Beautiful Lake Konstanz

I always love coming to Lake Konstanz, that beautiful spot in southern Germany, right across the Swiss border. It is a great area for those of us who like running, but it is also an interesting newspaper market, with many young college students, but also retirees.  Sudkurier is a true regional newspaper covering a vast area of about 19 different communities.

This is my third project with Sudkurier, having redesigned its print edition before.  Now, however, we deal with Sudkurier the brand as it functions in a multiplatform environment, in which print is a part of the “media quintet” but not its protagonist.

Our workshops emphasize that quality local journalism has never been more important, but the focus is on transformation, on how to attract and to retain an audience that has great interest in news but that has many sources available and competing for their attention.

What is the role of print in such environment? Vital, we say.  But it is there to enhance stories, not to repeat what has been reported via digital platforms the day before.

So, our project which finds itself at the halfway point, involves:

1. Content flow and content strategy.
2. Website design.
3. Creation of a responsive website.
4. Innovative visual storytelling.
5. New monetization strategies, including sponsored content/native ads.

During Monday’s workshop at Sūdkurier, and with Editor in Chief, Stefan Lutz, and Digital Project leader, Sebastian Pantel

A cover we like

This is a visually powerful cover from The New Yorker this week, echoing the horrific events that took place in Las Vegas recently, where a sniper killed 59 and injured more than 500.