Speakers | The International Newsroom Summit 2016
The International Newsroom Summit 2016
General Manager, Europe - Reuters
Sarah Edmonds is a veteran journalist and manager with more than 25 years in the news industry. She is currently the Reuters General Manager for Europe, responsible for ensuring journalists have the tools, equipment and support they need, as well as for delivering on budget, staffing and safety and security objectives. Sarah has worked variously in London, Toronto, Washington DC, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Singapore. She is now based in Switzerland.
Founder and Director, Welad Elbalad Media Services LTD, Egypt
Fatemah Farag is the Founder and Director of Welad Elbalad Media Services LTD, a company dedicated to community media development and media excellence in Egypt. She is also currently a Nieman Fellow, the MENA Director for WAN IFRA’s Women in News Program and a WEF Board Member.
Before establishing Welad Elbalad Media Services, Ms. Farag was the founding chief editor of the English Edition of Al Masry Al Youm. Before 2009, she divided her professional time between the newsroom and journalism training and education. She was Assistant Chief Editor, responsible for the features and life-style sections and senior staff reporter at Al-Ahram Weekly, the English language newspaper issued by Al-Ahram, before which she worked for the Regional Bureau of the Washington Post, was a full time staff reporter for the Middle East Times – Egypt, and has freelanced for a host of local and international news organizations.
As an educator she has held the position of Training Consultant for the Heikal Foundation for Arab Journalism and has also consulted and trained for various organizations including the European Union, the British Council, Free Voice and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. She also taught journalism at the American University in Cairo (AUC) for two years and continues to dedicate time to journalism training.
Ms Farag began her career specializing in development issues with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and as a reporter and newspaper editor she has dedicated much of her work to the coverage of social issues. She is a graduate of the American University in Cairo, from which she also received a Masters degree in political science.
Director of Digital Media, Telegraph Media Group, UK
Malcolm Coles is the Digital Media Director at Telegraph.co.uk, responsible for growing audience and ensuring the highest quality of digital publishing. He joined The Telegraph in January 2015. Mr Coles started his career at Which?, where he launched Computing Which? before becoming editor of Which? magazine and Which? Online, then the UK's most successful pay walled site. Before joining the Telegraph, Mr Coles worked at Trinity Mirror and helped launch the award-winning UsVsTh3m site, aimed at a social audience.
Community Editor at The Economist, UK
Denise Law oversees The Economist's editorial social media strategy. She leads a team of writers and editors in London, Hong Kong and DC who are responsible for expanding the publication's readership across more than a dozen social and digital distribution channels.
Denise previously spent five years as a journalist at the Financial Times in London and Hong Kong, where she helped to set up several news startups focused on emerging markets. She has reported extensively on China and South East Asia, with a focus on capital markets, currencies and companies.
A native of Toronto, Denise has lived and worked in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Utrecht.
Specialities: digital and social media strategy, audience development, newsroom innovation, team management, product development, business journalism, breaking news and emerging markets.
News Director, NRK (Norwegian public service broadcaster), Norway
Managing Director of First Draft News, United Kingdom
Digital Editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Editor in-Chief, SZ.de, Germany
Group Editor-in-Chief, Independent News and Media (INM), Ireland
Stephen Rae is Group Editor-in-Chief of Independent News and Media (INM), Ireland’s largest media group. INM is the market leader in online news and in the daily, Sunday and regional newspaper sectors.
Stephen has led the group’s online transition, building a seven-day Platform Neutral newsroom, making Independent.ie the largest and fastest growing news source in Ireland. He designed the central editorial hub which produces journalism for all of the group’s news, sport and entertainment platforms – both online and print. Previously, Stephen was editor of the Irish Independent newspaper and before that edited the Evening Herald. Stephen is a qualified barrister-at-law and criminologist.
Editorial Director, Reuters TV, United Kingdom
Jo leads a global team of video journalists and technical staff producing programming for Reuters’ flagship consumer TV app, which launched in February 2015. She has spent the last two years developing the product and its editorial mission. Reuters TV is available on iOS, android, the web and Apple TV. It’s on-demand, relevant and mobile — putting users in control of what they watch and when they watch it.
Before working on Reuters TV, Jo was Editor-in-Charge of Reuters Digital Video in EMEA. As well as determining the editorial agenda for Reuters Insider, Jo worked on key syndication deals. As a former CNBC producer, Jo had a front row seat to the 2007 financial crisis. She also delivers outside broadcasts including ‘Davos Today’ for the World Economic Forum.
