the platform giants (Apple Maps, Google openness and flexibility of the Apple new economic ecosystems that are Maps). Yet, as we shall see, one should or Google ecosystem, in the same bre- generated through app stores (allowing not conflate a sprawling information ath they confuse this with the singular companies to plant software on mobile infrastructure (an ecosystem) with a platforms in question. While companies Internet-connected appliances) and platform (a particular surface). like Apple and Alphabet are, in effect, map applications (allowing geograp- Despite the strong form of local, plat- complex arrangements of interrelated hical coordination of software and form-specific technical control inherent platforms, each such platform might, devices). Spotify, which has historically to digital code, some of the academic however, be rather restricted in terms relied on its own servers, has recently literature highlights the relative lack of of sheer functionality. An iPhone forms announced that the company is migra- control over the ways in which platforms the nexus of a diverse information infra- ting its infrastructure to the Google develop over time and interrelate with structure, yet some of its constituent Cloud Platform. Similarly, Netflix, other platforms. As technical archite- platforms (such as the iTunes interface) while accounting for 37 % of all Internet cture, a platform allows for large sets might in fact be highly constrained, traffic in North America during peak of IT capabilities to be crammed into path-dependent, and not at all flexible. viewing times, is arguably more depen- a relatively well-bounded and control- A key insight, nevertheless, is that dent than ever on Amazon Web Services led system, which can be continuously the nested platform hierarchy of our cur- for its hosting and traffic. re-designed and expanded. While the rent global information infrastructure When Apple enables an ecosystem design of a platform often starts off with makes many of the lesser platforms of apps, the degree of prediction is low a bounded set of closed specifications, it quite dependent on the top providers in in regards to which new markets and often grows in complexity over time, as (i.e. the global giants), arguably further business opportunities can be built platforms are expected to meet varying solidifying the dominance of these lat- on top of such a software platform. In user needs and facilitate various forms ter actors. that sense, global platform companies of compatibility. enable new establishments of lesser However, it is important to distingu- Exclusive control platform companies, such as Uber and ish singular platforms and applications Airbnb, as these latter actors combine from the much wider, more complex, Platform control could be defined as mobile operating systems platforms for and more dynamic information infra- exclusive control over the surface on 69 — annual report

The competitive goal of any platform company, Uber and Airbnb included, is to seek a monopoly in its respective niche. tinius trust — 70

which the exchange takes place. This vation among the app startups crowding scale, compliance has to be automated: does not mean that whatever happens both App Store and Google Play, but Hardware setups and software algorit- on Facebook is determined by Face- there is nothing absolute to this degree hms automatically assign billing orders book, but it does mean that Facebook of freedom. As some of Apple’s App to your transaction. Moreover, none of has the irrevocable and absolute sover- Store policies make clear, the rules of the participating nodes on the platform eignty to boot you out if you break the engagement are sometimes rather arbi- should be allowed to abuse their relative rules. While monopolies, consolidation, trary: The company has banned content freedom by using loopholes or glitches: and market dominance are familiar that ridicules public figures and sexually The system has to be water-tight. No phenomena within capitalism, I would suggestive apps, yet allows for titillating free lunches by mistake. argue that what is genuinely new with material from mainstream publishers Due to reasons such as these—vir- digitization is the concept of total con- like Playboy. It prohibits all services tually all of them stemming from the trol that is implemented when law and that mimic the functionality of existing existential fact that digital code by its norm is crystallized into code. Apple services. More disturbingly, the very nature is inexorable —platform-ba- I don’t intend to associate platfor- company has rejected apps for reasons it sed control is a form of total control. mization with Taylorism, as if these never warned developers of in advance, This is why so many people have come were idealized logics that market and reserves the right to change its poli- to see the algorithmic mode of mana- actors invoke, regardless of the actual cies at any time, without prior warning. gement as, for good and for bad, better behavior of these actors. Rather, plat- Platforms become like opaque black than law. It is thought of as an inhuman, formization, being highly dependent boxes: We don’t know what they do, and perfect form of institutional functiona- on technology, is a material organizing you’ll be punished for peeking inside. lity where individuals are freed from principle as regards the division of labor Regardless of the circumstances of subjective decision-making. My closing and resource efficiency in contempo- their inception, the competitive goal of word on the matter will therefore be one rary society. Of course, a proviso must any platform company, Uber and Airbnb of warning: We have walked down simi- be added that the specific effects of the included, is to seek a monopoly in its lar paths before, in terms of the ways respective platforms (not to mention respective niche. Digitization enables a in which power is arranged in society. the combined effects of entire ecosys- hardcore form of standardization and It might appear disruptive at first, as tems of platforms) may be highly unpre- tracking, in regards to measurements various actors battle for the platform dictable, especially when considering of what takes place, where and when. real-estate. However, over time, plat- the externalities created. Platforms In order to generate revenue from the form capitalism risks becoming the polar are charged with a paradoxical ten- many, sprawling, seemingly chaotic opposite, helping to further consolidate sion between the logic of generative and interactions taking place on a platform, those power structures that are already democratic innovations and the logic of certain standardized rules and metrics in place. infrastructural control. Apple and Alp- have to be imposed: All transactions habet currently have to allow for quite must be billable. Further, in order to significant degrees of freedom of inno- make possible some kind of economy of 71 — annual report

The New Reality of Media

THOMAS BAEKDAL Media Analyst Understanding media no longer means tinius trust — 72 talking about formats—print versus digital or desktop versus mobile. It’s actually about the right type of moments: How people behave — their intent—is the new way of thinking about media in the digital world.

