Promoting “Humane Dying” on billboards, in print and online

When you run a social campaign like this, you need to focus on the issue and not on the newspaper itself. This is the only way to make a difference. To change the world for better. Read more

Public debate on death

During the first months of Gazeta Wyborcza’s campaign “Humane Dying” we got thousands of letters and e-mails. Dedicated editors responded to almost all of them. Read more

How to write about dying?

It is probably the most difficult topic. Not only for journalists, it is hard for everybody. It is a public taboo. So starting a public debate about dying is a necessity.
Read more

How to promote an investigative story?

In March 2008 Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza broke a story about how the Catholic Church covered up a child-molestation scandal in Poland. Thanks to the internet and in-paper promotion more readers bought a paper on the day of publication.

The story hit the Gazeta’s front page on Monday, but the promotional efforts started many days before. Read more

The Church’s Sinful Secret

Many priests knew about it, as did three bishops. For years, the horrible truth could not be revealed – an investigative story about how the Catholic Church covered up a child-molestation scandal in Poland.
Read more

Front page promo ad for “Solidarity with Tibet” campaign

Two days before Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza devoted a cover of its feature supplement to the Tibetan flag, the paper run a unique promo ad on its main section’s front page.

It is a very rare example of using Gazeta’s front page to promote future features in a graphic way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ad reads:

Solidarity with Tibet
Join the protest!
The cover of Monday’s Duzy Format [supplement] will be the flag of Tibet. You can show it publicly, appear with it to demonstrate one’s objection against policy of China. And you can send us a photo!

 

 

 

 

 

Would you like to learn more about this campaign? Read here.

In-paper promotion for “Parents back to school” series

Three days before Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza launched its “Parents back to school” series, it run a full page promo ad in the main section.

It reads:

Rehearsals for Parents
Was and Sterlingow go back to school
After 30 years we do homework again, we write tests, we answer at the class board. We thought that today children have easier than before. On Monday we will tell you how it is.
Tests for parents, advice – in Gazeta Wyborcza from Monday
Check if you can help your kid in learning!

Would you like to learn more about this series? Read here.

Parents back to school!

Imagine that: after 30 years you go back to school. You must do your homework again, write exam tests, answer to teachers’ questions in front of your class. Are you ready?

Read more

Our manifesto

The seven deadly sins of today’s newspapers

We compiled this list after reading newspapers around the world, listening to their editors and executives and after committing many of these sins by ourselves.

We believe it’s a high time to confess. We invite you to join us. Let’s wash ourselves and move to change this world.

1. Disbelief

• ”The trend is that newspapers are going down. The only thing we can do is to manage this decline.”
• ”People don’t buy newspapers just for news any more. In our view newspapers are cultural packages now: we have to add DVDs and books and… to make readers buy our product. There is no other way.”
• ”We will not advertise this editorial offer, as it is not going to give us circulation increases comparable to DVDs, or books, or…”
• ”We cannot try to run this project, as we tried it many times before and it was not working.”
• ”Newspaper business is no longer about producing and selling content. It is now just about delivering eyeballs to advertisers.”

2. Greed

• ”Newspaper business is no different than any other industry. It has to deliver the same profits to its shareholders as other industries. If not, it is worthless.”
• ”We cannot invest in this, because shareholders don’t believe in print any longer.”
• ”We cannot keep this project for a year, as shareholders demand results withing a quarter.”
• ”Newsroom is only a cost generator. We have to keep it as small as possible, as the content it produces is just an addition to advertising.”
• ”We don’t need to have journalists everywhere. We can use wires, syndicates, press-releases, information posted on the web. Aggregation is a new way to deliver content.”

3. Pseudo-professionalism

• ”Newspaper is a product. From the marketing point of view there is no difference between a newspaper and a washing powder.”
• ”Let’s do more research. We will ask readers what they want and simply give it to them.”
• ”Yes, we know that our research department did such a survey. But we know how it is without reading it.”
• ”We will not assign this research, because nobody is in fact using it. Our drawers are full of surveys that have never been used.”
• ”A publisher cannot trust his editors and journalists. They really don’t know what readers want.”
• ”People in general are stupid. They will buy everything.”
• ”Editors are always wiser than their readers. They are the proffesionals.”
• ”Circulation is falling down? Let’s change something in the newspaper. Let’s do a redesign, but of course we should not touch the content.”
• ”We don’t need to publish any car, or computer, or travel section, as we know from our research that our target group does not use cars, or computers, or they don’t travel.”
• ”We publish a serious newspaper. We don’t need anybody to love us. We are not like Apple. Newspaper is not an iPod. Journalism cannot be fun.”

