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FROM THE EDITOR As another year dawns, the digital platform gets stronger With this issue, RIND Survey enters its 33rd year of publication, no mean achievement for a monthly trade magazine. What is significant is that it is probably the only one of its kind in India, focused mainly on the technical, editorial, marketing and other aspects of newspaper printing and production. In recent times, we have extended the canvas to include new media because without the latter, today’s news publishing world is incomplete… and incomplete by yards. Reflecting in many ways that sentiment are our two lead stories here, about digital publishing, a rapidly growing and promising new media channel for newspaper publishers. It’s the age of tablets (am not referring to those in the medical world) and the number of its users is growing and it is clear they are benefiting from a high degree of interactivity and multimedia content. Handling print, online, mobile and tablets all together is not easy; it can challenge the best of minds. Thankfully, technology has developed so much that there are multi-channel publishing systems that can help integrate digital publishing into existing environments. My thanks to Stefan Horst for quickly putting together the lead piece on the subject. My thanks to S. Balasubramanian, head-marketing, New Media, Dinamalar, for sparing time and explaining to me the new media thrust the newspaper has made in recent times. Well, if you have a Web site that attracts more than two million unique visitors and more than 190 million page views a month, you’ve arrived. Indeed, Dinamalar’s iPhone, iPod and iPad applications have recorded a substantial number of downloads and page views, and its success story is likely inspire many others. January 2012 RIND Survey 1 WAN-IFRA’s annual India conferences have in recent years made a mark. The high calibre of speakers Magdoom Mohamed (WAN-IFRA South Asia MD) and his team are now getting to maintain year after year has earned the body more credibility and goodwill than any PR exercise ever can. Many of the presentations are top-notch but, sadly, those who are not able to attend the conference lose out. We have now decided to report on some of the presentations in detail so that more people in the industry can benefit. The reports will be featured over several issues. This issue has R.D. Bhatnagar, chief technology officer, DB Corp Ltd, speaking about how to reduce waste and optimise production, and Thomas Wiederkehr, managing director, IE Graphic Engineering, Germany, elaborating on how you should invest smartly and invest right (some of the other presentations have been covered in earlier issues of RIND Survey). Supplementing Bhatnagar’s take on ‘optimising’ production, but in much more technical fashion, dwelling on process optimisation in newspaper print production, is Manoj Mathew of The New Indian Express. He insisted that extra care be taken to ensure that mathematical symbols and other technical details are reproduced without error on the page. If only we had more like him at the desk in newspapers! Do also read S. Muthiah’s piece on what reporters should be doing, and what they aren’t, and the interview with Ross Taylor, award-winning photojournalist of The Virginian- Pilot. Finally, a big thank you to all the advertisers who have steadfastly stood by us over the years. The 100-page (with cover) bumper issue you hold in your hands is proof of their support without which it would not have been possible to publish issue after issue of RIND Survey. May such support continue always. We begin the New Year with a new-look masthead, the Impact font standing true to its name, and the Garamond typeface bringing clarity as well as dignity in style to the main text. We hope you will like it. Here’s wishing all of you a Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Sashi Nair [email protected] 2 RIND Survey January 2012 RIND Survey January 2012 | Volume 33 | Issue 1 C o n t e s Yes, digital publishing is here to stay Tablets might still be a niche market in India, but they are a rapidly growing and promising new media channel for newspaper publishers. Digital publishing to tablets is another step in the ongoing evolution of the media industry. This change forces publishers to define an effective multi-channel publishing strategy, enabling them to effortlessly address any channel and to monetise new channels such as tablets successfully RIND Survey From the Editor 1 Dinamalar surges forward on the new media front 16 Cutting down on waste, the right way to optimise production 24 A printing plant must be designed to cope with extraordinary situations 32 Optimising the process in newspaper print production 36 ‘Concentrate on making images that reflect your passion’ 46 Simulated press training focuses on tackling production problems 52 Is news all about just a quote or a byte? 54 Changing with the times to attract young readers 56 A special resource feature on VAPoNnews 60 Industry Updates 66 General News 86 Calendar 94 Yes, digital publishing is here to stay Tablets might still be a niche market in India, but they are a rapidly growing and promising new media channel for newspaper publishers. Digital publishing to tablets is another step in the ongoing evolution of the media industry. This change forces publishers to define an effective multi-channel publishing strategy, enabling them to effortlessly address any channel and to monetise new channels such as tablets successfully. A special report by Stefan Horst An analysis of press articles, statements made by research companies and vendor press releases about tablet sales in India in 2011 leaves you with no clear answers when it comes to data. The figures vary from below one, up to several tens of millions. However, the tenor of all these publications is the same: the tablet market in India will flourish in the coming years. The availability of affordable readers such as the Kindle Fire and low-cost tablet devices such as the Aakash are expected to further spur the market. Thus, it is time for publishers to prepare to integrate tablets into their portfolio of supported media channels. The benefits tablets offer for publishers are manifold – they are the first mobile device that enables publishers to extend their existing publication brands to the digital world. With reader-attractive tablet editions of their titles, publishers are able to increase the reach of their publications and to tap new revenue sources. Branding counts The results of a recent study conducted by FTI Consultant in the United States showed how important branding is in the world of digital publishing. For 84 per cent of the respondents, it was important to like and trust the publisher. This correlates with the fact that only 36 per cent of people access the news via one of the known aggregators. The study by FTI also indicates that tablet users are highly engaged with their digital publications. This high level of engagement is an important condition in order to convince advertisers. The photos: woodWingphotos: researchers found that 88 per cent of those users An efficient multi-channel dashboard such as WoodWing´s content station reading long articles also read stories they were not is a must in order to centrally manage and publish all types of content looking for initially. Furthermore, 41 per cent said for all channels. they saved articles for future reading. It’s also worth 6 RIND Survey January 2012 noting that 85 per cent of tablet users stated that they discussed the articles with others “in the real world”, while 41 per cent shared some content via e-mail or social media. The study also found that the reach of digital publications increases even more when you consider that 50 per cent of tablet owners share the device with other household members. Attract the reader Publishers interested in the implementation of digital publishing to tablets into their workflow should carefully evaluate the wishes of their readers and take the results into The South China Morning Post newsstand integrated in the app presents all available issues. account for the evaluation of digital publishing solutions available in the market. As a rule of thumb, tablet users expect that publications will take advantage of the fact that tablets offer enhanced capabilities for multimedia and interactivity. Simply putting PDF versions of the print publication on the tablet is not a viable option. Readers of digital publications on tablets indicate – through their comments in Apple's App Store and more – that they value a high degree of interactivity and multimedia content. Features enabling readers to leave comments and to share content via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are essential and valuable options to get feedback on how articles are accepted. Tapping digital publishing These requirements show that digital publishing for most publishers will be an entirely new endeavour. The good news is that publishers are able to seamlessly integrate the Digital publishing at Kompas Kompas Daily, the largest daily newspaper in Indonesia and a user of WoodWing Enterprise, is a pioneer in digital publishing. The paper is available on the iPad and RIM’s PlayBook. Support for Android tablets as well a HTML5 Web app will follow in the first quarter of 2012. A team of eight designers, two video editors and three more people for mobile ads, proofreading and imaging creates more than 430 tablet pages per month for Kompas Editor’s Choice, Jendela Indonesia and Ring of Fire. The efforts were recognised at the Asian Digital Media Awards 2010, where the team was awarded three silver medals.