A fascinating thing is happening This meant that people never really to the future of media—the very foun- cared about the individual articles. To dation of how we focus it has changed. care, you need to choose; to choose, In the past, we focused our business you need intent. You can’t do that with a models around the formats first, the print newspaper. limitations of the market second, and The result was that the journalis- whatever other focus we might have tic profession became ‘the bringers of third. Now, publishers are faced with a news.’ A group of people working tire- new reality of having to redefine everyt- lessly every day to produce as much hing on the basis of how people behave. random content as possible. In doing so, We have never needed to do this they also barred themselves from being before, because the audience’s behavior specialists. has never been that different for each When we look at a typical CV of a type of media. journalist, we find randomness. Think about how people consumed Here is an example of the topics media in the past. Take the morning covered by one Norwegian journalist newspaper: How did people read that? in one newspaper: politics, lottery win- Well, it was something we would sit ners, error in a tech platform, earthqua- down with, which meant we consumed kes, Twitter harassment, a hotel fire, the it in a lean-back way, or what we call a zika epidemic, gambling, immigration, macro-moment. the financial state of banks, viral con- We had no idea what was in the tent, train delays in China, and an emer- newspaper before we started reading it, gency plane landing. These are just the and as such made no decision. Instead articles published by one journalist over we flipped from one page to the next, two weeks! glancing over the pages and taking in It’s 100% randomness. There is no each page, one at a time. targeting, no focus, no momentum, This means it was a passive form of no passion, and no purpose. It’s just a media, and also that it lacked any specific package of random content. intent. Because of this, journalists have Similarly, because of market limita- become an invisible force behind byli- Thomas Baekdal is a media tions, we could only deliver one newspa- nes that people never notice. Sure, there analyst focusing on future media per per day (at the most), and everyone are a few exceptions, but most journa- trends, as well as the transfor- would get the same package. This means lists are completely unknown to the peo- mation they cause. He has been that the newspaper was forced to be the ple who read their newspapers. working professionally in digital jack of all trades but master of none, or Now look at magazines. True, most media since 1998 and as a media what we call a package with a little bit of magazines have a somewhat sharper consultant since 2010. everything. target. Gardening, fashion, or health 73 — annual report magazines add a bit more specific focus, It’s the same thing. package made the purposes random. but even within their focus they follow It’s a little of everything, for an Nor did it focus on specific behavior, the same pattern. undefined mass-market, as part of a since there was only one type to target. Magazines are also read in a lean- package of content. Every day there is a So what types of purpose and back behavior, using a passive form new package, and in the past when TV2 behaviors are we talking about? of media, where the focus is on the Norge and NRK were the only channels As we have all seen, the digital package of content rather than the value available, people consumed them in the world, mobiles, and prolific internet of the individual article. These journa- same way too. access have allowed us to consume lists are also covering a little bit of eve- You see what’s happening here? media whenever we like. We call these rything behind impersonal bylines. And When we look at traditional media, the micro-moments. But we haven’t like newspapers, traditional magazines we see that they are all the same. They simply shifted from macro-moments are consumed by aimlessly flipping are based on the same type of behavior, to micro-moments—we now have them the pages, because you have no idea the same type of packaged content, the both. what will be on the next page. Again, same randomness, and the it’s designed for when people have no same limitations of distri- intent. bution. Now look at TV. It’s the same story. The difference is the TVs are lean back, and most TV format. Traditional news- channels follow the same business papers are based mostly on model of creating a little of everything text, magazines are based for everyone. We see this clearly when mostly on images, while TV is based on But even this is too simplistic a we look at the TV guide. Here is an video. The format was the distinctive model for how the digital world behaves. example from TV2 Norge: factor differentiating between types of Because within each of these moments, media. we also have different levels of intent. But now look at the digital world: This ranges from moments where 06:00 Solsidan What do you see? How do digital natives we have no real intent at all (when we 06:30 Nyhetene define media? are merely bored and looking for enter- 06:55 God morgen Norge For one thing, they are format tainment) to moments of precise intent 12:00 Masterchef Sverige agnostic by default. Go to any article (when we are seeking specific informa- online and you will find that it includes a tion). We also have moments of intent 13:00 Bolighjelpen mix of text, images, and video. The best when we are looking to be inspired 14:00 Jakten på kjærligheten articles also include interactive content, about something we care about, such as 15:00 Oppgrader! that helps people understand a concept a specific topic or a person. 15:30 Modern Family in ways that we could never do with This is where the magic starts. mere text and images. Because when you combine these diffe- 16:00 Home and Away But if we take away the format as a rent moments with the different types of 17:00 Solsidan differentiator, doesn’t that mean that intent, it’s suddenly easy to see what the 17:30 Ack Värmland every publisher is alike? Well, that’s digital natives are doing, and also how exactly what has happened when you niche they are. 18:00 Oppgrader! look at traditional publishers online, but 18:30 Nyhetene this is not the case when you look at the 18:45 Været digital natives. 18:50 Sportsnyheten The natives have redefined the distinctiveness 19:30 Hotel Cæsar of media around two key 20:00 Tid for hjem elements. One is the pur- 21:00 Nyhetene pose on which they focus, and the other is the type 21:20 Været of behavior they are targe- 21:25 Sportsnyhetene ting. 21:40 Grey’s Anatomy Think about how dif- 22:40 Madam Secretary ferent that is compared to old media. Old media had 23:40 Top Chef no single purpose because 00:40 The Good Wife the breadth of the overall tinius trust — 74

Take a site like BuzzFeed: It’s huge, bloggers and Instagrammers, people now has over one billion views world- but what type of moment is it designed who often have more traffic and more wide per month). for? The answer is obvious; BuzzFeed is followers than entire traditional fashion However, when you do this, you designed for micro-moments for people magazines. also attract an audience with a very low who are bored. You don’t go to BuzzFeed In Norway, we have hugely popular intent and loyalty, which means that if you are looking for something spe- bloggers like Hanneli, who has a quarter your audience will be dominated by cific, nor do you go to BuzzFeed to be of a million followers on Instagram (in random and mostly first-time visitors. inspired. a country with only 5 million people), The result is that, while you get a ton of BuzzFeed is a publisher that is and a very popular blog. But her content traffic, it would be impossible to mone- optimizing for a very specific type of isn’t designed for macro-moments. It is tize it in any other way. behavior. It might seem like they are designed around a micro-moment for But if we look at amazing niche ver- doing everything, but in terms of the people who want to be inspired. ticals like Rafat Ali’s Skift, we see an behavior they are targeting, they are This is the key to understanding entirely different model. Here the focus exceptionally niche. what is really happening in the digital is on the macro-moments for people For comparison, if we look at the world. It was never about a shift from who are looking for something. As such, YouTube Let’s Players, we see an enti- print to digital. It was never about the the overall traffic potential is much, rely different type of behavior (or, to format. It is crucially about this shift much lower, but its value is also much be fair, more than one). Many of these from a random package to highly speci- higher. It’s this simple shift in behavior popular YouTubers are creating mostly fic channels targeting a certain type of that allows Skift to be successful via a macro-moments for people who are moment and a certain type of behavior. subscription model. bored. They are creating content that Instead of just having one model Designing for each one of these you sit down with to relax and laugh. defined around a package, we now have behaviors works, but they are not even We have another group of YouTu- many models. Each one is successful in close to being the same. Each requires bers who are designing for people who its own way, and each one works very completely different editorial strategies, want to be informed (who are looking differently. target markets, and distribution chan- for something)—for example, Robert If your business model is defined by nels. Llewellyn (famous from the BBC series programmatic advertising, which requ- Speaking of distribution channels, Red Dwarf) and his amazing chan- ires you to generate as much traffic as we see the same trend here. Look at nel about electric cars and renewable possible, your focus needs to be on crea- Facebook: It’s huge and amazing, and it energy. Again, this is designed around a ting micro-moments for people who are has transformed much of our world. But macro-moment, but for people who like bored. That model will drive the most think about it in relation to the behaviors to stay up-to-date on all the latest news traffic by far (Case in point: BuzzFeed described before. What type of behavior within this topic. We also have YouTubers who focus on inspiring people. For instance, take a look at Jamie Oliver’s absolutely amazing FoodTube. Each video is designed to inspire. It’s clearly not for people who are simply bored. This breakdown extends to all forms of media online. Look at Vox—what are they doing? They are nothing like BuzzFeed, and they are not designing for micro-moments. They are instead doing the same thing that Jamie Oliver’s doing: They are creating macro-moments for people who want to be inspired. Another example of this is John Oliver’s hugely popular show Last Week Tonight. Of course, this doesn’t mean that micro-moments are only for bored people while macro-moments are only for those who want to be inspired. Not at all. Look at all the hugely popular fashion 75 — annual report