Director of Video Content, Telegraph Media Group, UK
In May, Ben led the launch of 'Telegraph Video', a portal that will produce more than 30 news videos each day. He started out as a national magazine journalist before moving into television. Having worked for companies including ITV, BBC and The Shine Group, Ben moved into the digital world of video, working as Executive Producer for ITV’s Multiplatform Video team. Joining Videojug Networks in 2012 as Content Director, before becoming Managing Director in 2014, Ben has delivered online video strategies for agencies such as Carat, JWT and ZenithOptimedia as well as brands including John Lewis, Diageo and Haymarket, whilst monetising and building a distribution network for owned video content. Ben joined the Telegraph Media Group in Spring 2015 as Director of Video Content.
Managing Editor, Die Welt, Germany
Kritsanarat Khunkham is managing editor at the German news outlet Die Welt which is part of the Axel Springer publishing house. In his position, which has held since 2011, Kritsanarat is in charge of running the newsroom and managing the website across all sections. In addition to that, he is responsible for the digital development and oversees a team of programmers who research and draft new ways of telling news and stories. Kritsanarat joined Axel Springer in 2008 and has since worked there as a reporter, video journalist and columnist.
Director of Video Operations and media brands JoomBoos & miss7, 24sata, Croatia
Matej Loncaric is Director of Video, Innovation projects, JoomBoos in 24sata, leading media company in Croatia, owned by Styria Group. Matej joined 24sata in late 2014 to transform cable news TV channel into modern and agile digital video department. Since then 24sata video started to grow exponentially; From two FTE's to 30 FTE's plus more than 40 contractors; from 500k video views per month to 100 M video views per month on all platforms from Facebook, Youtube and internal web player.
Matej is author and founder of today biggest YouTube network in Croatia – JoomBoos. Just one year since the launch, JoomBoos has won a particularly prestigious prize: the accolade of being among the most innovative media projects in the world at the INMA Global Media Awards in New York in 2017. – which is confirmation of the outstanding spirit of innovation. Video department has won more than 30 awards for it's drama series, musicals, talent shows from Digiday, Wan-ifra, INMA, Effie etc. Matej is today responsible for all innovation projects within 24sata.
Head of Paid Content, Ekstra Bladet - EKSTRA & Print, Denmark
Lisbeth Langwadt, born 1979, is head of the paid platforms of the Danish tabloid newspaper, Ekstra Bladet. She is in charge of the development of Ekstra Bladet’s digital paid subscription model, Ekstra Bladet+, which you find at ekstrabladet.dk – Denmark’s largest news site. Additionally, she is head of the print paper and a member of the Editorial Board and the Business Management Board of Ekstra Bladet.
She was the editorial lead of a team developing the concept of Ekstra Bladet+ which was launched back in 2013, and is now head of both the editorial and commercial departments of the digital subscription platform.
Ekstra Bladet’s newsroom organization has gone through huge changes the last five of years, and all functions and workflows are now ‘digital first’. Lisbeth Langwadt has been in charge of most of these organizational changes and has led a number of strategic product development processes during the years.
Lisbeth has a cand.comm degree in Journalism. She joined Ekstra Bladet in 2005 and has worked as a reporter, editor and managing editor.
Ekstra Bladet is part of ‘JP/Politikens Hus’ – one of Denmark’s leading media houses.
Editor, SPH Razor at Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore
CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Mittelbayerischer Verlag KG, Germany
After his academic high school diploma at the Goethe-Gymnasium Regensburg Manfred Sauerer started in 1977 its studies of chemistry at the University of Regensburg. Also in 1977 - parallel to his studies - he made his first work experiences at the Mittelbayerische Verlag. Later on he became trainee journalist and after that editor. In the following years he held the positions as Head of the sports-department, Managing Chief, Head of the interregional resort and as Co-Editor in Chief. Since January, 17th, 2007 he is Editor in Chief of the Mittelbayerische Zeitung. In 2008 Manfred Sauerer became Member of the Managing Board of the Mittelbayerischer Verlag KG ansd 2014 he became Co-CEO.
Digital Production Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times, UK
Director, Digital Strategy, GFR Media, Puerto Rico
Her honors include Emmy Awards, a Gabo Award for Best Image, and an Edward R. Murrow Award. She also led her team to win several National Press Photographers Association awards and a World Press Photo for best Digital Video, among others.
Head of Marketing Digital Products of Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany
Johannes Hauner, born 1983, is Head of Marketing Digital Products of Germany’s biggest quality newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Before, he served as Assistant to SZ’s Publishing Director (trainee) and studied Economics.
Editor-in-Chief of International Business Times UK
Head of Curated Content at the Financial Times, UK
Andrew Jack, is head of curated content at the Financial Times and a visiting fellow at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. He currently runs the curated content team, a global group of journalists which guides busy readers through the best news and analysis from the FT and the rest of the web, using email, onsite posts, apps, multimedia and social. He was previously deputy editor of the analysis section, pharmaceuticals correspondent, Moscow bureau chief, Paris correspondent, financial correspondent, general reporter and corporate reporter. He is author of the books Inside Putin’s Russia and The French Exception as well as numerous specialist reports, and has appeared on the BBC and other media outlets.