4. Sloth

• ”Today people don’t have time to read. The newspaper should carry shorter stories on less pages. (And by the way – we have to cut costs.”
• ”Young people don’t want to read about serious things. They prefer light topics: celebrity, gossip etc.”
• ”Readers don’t really want to know what’s happening in other parts of the country, or abroad. We have to focus on local news (and by the way: it is much cheaper than sending a reporter to China).”
• ”It goes this way for years. What can we do about it?”
• ”Does anybody know any person who is using our horoscope, or crossword, or TV guide? No. So let’s drop it.”

5. Fear

• ”Newspapers must be objective. They always have to give the same attention and space to both sides of the story. Another way would mean we have to make a decision and take responsibility.”
• ”We are an independent newspaper. We don’t have any agenda. We don’t publish any comments. We simply report facts.”
• ”We cannot even think about this project, as we don’t know if it is going to be successful.”
• ”We should not write about that. This company is really wealthy and we don’t want spend years in courts.”
• ”We are a quality, intellectual, business, up-market daily newspaper. We don’t need such down-to-Earth content like sports, or popular culture.”
• ”Of course we want to have female readers. But it is not that easy. Our newsroom is mostly male and these guys don’t want to hire any women.”
• ”Serious newspaper should not be colourful. We cannot even think about puting coluor photos or ads on the frontpage.”

6. Moving in herds

• ”Everybody is doing blogs, video, user-generated-content… now. We have to do exactly the same. Does anybody know any geek who can start the first blog?”
• ”We go multi-media as the whole company. Every journalist will now have to write breaking news online, blog, take photos, shoot videos (and by the way: we don’t want to pay any extra).”
• ”Oh, our competitors write about it, or don’t write about it. Let’s do the same.”
• ”Everybody is doing these promotions these times. We cannot survive without it, even we cannot afford them.”
• ”Infotainment is a big thing. We have to be more like television.”

7. The sin you can add

We really hate these things in today’s newspaper journalism and publishing.

What do you hate? Tell us and help to finish the list.

Do you agree with our choices? Or do you disagree? Please make a comment on all the sins below.

We will appreciate your opinion very much.

About us

forum4editors.com is the source of practical editorial and marketing ideas for creative minds at newspapers.

Editors and marketeers share here the best practices in print and online journalism, interactions with readers, research and promotions.
They debate on the most important issues in today’s world and media scene.
This forum is open for all the editors and marketeers who want to innovate regardless of their country of origin, publishing company’s size or newspaper’s audience.
The site is sponsored by the International Newsmedia Marketing Association.

Editors

Grzegorz (Gregory) Piechota
Special projects editor at Poland’s daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He develops and runs multimedia editorial projects that involve editorial, marketing and research teams. Interested in marketing of media: invented many successful newspaper products like its supplements, collections, promotional and advertising campaigns. Serves as the Polish director of the International Newsmedia Marketing Association and sits on the association’s European board.

Jerzy (Yurek) Wojcik
Society desk editor at Poland’s daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He has been involved in most of its editorial innovations since 2006. The projects he developed and managed achieved circulation and online traffic increases, improved reader participation and won awards from INMA, the World Association of Newspapers, IFRA, and Polish bodies. Experienced editor and manager: launched two nation-wide daily newspapers in Poland.

Authors / Contributors

Tom Corbett
Projects manager at an European office of the International Newsmedia Marketing Association. He started his newspaper career as a Logistics and Facilities Manager at a Belgian quality daily. Later he was responsible for setting up a new IT infrastructure, database system and production-database system at Full Page, a national newspaper sales house in Belgium.

Inge van Gaal
Newspaper marketing trainer and speaker, the European coordinator of the INMA. She is responsible for all the association’s activities in Europe: she coordinates conferences and workshops and serves as a liaison to European members. Former commercial director at a Belgian newspaper De Morgen and an expert to the European Publishers’ Association.

Marek Miller
Project manager in Polskapresse’s Polska The Times - an umbrella brand for regional dailies throughout Poland. Responsible for the product development and web strategies. A big media fan (press, digital, marketing) and a freelancer. A post-grad media specialist. Writes a blog in Polish “eM jak Media” (“eM is for Media”).

Waldemar Pas
Editor-in-chief of the Poland’s free daily newspaper Metro. Sets the editorial strategy and manages a newsroom of the country’s largest free-sheet. Experienced in both print and online journalism, as he had edited an online edition of Gazeta Wyborcza and national news desks at two daily newspapers.

Jaroslaw Slizewski
Publishing director of the online edition of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza. Develops and runs the country’s best-read newspaper website. World-class expert on new media: former consultant at Innovation International Media Consulting Group and a news manager at Gazeta.pl web portal. Former journalist who started his career as a sports reporter and finished as the deputy editor-in-chief of a nation-wide daily.

Sponsor

The International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) is a non-profit member organisation dedicated to recognising and extending marketing activities of newspapers, and serving as the industry’s premier marketing ideas association.

Today, the fast-growing INMA has more than 1,200 members in 80+ countries, mostly senior marketing officers at daily newspapers.

Learn more on the INMA’s website.