The problem every traditional publisher now faces is that their old format-first approach in truth doesn’t match any of these behaviors.

is Facebook designed for? people discover news, so isn’t Facebook Facebook’s News Feed is designed Many people in the traditional for everything? The answer to this is a entirely around the concept of people media world (and in the branding world) bit complicated. checking it out, discovering something seem to believe that Facebook can be The first problem is knowing whet- they hadn’t planned to see, and then used for everything, that Facebook is a her we are talking about Facebook as engaging with it. That’s a micro-mo- channel that will benefit every publis- a platform, or whether we are talking ment. her. That’s not the case at all. about the News Feed. Another example of this is when Facebook is almost entirely focused If we talk about the News Feed, it’s we look at live videos, which Facebook on creating micro-moments for people pretty clear that it only really works for is pushing aggressively at the moment. who are bored. That’s what Facebook a certain type of content. For instance, As a platform, Facebook Live is a very is about. It’s a channel that we turn to at the 2016 News:ReWired event, the interesting concept, because it allows when we don’t have anything specific publisher of Now This, the mobile news people to watch LIVE video within their to do, where we will browse through the startup, said this: existing ecosystem. The engagement, News Feed without any specific intent. «Facebook is asking us to do longer the network and the connections are This means that Facebook is, coun- videos. We will do it if Facebook provi- all the same. As a platform, Facebook is ter-intuitively, a niche channel. It looks des a place to consume longer videos. providing a better form of distribution huge because of all the people who are The News Feed isn’t that place.» than what publishers can do on their using it and the amazing overall amo- And he is right. Nobody goes to own. unt of traffic they can generate. But Facebook to watch anything. It’s simply easier for people to go that’s because you are not looking at the We see this clearly when we look at the to Facebook than it is for them to go to behavior of this audience. popular YouTubers. Most of the YouTu- the publisher’s own sites. But does this Any publisher that matches Face- bers who are designing for macro-mo- mean that Facebook Live is for everyt- book’s behavior will get a ton of traffic ments for people who want to feel inspi- hing? (like BuzzFeed), just as any publisher red aren’t doing that well on Facebook. The problem, again, depends on how who doesn’t match that behavior won’t. The micro-moment of Facebook much work you put into it. If the only But wait a minute, you say. Face- doesn’t match the macro-moment of thing you do is to start live streaming book is increasingly the platform where their videos. without any prior campaign, Facebook tinius trust — 76

Live only works for snackable entertain- In other words, what people are loo- Facebook. If you compare news articles ment for people who just happened to king for is a micro-moment with low focusing on the lighter moments with come by. intent. articles about hard news, we always find We saw this quite clearly with Buzz- The result is that we actually have that the lighter moments drive more Feed’s ‘Exploding Watermelon’ video. two different ways publishers can use traffic. As a gimmick and a social phenomenon, Facebook. The result, of course, is that the it was amazing. But that was also the One group matches Facebook’s more newspapers optimize their traf- only reason it worked. behavior using the platform as an exten- fic, the more they are gradually pus- It was a live video, published late sion of their editorial strategy, often hed towards only the lighter forms of on a Friday afternoon (perfect for peo- even as a direct distribution channel news. Almost inevitably, traditional ple waiting for the weekend). It was silly via Facebook Instant Articles. These publications now exist in a no-man’s- and funny at the same time (in other are publishers who are optimizing for land, where their editorial focus words, it was pure entertainment), and the micro-moments of people who don’t (serious news) and their digital formats it was designed around a suspenseful know what they’re looking for. (lighter moments) are in direct moment (when would it explode?), and The other group, which doesn’t conflict with each other. published at the exact moment when match Facebook’s micro-moment/ This is true for every traditional Facebook—and everyone else—was tal- bored behavior, is instead using Face- publisher. king about this new live video feature. book solely as a marketing channel. I want to mention one more thing, In short, it was the perfect gimmick, These publishers are not trying to distri- which is that this doesn’t only apply to at the right time, with the right mood, bute their content on Facebook, nor are the media. It applies to any type of busi- and the right content. their Facebook posts part of their edito- ness …including classified sites. But try changing any one of these rial strategy. Some even go as far as to Schibsted has done an amazing job factors, and we see how unique this simply ignore Facebook entirely. turning old newspaper classifieds into moment really was. Imagine that they Remember Hanneli? She is on Insta- this behemoth of dedicated classified had posted this instead on a Tuesday gram and Twitter… but not on Facebook. sites like Finn.no. But try comparing morning, when people were too busy Facebook’s behavior doesn’t match her that with what I just mentioned. with their work to watch it. purpose. And we see exactly the same Finn.no has no specific focus, and as Imagine that it wasn’t about an from many popular YouTubers. a result doesn’t match these new types exploding watermelon, but about the This is the new reality. The problem of behaviors. It wins because of its scale earthquake in Japan. That may arguably every traditional publisher now faces and size, but it doesn’t fit the model. be a much more important story, but it is that their old format-first approach Meanwhile, we are seeing more and would never attract 800,000 people on in truth doesn’t match any of these more digital native sites that are coming Facebook. behaviors. A traditional newspaper, out with new ways of doing this. There are of course plenty of other, with all of its random content, matches One example is Houzz.com. Houzz more serious examples that could work the micro-moments for people who are is a fascinating site in that it’s a classi- on Facebook. But because discovery on bored, but the editorial focus instead fits fied site, but one that defines itself aro- Facebook is so random and has such macro-moments for people looking for und creating a community of people little intent, the highest performing con- news. who have a very specific behavior, focus tent will mostly be entertainment. We see this very clearly with news- and intent. This is also why BuzzFeed defines its papers today. If we look at how people Houzz.com is branding their site as video unit as an entertainment unit, rat- consume news online, we see that eve- «The new way to design your home». her than a part of BuzzFeed News. ryone is snacking. You check VG/Aften- You can discover design ideas by brow- Or look at BBC Sport: When it wan- posten/Aftenbladet when you have a sing millions of photos based on your ted to optimize for Facebook, it created spare moment. And you have no real taste; find and connect with home a ‘Match of the Day’ Facebook page and expectation about what news you hope professionals who can help with your looked at what worked and what didn’t. to see. project; and shop for your home from And they found that: This means that today’s newspaper Houzz’ curated collection. readers are having a micro-moment This is the real shift in the mar- The page’s fans, the majority of with low intent, which is why so much ket: We are no longer defined around a whom are aged 16-24, wanted the of today’s news distribution is now hap- random package. It was never about a Match of the Day Facebook account pening on Facebook. The way people shift from print to digital. The real shift to be knowledgeable, cheeky and read random news and the way Face- is from an old world of formats to the irreverent, and mirror the tone of book works are one and the same. new world of behaviors. the TV presenting team during the The problem is that regular news And to win, every publisher must lighter moments of our broadcasts. articles don’t really work well on now find their niche. 77 — annual report tinius trust — 78

An Outsider Perspective on Media

DARJA ISAKSSON Senior Advisor and Member of the Swedish Prime Ministers’ Innovation Council.

