Post on 04-Oct-2020
0
Developing a multimedia newsroomLisa MacLeod, Head of Operations: FT.Com
1
Looking back over 10 years: the challenges
Decline in advertising + advent of web = dual pressures for newsroomsExtra requirements of video, audio, interactive graphics and visuals, data, onlineonly verticals = more resources to the webTime constraints: continuous deadlines and reorganising newsroomsKey concept: channel neutral / agnosticMonetise content and focus on content salesDiversify away from declining print advertising revenueHave a strategy for technology, and legacy systemsChallenge to cut costs - and divert resources onlineDeal with cultural shifts in newsrooms – particularly impression that web wasinferior to print
2
The way it was…
3
The business changed …
Built a paywall and pioneering payment model that workedEmployed aggressive pricingTrimmed unprofitable distribution channelsDiversified, and focused on content sales, like subscriptions, licencesTackled legacy systems and integrated technology / editorial needsMade a brave departure from Apple / ITunesDeveloped strategic products: html 5 Web AppBought Assanka, now FT Labs to do cutting edge development workPaid a lot of attention to data analytics
4
And the newsroom changed too…
Reduced complexity of print editionsInvested in video, special investigations, interactives and specialistonline teams like Alphaville, Trading Room, and BeyondbricsTook community building seriously: social media and blogsMoved to web-first and multiskilled production operationsChanged rhythms of the newsroom to match readers’ movementsmore closelyContinuous digital training – data journalism, analytics, SEO etc
5
The way it is
6
Readers change their habits
7
The rise and rise of mobile
Threat, or opportunity?
8
Paper - to desktop - to mobile
9
Mobile: a huge opportunity for publishers?
10
Putting customers at the centre
11
The Big Themes
Responsive design and separation of form and content
12
Responsive design
13
The Big Themes
The use of data in journalism, and in the business
Responsive design and separation of form and content
14
Data journalism
15
Multichannel analytics has helped accelerate the growth of our digital
business – allowing us to iterate quickly and focus on growth
16
Data analytics – the DNA of your business
We quickly came to realise that actually,the real power of the subscriptionrelationship … comes from the data
John Ridding, CEO, Financial Times
Mature + successfuldata driven CRM
programme
Optimisationembedded acrossdigital business
Measure cross-platform effectivenessShapes our strategy
Powers on and off-sitemarketing
Provides insight intocustomer content
preferences
17
The Big Themes
Addressing the needs of mobile customers : engagement
Responsive design and separation of form and content
The use of data in journalism, and in the business
18
19
20
The Big Themes
Responsive design and separation of form and content
The use of data in journalism, and in the business
Providing faster, continuous news and commentary
Addressing the needs of mobile customers : engagement
21
22
“Like Twitter, with context”
23
Lots of love from the Twitterati….
24
The Big Themes
Responsive design and separation of form and content
The use of data in journalism, and in the business
Security
Addressing the needs of mobile customers : engagement
Providing faster news and commentary
25
FT blog and official Twitter feeds hacked after phishing attack
26
Stating the obvious
27
Hacking experience – how it happened
Syrian Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) carried out a very targeted cyberattackagainst the FTSome emails containing a phishing link entered the FT from external emailaccounts, some from FT staffRedirect users to an identical corporate login screen – we use Google MailFilling in login details redirected user to Gmail account, details captured by hackersSecured a corporate email account, globbal address list – expanded phishingexerciseAlert from IT department then compromised – used text of message to invokepasswordsGoogle blacklisted the URL and then phishing stopped but hackers had alreadydone password reset on Wordpress
28
A tiny chink in the armour
Large organisations, especially media companies, will always be vulnerable tocyber attack – the attack surface is huge, and the attacker needs only a tinychink in the armour. We reluctantly join an illustrious list of organisations thathave suffered similar attacks in recent weeks – Associated Press, the Onion,Sky News, the BBC, the Guardian, and just a few days after us, the Telegraph.
Andrew Betts, FT Labs
29
The steps we took
Fortunately had a hacking procedure in place: foresightWe invoked IP restrictions, limiting access to many systems to thosewithin an FT networkThe compromised Google accounts were all deactivated by GoogleTwitter locked all our Twitter accounts and changed the credentialsWe activated more aggressive measures to alert us to suspiciouslogin attemptsActivated two-step authentication on Google accounts andconsolidated Twitter usage through Social FlowTwo-step authentication on Twitter too
30
No hard feelings…
Yes, we did hack the FT today to publish some information that allof the major news organisations have been ignoring… The FT … isthe less bias(ed) of the western media establishments so our attackwas very light … We had no choice but to take matters into our ownhands. We have no further plans to hack the FT and we hope there
are no hard feelings.Our voice is small: we hope you can lend us yours.
Syrian Electronic Army