He led the FT’s coverage that won the communications award of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2011. He received the 2013 media award of the European Organisation for Rare Diseases; First Prize in the Stop TB Award for excellence in reporting for 2010; and a Kaiser Family Foundation mini-fellowship in global health reporting in 2008. He was twice Accountancy Correspondent of the year, and part of the FT team that won the British Press Awards for its coverage of the Maxwell affair.
He is a trustee of SciDev.net, a non-profit media group covering science and technology for global development. He graduated in geography from St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, was the Joseph Hodges Choate Memorial Fellow at Harvard University and a New York City urban fellow.
PR Strategist, Swedish Green Party. Former Head of Social Media, Metro Sweden
Audience Editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung Digitale Medien GmbH, Germany
Christopher Pramstaller is working as an Analyst and Audience Development Editor at Süddeutsche Zeitung Digitale Medien. He works closely with the editorial staff to help make sense of user data and research. Having a background in journalism, he knows what tightrope walk it can be for journalists and editors to employ the readers' voice in workflows and reporting. Yet, he is convinced that data-informed journalists are better journalists - and that a publication which knows its readers will be a better one.
Chief Executive Officer, Chartbeat, USA
John Saroff is Chief Executive Officer of Chartbeat, the leading content intelligence platform used by more than 50,000 of the world's top media properties in over 60 countries. Chartbeat believes that meaningful stories matter wherever they live, and that in an increasingly mobile, social world, Chartbeat is the only analytics solution newsrooms rely on to understand consumer attention and make the most of their quality content on site and offsite. John has worked on the cutting-edge of media and technology for 17+ years, setting the daily operations and business development agendas of companies as diverse as Google, NBC-Universal and vente-privee. John received his undergraduate degree in History from Haverford College and a joint degree in Law and Business from Columbia University.
Director, Journalism Leaders Programme | Co-convenor: Digital Editors Network, UK
Dr François Nel and Dr Coral Millburn-Curtis lead the Innovation Research Group which is a partnership between applied researchers from Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford and the University of Central Lancashire, where François is the founding director of the pioneering Journalism Leaders Programme. He has worked with WAN-IFRA since 2009 to research the priorities of news executives worldwide and is the editor of the association's World Press Trends initiative. François is the first academic to become an executive member of the World Editors Forum and works to support entrepreneurial individuals and forward-thinking organisations worldwide, including News UK, Trinity Mirror, Johnston Press, CN Group and Times Media Ltd (South Africa).
Senior Research Fellow, Reuters Centre for the Study of Journalism, Australia
Julie Posetti is a multi award-winning Australian journalist and academic. She has recently been appointed Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Reuters Centre for the Study of Journalism where she will lead the Institute’s new Journalism Innovation Project. Posetti is author of Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age, a major UN study covering 121 countries, published by UNESCO in 2017. Among other projects, she is currently collaborating on the production of a model curriculum on journalism and disinformation for UNESCO. In 2016/2017 she was Head of Digital Editorial Capability at Fairfax Media (publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review) in Australia. A former editor, presenter and political reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Posetti was based in Paris as Research Fellow and Editor with the World Editors Forum in 2014/2015, where she edited the flagship annual Trends in Newsrooms report. She is currently a Journalism Fellow at the University of Wollongong, where she is completing her PhD.
Head of audience growth, Vogue Global Network
Sarah, co-organises Hacks/Hackers London, bringing together journalists (hacks) and technologists (hackers) to collaborate and share ideas. She founded Hacks/Hackers Brighton. As part of her acitivites, she is also studing Modern Standard Arabic at advanced level.
Before starting at WSJ, she was a technology editor at Journalism.co.uk. She reported on innovations in the digital news industry, co-organised digital journalism conference news:rewired, and managed a revenue-generating training programme.
Developing an expertise in the digital news industry has led Sarah to deliver numerous presentations. She has been facilitating sessions at MozFest (the Mozilla Festival) in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. She has been presenting at the World Editors Forum in Bangkok, Digital Journalism Days in Warsaw, Swedish Radio in Stockholm, the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Digiday in Bologna and ONA and a number of other conferences in London.
Her background started as a broadcast journalist, as a breakfast newsreader, producer and reporter. Also, she worked as a local newspaper reporter and have made a series of documentary films about Morocco.
Editorial & Programming Director, CNN Digital Worldwide, United Kingdom
Inga Thordar is the editorial and programming director of CNN Digital Worldwide, overseeing international digital news and sport content. She was previously BBC's editor on World News Television bringing together TV and digital production teams and commissioning. Thordar edited the BBC's news front page as well as lead digital innovations on both TV and radio platforms. Prior to that, she lead a team of video journalists at the BBC who used the latest technology available to create innovative quality videos for digital and TV properties. An Iceland native, Thordar is based in London and a graduate of King's College London and the University of Iceland.