A world where nobody can afford ply can’t help it. Another thing that’s deeply rooted in human society (if not by evolution) is to trade valuable services and local journalists to scrutinize people in goods. These two facts explain why there will always be money power is a world with weaker democracy. to be made in media and journalism. We’ll always be prepared to pay for what we love. And as long as human evolution moves slower than technology, any business in media can trust the Who told the first story ever? Why was that story told? Was it an fact that humans need stories, love heroes and use narratives argument to get comrades to follow into the woods, exploring to co-create identity and meaning. We will not, however, pay some new possibility for food? Was it a story of boasting of a for the same experience or even packaging as before. Not in win over an enemy, or was the first story ever told a lie, to avoid entertainment, and not in news. punishment of some kind? Although hardly rational, as consumers we are not nostal- Obviously, we will never know. But what we do know is that gic. We value convenience, and will make extra effort only for storytelling is wired into our species, just as much as the drive things we are particularly picky about — out of love, financial to explore and understand ourselves and our world. We sim- limitations or pride. In a digital world, our expectations are set 79 — annual report

Scandinavian countries have a long history of openly sharing information, and right now we should be using it to our advantage.

Growing up in an ‘80s maker space introduced Darja Isaksson to the joy and empowerment of using technology and design to create new products and experiences. Since the 1990s, she has worked with design-driven strategies for industries ranging from finance to consumer electronics. Isaksson is now a public speaker, senior advisor and member of the Swedish Prime Ministers’ Innovation council. tinius trust — 80 on zero friction, explaining why those content based on geography rather ruption and perhaps even patterns never who managed to move into mobile and than personality, while failing to offer seen before. social as well as use tools to personalize zero-friction experiences, fail to attract Would that mean substituting jour- feeds have been successful lately. Per- paying customers. That’s a crisis for nalists with machines? No. Machines sonal data enables tech giants to adjust many companies today. As a consumer still have a long way to go until they and filter the information flood with and global citizen, however, I now have can do the storytelling that is required regard to behavior, preferences and soon access to more quality journalism than to capture an audience. It’s a matter of even emotional state. Consumers are ever before. That’s a good thing. working together. We recently obser- not simply immoral or naïve in playing So there is no crisis for media or ved the excellent collaboration between along. In a world where the total amount even journalism per se. But we may still journalistic teams and high-tech teams of available information already doubles be in trouble, because there is one for at Neo4j on the Panama Papers story, every year, and soon will double every 12 local journalism. It’s difficult to deny where quality journalism was enabled hours, most people trade personal data that democracy will suffer in a global by algorithms that detected patterns in for convenience. It’s a rational thing to game of winner-takes-it-all. A world the huge amounts of data, while leaving do when facing an information tsunami. where nobody can afford local jour- it up to the journalists to do the analy- Consumers will continue to demand nalists to scrutinize people in power is sis and storytelling based on that data. ever better relevance and timing as a world with weaker democracy. And Local journalism can benefit from doing information expands and algorithms we know that filter bubbles grow when something similar but more deliberate, and tools become more sophisticated. algorithms decide that some people are through making relevant data openly So just as before the internet, we’re best served by anti-vaccine web sites available. Lowering cost and barriers balancing paying for what we want and when searching for answers on certain by using technological enablers such love with our actual need for saving diseases. The discussion on how to as open data may be equally important time or money. But who we turn to tackle such problems needs to continue. to the future of local journalism as any when looking for the stories we need My hope is that it can be done in a way publicly funded press support. Along- is changing. Consumers have quickly where we see technology and humans side new teams and companies explor- become more globalized than we tend working side by side, striving to build ing viable business models such as the to acknowledge. People who used to both economic and social values. Swedish Blank Spot Project, and Vice seem far away now seem close by. For One way is to acknowledge that providing stories from Ukraine and instance, it’s perfectly normal for my open data is infrastructure in a digi- Libya to a global audience, we could see daughter living in Stockholm to trade tal world, and that it should be used to an increase in small but highly compe- directly with small business owners in benefit local journalism. Scandinavian tent teams covering bigger ground in China through Etsy. It’s even more natu- countries have a long history of openly respect to local journalism, if given ral for any Swede today to turn to The sharing information, and right now we the tools to make most fundamental Economist or Vice for a stream of rele- should be using it to our advantage. We scrutiny easier. vant news stories and opinion pieces. should make sure much more informa- Georaphy of the planet no For people in a Nordic country, where tion is available in a structured and eas- longer dictates hegemony. Reach and most are fluent in English, a lot of news ily accessible way to those scrutinizing relevance of individuals and is now a global commodity. Considering decisions made by people in power. For organizations to a globally widespread that a nation of 10 million people equals instance, information about transacti- audience does. Rather than trying to a normal city from a global perspective, ons and decisions from city councils oppose this fact, we should embrace even national news media will likely and other authorities should be publis- it, and consider this a massive oppor- struggle to remain a relevant choice hed as open data. The possibility of tunity to strengthen democratic for anything but local (where national cross-referencing transaction informa- values across the planet and increase is local!) stories. The bundling of news tion with information about who sits in collaboration across real and imagi- doesn’t work the way it used to. Because what board or corporate management ned borders. In our collaborations, we apart from local news, why should one would lower barriers to holding people need to excel at running with the turn to a local source to keep updated in power responsible. Information that machines that are changing the lands- about anything? International news is used to require hours of phone calls, cape. So let’s continue to acknowledge globalized, and regardless of whether reviewing documents, and attending our opportunities to do so. Empo- one has a thing for finance, music, tech meetings to listen in on decisions being wering local journalism through or fishing, lifestyle content sources are made by publicly elected officials could open data for local scrutiny of public globalized too. Any publisher is judged be done at a much lower cost. Machines officials should be a sign of any by its ability to produce relevant content could analyze the data, identify anoma- strong democracy. and package zero-friction experien- lies and allow journalists to cover bigger ces. Business models trying to bundle ground in discovering malpractice, cor- 81 — annual report

The Free Press Paradox

KJERSTI LØKEN STAVRUM The Secretary General of the Norwegian Press Association To many, traditional journalism and new media tinius trust — 82 should be held to different standards. But do we really understand how that will play out?

