I admit that I am happy I can take a break from presentations for a few weeks now, ending several weeks of keynoting events, conducting in house seminars and workshops, and overall discussing the state of the media at various events.

From Hamburg and Berlin, Germany, to San Antonio, Texas, to Lisbon, Portugal and then Aarhus, Denmark this week, one resounding theme is that of transformation.

Newsrooms small, medium and large contemplate change.

The directors of corporate communication departments of some of the world’s largest companies are aware that they need to change the way the communicate both internally and externally.

Publishers are all worried about how to monetize their operations. Editors know that the only way to do so is to have premium content that readers will want to pay for.

All of the above know that it is the phone that is in the hands of all of their audiences.

I sense that there is transformation in the air, and heavy frustration (and fear) of how to tackle it.

They all want training in linear visual storytelling. Most of the editors and communication directors I have talked to tell me that they have not gone there yet, that , for the most, their companies and newsrooms produce copy as if for print delivery, then dump it on mobile devices.

Plenty of work ahead for all.

My one essential takeaway:

Looking for interesting newspaper table of contents pages

Dear blog readers, if you know of a newspaper that uses a good, well designed and comprehensive table of contents page (usually on Page 2, but it could be the last page of first section, too), please send to me via email: mario@garciamedia.com

I am doing a study of the effectiveness of such pages.

Also, if your newspaper is in a compact format, and you use the last page of the first book as a destination page, I’d like to see those too.

Thanks in advance.