At the webinar the following questions came up that got answers from ISabel and Georg:

 

• Question: "Before you went to Norway, how was the approach different?”
  Isabel Russ: “We've always had a very big focus on people, always people first, having lots of people in the newspaper. But people for us ment also politicians and CEOs. So we have changed that now. We call them “real people”. People that are affected. Again, concerning the kindergarten closure, it's not the mayor, it's the parents that are affected. And with every topic, you have to find people that are affected by this. And it's much, much harder. And it doesn't always work. But again, we see that readers can relate so much more to these stories. I think we're doing the same thing, but on one deeper level.

​

• Question: "The latest webinar (in the WAN-IFRA Innovate Local program) was actually from a Swedish newspaper group, and, based on their own research. They talked about certain topics that were hot. Do you also have topics that you will not cover anymore?”
  Isabel Russ: “I mean, definitely, our focus is, I think it's not so different from everyone else, on breaking news again. Anything related to accidents and things happening around you. Anything in the local economy such as companies that are insolvent or new restaurants that open up. Anything that really touches you outside of your own house. So you go outside and there's a new road or new roadworks. People want to know about these things. So this is really what we're focusing on. I think that it's important that you do politics well, because it's at the heart of what journalists do, and what journalism is. But it doesn't bring us a lot of subscriptions. And I think that's something that other media companies are also seeing.”

​

• Question: "I believe that you have earlier had ambitions to be a complete media agency supplier of ad products also of competitors such as the Google and Meta ad products. Is that still a business for you?”
  Georg Burtscher: “Of course, we still do this. But in the end, I think, we, as local media companies, have a really strong footprint in the region. And sometimes we forget how strong we are. And if our clients talk about Facebook and Google, we also sell these new shiny toys. However in the end, we really see that our “premium story” format, and we have tested it also on different platforms, is really the best performing format in engagement and time spent. So I think we also forget that a local news brand and a local company or local grocery store, or employer brand, fit together. And also, it's more inspiring to the users. They really get it, because it's regional. We wire and connect the region and bring it closer together and therefore ads work much better with us on our local news brands or outlets, than on Facebook and Google and other ones. And again, we have enough reach to be proud, we are strong. But sometimes I think we forget about that, when we talk about Facebook and Google.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

• Question: "Is you business subscriber based and did you have specific goals with the new strategy, such as getting new subscribers? Something measurable must have been involved?”
  Georg Burtscher: “Of course, we have numbers in the background. Our goal is to finance the whole editorial team through digital ads. This is the clear goal at the end. And before we were in Bergen, we were thinking that we understood the concepts behind what was happening (in Norway). And then we made our visit in Bergen and had a really deep dive. We are really thankful to our Norwegian colleagues up there. They were so open to us. I think we understood it much better and came back to Austria and changed the whole strategy on how we want to tell stories in the editorial department. How we want to do journalism. We see now that we have to change, especially in how we bring stories to people and how we understand how people are affected by stories. So we can continue to bring the politicians in front, however you will never get the answer how it will affect me, the reader. It's more interesting to share the story of a young family who cannot afford living because there were some decisions made by politicians. So it's a completely different approach. It's funny to see how it changes the daily routines and work. Person to person conversations between journalists and people out there on the outside are getting more and more important. Back to your question, yes we have reader revenue. And, of course, as every other media company is experiencing print is in decline and in digital, I think, we're not where we wanted to be. So that was the point when we were going to Bergen. And it really inspired us seeing media companies that have managed to do the digital transformation and to do it successfully and to finance their newsrooms with digital subscriptions. That meant a big change for us, you know, seeing that there is a model out there. So I think for us the visit to Bergen, ment a big surge in motivation and a very clear goal now.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​​​​

• Question: "How did the journalists react to the new way of working?”
  Isabel Russ: “There was a positive reaction. Well, of course, because we've never had to do a big firing round of, getting rid of journalists because our newsroom was too big. We never had to do that. We were always very lean. And now seeing how it works in Bergen, we have a new motivation as we now know that this model works. Regional media companies can actually go into the digital world and be sustainable. And now we're hiring new journalists again, for the areas where we see that we're making subscriptions. That is lots of breaking news. Also traffic coverage and sports are areas that I didn't mention before. These are areas that we're actually hiring journalists in again. And I don't think there's a lot of media companies, at least German speaking, that can say that. Of course it has been different for them (that is the journalists). It's changing their whole work routine, but also an outlook into the future, which a lot of companies can't give to their journalists anymore.”

​

• Question: "I totally agree that pictures of people draw our readers, but we see a strange development that more and more people, those we are writing about, do not want to be photographed at all. Do you see a similar development? And if yes, how do you handle it?”
  Isabel Russ: “Again, of course, the biggest challenge is finding these people and getting them to speak out. I think a big advantage is having a strong local brand and really being a part of the community. Trust is a big thing. Also we heard a lot of times during our visit in the Nordics, that people have to trust the media and they're doing a lot about this. I think there's much more that we should and can do here in the German speaking area. People have to trust that the information that they give you is going to be handled in a way that they want, that the photo, if they're in the newspaper with a photo, that this isn't going to affect them negatively. We tell them that they're doing good with this. Again, concerning the kindergarten that closes, a typical family topic. What was important in that story was that it was bilingual in English and German. We got mothers to talk about the fact that they wanted it to be more English speaking. And the municipality wanted it to be more German speaking. And so the mothers spoke out, they had a picture taken and, and they were in the newspaper. In the end, we managed to turn that around, right. And for readers to see that they can have an impact if they speak up. I think that helps, but yes, it's a development. And, yes we have had people that do not want their photo taken. 

​

• Question: "Is there any way to measure trust? Do you do reader focus groups or what do you do?”
  Isabel Russ: “Again, I think in the Nordics, they actually have a measure of trust. I remember they ask about it regularly. We don't have that yet. But  there's different measures that you can take. And it's very small things. Something that you can do is to have a byline with a photograph and biography of the editor. So this way the reader feels he/she knows this person that is sharing insights out of the newsroom. Also not making any mistakes, grammar wise or other mistakes creates trust. It's about always asking both sides, as a principle. Always having two people look at every story. I think it's small things like that, that really build up trust. Being around for a hundred years also helps of course, but not everyone can say that. So time is running out.”

​

• Question: "You both have the title of managing director. How do you split the responsibilities?”
  Isabel Russ: “In all we are four managing directors. On our side, Isabel is responsible for the whole editorial part. And she's also together with me, managing director of the digital part. So we split specially in editorial and sales parts. But at the end of the day, I think we all four are working really lean together. And we all know exactly where each of us are strong and where others are better.