Editorial desks have long been the what the everyman citizen journalist punishable speech, though our Prime epicentre of the digital transformation. can, then these pillars are all doomed Minister is trying to launch a national But now the rules of the game have to fall. campaign for fewer insults), to those of changed, the cards have been re-dealt, From my perspective, as some- us who have to deal with a structured and the fundamental values of publis- one whose fundamental mission is to complaint system on a daily basis, it’s hing itself are getting thrown into the protect free, independent and ethical obvious that traditional editorial desks pot. journalism, there is clearly a future for are behaving responsibly. They follow We live in a time that could be consi- professional journalists — those who and comply with a mandatory ethical dered the golden age of reporting. Repor- want to change the world for the better system. ting is fast, it’s free, and everyone can through their reporting — and for those In an age of online hate, the profes- do it. It takes only a few minutes to esta- who understand that there is something sional integrity of an ethical code is an blish your own virtual media entity and special about being a media leader. alien concept. Yes, everyone can publish start publishing. But how do we preserve In 2015, the Norwegian Press — but for readers it is not quite irrelevant the public’s faith in — possibly even the Complaints Commission received 17 yet who publishes. The unrestrained very existence of — reliable, accounta- percent more complaints against tra- internet has not extinguished the belief ble reporting? How do we remind them ditional Norwegian media than the that people should be able to complain that accountable reporting is not a thing year before, and we are seeing a similar and have mistakes rectified in traditio- of the past, but as crucial as ever: Who trend in other Nordic countries. This nal media; on the contrary, in fact. do you trust? Who will make sure they complaint system is simple, free and Editorial desks make ethical judge- get the facts straight? Who will ensure open, but it takes a fair amount of effort ments every single day. All Norwegian that sources are real and reliable in this to file a complaint against an editorial media organizations — the Norwegian free and fast publishing era? Yes, eve- desk. You need to correctly word the Union of Journalists, the Association ryone can publish anything — and that complaint, preferably cite one or more of Norwegian Editors, the Norwegian makes it even more necessary to keep paragraphs from the ethical code, and Media Businesses Association — adhere alive and kicking those who don’t, those respond to editorial comments. In short, to ethical principles. This distinguishes who maintain higher ethical standards a complaint implies that you expected them from what everyone else publishes and bring them to bear. better of an editorial desk. online, and demands thinking about the In our current topsy-turvy media But the world that surrounds this value of structured and binding ethical landscape, there are still a few old foun- carefully crafted and curated journa- cooperation. It is also a paradox. dational journalistic pillars from the lism — a world of comments from any- pre-digital era, the centuries preceding one who can start a blog, website or pro- the emergence of social media. These file in social media — has unfortunately The Legal Paradox pillars may help guide us through the become a world filled with published uncertain future of editorial desks, or hate. Unlike the journalism it comments With free access to publishing tools, they could be reduced to mere annoy- on, this type of publication is problema- much of the information which journa- ing speed bumps by those with less tic, as it follows no ethical code. lists used to have de facto control over understanding of history. Because if Although the internet’s penchant has, fortunately, become public pro- the media forsakes its ethical mission to for hateful speech shows no sign of aba- perty. But the legal system is a challenge publish something more essential than ting (and police currently do little about to this public access. 83 — annual report

Take courtrooms: Courtrooms must of Journalism declared another 2105 to do their job. be open to ensure the monitoring of decision by Norway’s Supreme Court But who will be these principled edi- public prosecuting authority and judi- the world’s most important ruling. This tors in the future? How many will "keep cial power. When members of the press case involved the Norwegian Police in mind the ideal purpose of the media" sit in the public gallery, they do so to Security Service (PST), in an era of ter- as stated in the first paragraph in the create an public understanding of court ror fears and heightened surveillance, Guidelines of the Association of Nor- judgements and rulings, but also to pre- seizing unpublished footage of radica- wegian Editors? What does it mean to vent miscarriages of justice. lized youth from documentary filmma- be a free medium? How can we ensure In the Norwegian Press Associa- ker Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen. The Supreme that there are editors fighting to uphold tion, we work to ensure that everyone Court ultimately (and unanimously) the idea that A free, independent press is has access to the work of the courts, but rejected the government’s seizure of the among the most important institutions in we also know that occasionally that isn’t material on the grounds that protection a democratic society? A free press must possible, due to sensitive information or of sources is at the heart of the role of not only be independent of the State; it potential exposure of vulnerable or inn- the press in society, as played by Rolf- also cannot act in the interests of others ocent people. In those cases, we argue sen’s journalistic project. — like commercial interests — and still for special access for editorial desks so But will rulings like these stand claim to be free, and therefore credible. they can do their job — knowing that the out in the future? Who will take on the It is the media companies’ relent- material will be subject to a responsi- social mission of the press if we reno- less hunt for new revenue and financing ble editorial assessment prior to publi- unce our fundamental principles? models that risk undermining the essen- cation, in accordance with the code of What if we no longer work freely tial role of the independent editor, put- press ethics. and independently of direct commer- ting at serious risk the editors’ freedom But what if the material in question cial interests? This point was recently to perform their journalistic duty. And is surveillance video of an ambulance brought up by President Obama during handing over editorial responsibility to driver using a non-regulatory chokehold his last White House Correspondents’ faceless social platforms like Facebook on a mentally ill man that results in his Dinner. only serves to tear at the legal and ethi- death? Should editorial desks be given The ultimate paradox would be if cal fabric of journalistic practice, meant special access, as they are different no one could fulfill this social mission, to ensure access to information and from “anyone who can publish”? What if information were ultimately hidden fulfilment of a social mission. if adherence to a press code of ethics from the public, because everyone can But it is not only the editor’s role that is no longer sacrosanct? If the courts publish and no one can be relied upon has become obscure; the understan- decide that they have no choice but to more than others. ding of what a news medium actually is deny access, for fear that sensitive infor- has also become fuzzy. In a time when mation might fall into the wrong hands, The Editorial Paradox everyone can publish freely and when the biggest losers will be a less-infor- advertisements and editorial content med general public and, by extension, The entire framework on which respon- look exactly the same, we find oursel- our democracy. sible journalism is built is upheld by the ves in a situation where we no longer The open flow of information that editor-in-chief. It is she or he who acts as know how to define a news medium. is so essential to the survival of a demo- the editorial leader, the public face, who What is journalism in this new world cratic society is often taken for granted is held accountable when journalists of free publishing? And what do we — but it is fundamentally dependent on make mistakes. need to do to preserve this fragile fra- the ethical practice of professional jour- It is also the editor-in-chief who mework of professional journalism, of nalism. enables a law that guarantees freedom ethical duties, of legal entrenchment, of In the case of the surveillance tape, of the press (known in Norway as the responsibility to society? a decision to deny access had to be Freedom of the Media Act). The law This is a true tipping point for any- appealed all the way to the Norwegian granting this democratically vital fre- one who relies on the credibility of Supreme Court. This important case edom is based on the assumption that journalism — which is therefore anyone was settled on the principle of the role the editor-in-chief leads an editorial who values the continuing existence of the press as society's watchdog. But enterprise, that it is the editor-in-chief of democracy. As always, it is a case of will the press continue to play such a who makes the decisions. Something those who stand for nothing will fall for role in the future, ensuring public access as seemingly innocent as the owner of anything. to vital information? Or will this role a media company demanding to see an change if a more open concept of citi- article, video or podcast prior to publi- zen journalism is not based on an ethical cation constitutes a violation of the law code? and undermines the statutory freedom The Columbia University School which editorial desks must have in order tinius trust — 84

As always, it is a case of those who stand for nothing will fall for anything.

kjersti løken stavrum is a political scientist, former journalist and magazines, newspaper and online news editor. She is also Secretary General of the Norwegian Press Association and a member of the Tinius Trust.

Annual Report 2015 2 87 — annual report

Tinius Board

Ole Jacob Sunde John A. Rein Kjersti Løken Stavrum

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD MEMBER OF THE BOARD MEMBER OF THE BOARD

Chairman of the Board of Schib- John A. Rein is a corporate lawyer and Secretary General of the Norwegian sted ASA (since 2002). Founder and partner at Wikborg Rein. He is Chair- Press Association, former editor in Chairman of the Board of Formuesfor- man of Blommenholm Industrier AS Aftenposten, Oslo, Editor-in-Chief of valtning ASA (since 2000). Founded (Schibsted ASA’s largest shareholder) the weekly magazine KK, journalist Industrifinans Forvaltning ASA in 1983 and Chairman of Schibsted ASA’s and various managerial positions in and was General Manager until 2000. election committee. Mr. Rein was legal Aftenposten (1987-2013), director of Formerly a consultant with McKin- adviser to Tinius Nagell-Erichsen for communications of The Confedera- sey & Co. (1980-1983). Various other almost twenty years until his death. tion of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), directorships, including Blommenholm Former Fellow of the Scandinavian former leader of the Oslo Association of Industrier AS and Museum of Cultural Institute of Maritime Law (1978-1979), Norwegian Editors and Board Mem- History. Graduate of the Université de Contracts Manager, Conoco, London ber of the International News Media Fribourg, Switzerland (1976) and Kel- (1979-1981), associate Wikborg Rein Association (INMA). Bachelor’s Degree logg School of Management, Northwes- 1981-1984 and partner from 1985. from University of Oslo and Manches- tern University, USA (1980). ter Metropolitan University, speciali- zing in political science, economics and history. tinius trust — 88

Morten Goller Karl-Christian Agerup

DEPUTY MEMBER OF THE BOARD DEPUTY MEMBER OF THE BOARD

Morten Goller is a partner at the law CEO, Oslotech AS (2010-d.d.). Co foun- firm Wiersholm, in particular relation der and General Partner Northzone to contracts law, public procurement Ventu- res, (1994-2009). Founder and and EU/EEA competition law. Formerly Managing Director HUGIN AS, (1995- employed by the Attorney General (Civil 1999). Associate McKinsey & Co., (1991- Affairs) (1993-2001.) Cand. jur. from 1993), Engagement Manager (1993- University of Oslo (1992) and Master of 1994). Corporate Planner Millipore Law (LLM) from Columbia University, Corp., Boston, USA, (1990-1991). Board New York (1997). Admitted to the Nor- Member of Aftenposten AS. Massa- wegian Supreme Court Bar. Member of chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The Norwegian Complaints Board for Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Public Procurement, Board Member Master of Science in Management of Wikborg Rein and Chairman of the (1990). Copenhagen Business School, Board of Pareto Securities AS. Business Economist/HA (1988). 89 — annual report

TINIUS NAGELL-ERICHSEN 1934 - 2007 tinius trust — 90

Freedom of speech is threatened Ownership must ensure in many places around the world. I have become more and more convinced that freedom and independence ownership must ensure the freedom and independence of Schibsted’s newspapers of Schibsted’s media and other media. A free press is perhaps the best safeguard of a strong and vibrant democracy. TINIUS NAGELL-ERICHSEN On this background, I wanted my ownership stake in Schibsted to contribute to continued editorial freedom, credibility and quality of the media that we own. I also wanted to ensure the long-term and healthy financial development of the Schibsted Group, with a strong, stable and Norwegian ownership. With this in mind, the Group gave my ownership stake of 26.1 per cent special rights in Schibsted’s Articles of Association when we decided to list the company on the stock exchange. I established the Tinius Trust in 1996 to ensure that the Schibsted Group continues as a media group, run according to the same main editorial and business guidelines as at present. The Board of the Trust was instructed to monitor this, while at the same time work to ensure the long-term, healthy financial development of Schibsted. The Tinius Trust has in my opinion been a very effective obstacle against finan- cially strong players who would otherwise have tried to take over the group. Without the Trust, Schibsted would probably not have existed in its current form, nor would we have had the same opportunity to further develop the company. The Trust has effectively limited any interest in taking over the company. When media companies in other countries have wanted to have Schibsted as owner, we have noticed how the Trust has contributed to us being viewed positively as a business partner.

The strength of the tinius trust is that, contrary to many other Trusts and other types of arrangements, it has power, and if that power is used intelligently, it will undoubtedly serve to protect the freedom and independence of the Schibsted Group. I do hope that what I have done will benefit the holdings that I have worked to keep and defend over the years. 91 — annual report

The Tinius Trust Annual Statement

The Trust was established by Tinius to make the participants in the society nation Committee on behalf of Blom- Nagell-Erichsen in 1996, and its basic responsible for their choices. Schibsted menholm Industrier. Ole Jacob Sunde capital is NOK 42,9 million. The Trust’s is aiming to be at service for the digital represents Blommenholm Industrier as purpose is to preserve the independence user in everyday life and in society. the Chairman of the board in the Schib- of Schibsted and to support the compa- Schibsted is developing towards a sted Group. ny’s long-term development. technology based, global company, and The Tinius Trust also owns one The Trust owns the four shares with it has taken important steps towards B-share in the Norwegian newspaper a right to vote and 80 % of the shares this goal over the past year. The tempo Aftenposten. This entails that the Tinius without a right to vote in Blommenholm of change and the global competition Trust has to approve of any changes in Industrier AS. Blommenholm Industrier is getting increasingly tougher and it the Statutes, and it has to approve of any AS is the largest shareholder in Schib- is important to build a technological new Chief Editor in Aftenposten. sted, owning 26,1 % of the A-shares and platform, which can concentrate our As a long-term shareholder in Schib- 24,1 % of the B-shares. services in an ecosystem that creates a sted, the Trust is working to identify Amendments to the Statutes in foundation for innovation and growth. and understand the trends, forming Schibsted ASA requires a majority of Schibsted has to live by its vision; Sha- tomorrows’ media industry. The Trust three quarters of the A-shares to vote ping the media of tomorrow. Today. publishes an annual report, as an antho- for the change, and according to the The Tinius Trust’s active ownership logy with contributions from important Statutes no shareholder can own or in Schibsted is grounded in to related international media people and philos- vote for more than 30 % of the shares. goals: ophers. The Trust shares information on Hence, the ownership secures the Trust the website tinius.com, participates in significant influence in the ownership of ——Secure quality and trustworthiness in important meeting places and hosts the Schibsted. all of Schibsted’s services and products, yearly seminar Tinius Trust Summit. Schibsted has a broad portfolio of including a free and independent press. The Trust is based and operates in digital services in 30 countries. The Oslo municipality, Norway. Company’s news organisations examine ——Work for a healthy and long-term eco- power relations and let people immerse nomic development of Schibsted. Going Concern themselves in stories that influence their lives. The Company’s marketpla- Blommenholm Industrier is wor- The Board of Directors confirms that ces impart understanding and arrange king to implement these goals through annual accounts have been prepared for a safe and environmentally cons- its vote in Schibsted’s General Meeting, on a going concern basis and that this cious trade of both goods and services. and through contributing to vote for a assumption is valid. Transparency give people power and is competent Board of Directors for Schib- in accordance with the media’s function sted. John Rein is the head of the Nomi- tinius trust — 92

Statement about the annual NOK 4 000 720, from Blommenholm 2016, the Board of Directors consist of accounts Industrier AS. The accounting profit two men and one woman. In 2015, the Board of Directors con- is NOK 4,2 million. The Board of Dire- sisted of the Chairman of the Board, Ole ctors’ opinion is that the annual acco- Environmental Impact Jacob Sunde, Per Egil Hegge and John unts give a correct picture of the Trust’s A. Rein. In accordance to the Statutes, assets and debt, its financial position The Trust’s operations does not entail each board member has chosen a perso- and result. pollution or discharge that can conta- nal substitute representative. These are minate the environment. Karl-Christian Agerup, Kjersti Løken Health and safety, equal Stavrum and Morten Goller. In 2016, opportunities and anti- Kjersti Løken Stavrum will replace Per discrimination Egil Hegge as a board member. Sindre Østgård is her substitute representative, The working environment is conside- until further notice. red to be good. There are no reports of By 31.12.2015, the Trust’s ownership injuries or accidents in the workplace. in Blommenholm Industrier is valued to The first six months of 2015, the a cost price of NOK 33 million. The Trust Trust had two male employees. The also have an investment portfolio with last six months, the Trust had one male an estimated market value of NOK 37 employee. Starting in January 2016, one million (31.12.2016). The return on the female employee has been hired on a portfolio was 4,1 % in 2015. temporary contract. Three men formed The Trust has received a dividend of the Board of Directors in 2015. From

OSLO, 28 APRIL 2016

OLE JACOB SUNDE JOHN A. REIN KJERSTI LØKEN STAVRUM SINDRE ØSTGÅRD Chairman of the Board Board Member Board Member General Manager 93 — annual report

Income statement 01.01 - 31.12

Note 2015 2014

Operating income Other operating income 2 3 016 302 2 054 852 Total income 3 016 302 2 054 852 Operating expenses Payroll expense 3 2 244 548 1 538 974 Depreciation 7 13 915 5 735 Other operating expenses 2 265 990 1 537 570 Total operating expenses 2 4 524 453 3 082 278

Result of operations -1 508 151 -1 027 426

Financial income and financial cost

Interest from bank 45 587 50 528 Other interest received 391 661 676 913 Other financial income 3 595 812 4 016 731 Net currency loss -234 226 –214 117 Other financial income 4 000 720 0 Decrease in market value of -2 059 248 -1 620 701 financial current assets Other interest expense -262 -220 073 Profit before taxes 4 231 893 1 661 855

Result of the year 4 231 893 1 661 855

Disclosures Allocation to other equity 4 231 893 4 662 575 Total transfers 6 4 231 893 4 662 575 tinius trust — 94

Balance sheet as per 31.12

Note 2015 2014 Note 2015 2014

Assets Equity and liabilities

Fixed assets Equity Paid in capital Tangible fixed assets 7 22 099 36 014 Capital base 6 42 862 184 42 862 184 Financial fixed assets Total paid in equity 42 862 184 42 862 184 Investments in associated companies 4 33 248 988 33 248 988 Retained earnings Total financial fixed assets 33 248 988 33 248 988 Other equity 6 33 772 370 29 540 477 Total fixed assets 33 271 087 33 285 002 Total retained earnings 33 772 370 29 540 477 Total equity 76 634 554 72 402 661 Current assets Debtors Liabilities Other debtors 2 3 036 302 2 128 352 Current liabilities Total receivables 3 036 302 2 128 352 Trade creditor 204 746 184 353 Investments Public duties payable 310 289 264 005 Shares 5 21 034 591 16 992 819 Other short-term liabilities 208 657 311 366 Quoted bonds 5 13 132 421 13 668 956 Total current liabilities 723 692 759 725 Other financial instruments 5 2 535 822 5 281 550 Total investments 36 702 834 35 963 325 Total liabilities 723 692 759 725 Bank deposits, cash, etc. 4 348 023 1 785 707 Total equity and liabilities 77 358 246 73 162 386 Total current assets 44 087 159 39 877 384 Total assets 77 358 246 73 162 386

OSLO, 28 APRIL 2016

OLE JACOB SUNDE JOHN A. REIN KJERSTI LØKEN STAVRUM SINDRE ØSTGÅRD Chairman of the Board Board Member Board Member General Manager 95 — annual report

Notes to the accounts

Note 1 — Accounting principles Note 3 — Wage costs, remuneration, etc. Payroll expenses 2015 2014 The Annual Accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Accounting Act and generally accepted accounting Wages/directors’ fees, etc. 1 690 224 1 123 007 principles for small enterprises. Payroll tax 274 471 184 446 Assets intended for permanent ownership or use are Pension costs 72 491 26 994 classified as fixed assets. Other assets are classified as -cur Other wage related costs 207 342 204 527 rent assets. Receivables due within one year are neverthe- Total 2 244 548 1 538 974 less classified as current assets. Corresponding criteria are used when classifying current and non-current liabilities 31.12.2015 31.12.2014 Fixed assets Tied-up tax withholdings 150 002 272 208

Fixed assets are valued at the purchase price, but are written-down to the fair value when the impairment in value is 2015 2014 not expected to be transitory. Average no. FTE 1,5 1,5

Market-based financial current assets General Board Securities and fund investments that either direct or indi- Payments to people in leading positions manager members rect are a part of a portfolio, are valued at fair value on the Salary 1 316 997 100 000 balance sheet date. Pension expenses 17 421 0 Other remunerations 181 532 0 Tax Total 1 515 950 100 000

The Tinius Trust is exempt from tax on operations, cf. section 2-32 of the Tax Act. Expensed remuneration to the auditor for statutory auditing in the financial year was NOK 34 375 inc. VAT. Expensed remuneration to the auditor for assistance and other services in the financial Note 2 — Operating income and operating costs year was NOK 2 813 inc. VAT. The Tinius Trust and Blommenholm Industrier has a con- current purpose related to the ownership of the Schibsted share. Hence, the Board of Directors in the two entities have decided to divide the cost related to promoting the purpose of the entities, between Blommenholm Industrier AS and the Tinius Trust. The Board of Directors in both entities will evaluate the arrangement and the cost on an annual basis. In 2015, the Tinius Trust will pay 1/3 of the costs, while Blom- menholm Industrier AS will pay 2/3 of the costs. tinius trust — 96

Note 4 — Fixed asset investments Note 7 — Fixed assets Company Quantity Cost price Fixed assets Office equipment Total Aftenposten AS, B-shares 1 1 Cost price at 01.01.2015 41 749 41 749 Blommenholm Industrier AS, A-shares 4 30 004 Capitalisations for the year 0 0 Blommenholm Industrier AS, C-shares 799 996 33 218 983 Disposals of the year 0 0 Total 33 248 988 A. Cost price as of 31.12.2015 41 749 41 749

Accumulated depreciation at 01.01.2015 5 735 5 735 Note 5 — Market based current assets Capitalisations for the year 13 915 13 915 Disposals of the year 0 0 Change in value during B. Accumulated depreciation at 31.12.2015 19 650 19 650 Cost price Market value the period Equity funds 19 774 737 21 034 591 -759 337 A — B book value at 31.12.2015 22 099 22 099 Hedge funds 1 514 875 2 535 822 -414 644 Depreciation rate 33,33% 33,33% Bond and money marked 13 457 570 13 132 421 -885 267 Total 34 747 182 36 702 834 -2 059 248

Note 6 — Basic capital

Acquired Equity Basic capital equity Total equity Equity as of 01.01.2014 42 862 184 29 540 477 72 402 661 Annual Result 4 231 893 4 231 893 Equity at 31.12.2014 42 862 184 33 772 370 76 634 554 97 — annual report

Articles of association for the Tinius Trust

§ 1 Trust name involved in editorial operations. § 5 Decision-making by Directors The name of the trust is Stiftelsen Tinius. The Schibsted Group is to strive for If a Board member is unable to attend The Board of Directors represents quality and credibility in all its publi- a scheduled meeting, he/she must give the Trust externally. The Board may cations, and defend values such as reli- notice in due time for his/her deputy authorize the Chairman and one Board gious freedom, tolerance, human rights to be present. There is a quorum only Member together to represent the Trust and democratic principles. when all members of the Board, or externally. The Trust is to work to achieve the their respective deputy/deputies, are in long-term, healthy financial develop- attendance. § 2 Basic capital ment of the Schibsted Group. The Board’s decisions should be When necessary, the Trust shall also unanimous. If that is not possible, The Trust is established by Tinius work to impact the general conditions even after consideration of the issue in Nagell-Erichsen in a deed of gift dated essential to ensure a free and indepen- question at a new Board meeting, the 8 May 1996, with a basic capital of NOK dent press. majority decision stands. 42 862 184. The Board of Directors can, within § 4 The Trust Board the scope of the law, unanimously adopt § 3 Objective amendments to the Articles of Associa- The Trust Board consists of three dire- tion and proposals to dissolve the Trust. The Trust is the owner of the four voting ctors appointed by Mr. Nagell-Erichsen The Board of Directors shall ende- A shares in Blommenholm Industrier prior to his death. Each director is to avour to reach solutions in accordance AS. The Trust shall manage these shares appoint his/her personal deputy dire- with the intentions stated in § 3 Obje- and other assets belonging to the Trust ctor. The deputy director automatically ctive, but are expected to show conside- in accordance with the following guide- succeeds the director when his/her rable business flexibility. lines: term comes to an end. The Schibsted Group is to be run In the future, each Board Member § 6 Auditor according to the main editorial and shall at any time appoint a Deputy Mem- business guidelines laid down on for- ber who will also be his/her personal The auditors are elected by the Board. mation of the Group, guidelines which successor. The director who has appo- have since been governing the Group inted the deputy can, before the deputy operations. becomes a full Board Member, reconsi- The Schibsted Group is to be run der and appoint someone else to be his/ in such a way that it ensures free and her personal deputy. independent editing of the newspapers The Board elects its own Chairman. owned by the Group and its subsidiaries tinius trust — 98

Tinius Trust Tinius.com

The Tinius Trust was established by www.tinius.com is The Tinius Trust’s Tinius Nagell-Erichsen in a deed of gift website. The website follows develop- on 8. May 1996 and has a basic capital of ments in the rapidly changing news NOK 42 862 184. Nagell-Erichsen trans- media industry, through blogs and links ferred the four voting shares in Blom- to noteworthy comments from media menholm Industrier AS to the Trust observers. on 5. May 2006. Blommenholm Indus- Over the last few years – the annual trier owns 26,1 per cent of the shares in reports have included interesting essays Schibsted ASA and is the company’s lar- about the role of journalism, the state gest shareholder. The Tinius Trust thus and development of the news media manages the largest block of shares in – and the changes that the industry is the Schibsted Group. facing. Amendments to Schibsted ASA’s Articles of Association require a three quarters majority, and according to the Articles of Association no shareholder can own or vote for more than 30 per cent of the shares. Schibsted ASA’s Articles of Association also ensure that important decisions made by the Group’s subsidiaries require the support of three quarters of the votes cast at the General Meeting of Schibsted ASA. As long as the Trust owns more than 25.0 per cent of the shares outstanding, these provisions give the Trust considerable influence over the ownership of Schibsted. Nagell-Erichsen stated that he wanted to use this influence to ensure that Schibsted remains a media group characterised by free, independent editorial staffs, credibility and quality and with long-term, healthy financial developments. This is also stipulatedin the Trust’s Articles of Association. Tinius Trust P.O.Box 1777 Vika NO—0122 Oslo, Norway

+47 22 46 65 76 [email protected] www.tinius.com

CEO Sindre Østgård [email protected]

Editors Sindre Østgård Helene Melseth Flaaen

Pictures Rolf M. Aagaard Jens Astrup/Play the Game Kai Müller Roger Cremers Erik Burås Carlos Zayavvv Oslotech

Graphic design Bakken & Bæck

Illustrations Hanne Berkaak/ByHands, Oslo

Repro and printing Fladby AS, Oslo

The signature on the second page of the annual report is Tinius Nagell-Erichsen’s.