Antonio Cano, Director of the newspaper El Pais in Spain, published last March 3 an open letter to the editor of the newspaper where he works. In it, Cano explains the imminent transformation of the newspaper in an essentially digital means to meet the challenges that are presented to print media.
Then the letter published on the website of the . country of Spain
Dear comrades:
We talked this morning about the harsh reality that our trade and newspapers face in all the world. At home we have been making adjustments for some time and we have managed to carry out digital transformation ameliorating, insofar as possible, the damage that this has caused in our sector.
Fortunately, despite the difficulties, we are still the printed best-selling newspaper in Spain with enough distance from our competitors, and our digital editions have achieved in the last eighteen months spectacular growth to turn the country into the media in Spanish most visited and read in the world.
Thanks to your sacrifice and collaboration we are in a competitive position and able to extend the leadership COUNTRY. But that does not mean that the battle is won or that our survival is guaranteed. The revolution that affects the media has not yet been completed, the picture is still very confusing. The crisis has probably not bottomed out yet.
The transfer of readers from paper to digital is constant. You can already assume that the habit of buying the newspaper at the kiosk has been reduced to a minority. Most people, mainly the younger ones, seek information in other formats and consume differently.
Also in the digital realm the situation remains still uncertain. The massive transfer of readers of the web to mobile phones, as well as the emergence of new mobile devices and recent threats such as ad blockers, along with other best known as the installation of the culture of gratuity, make very complex also the horizon in the field of new media. I begin to get the impression that the transition from paper to digital is only one and not the greatest of the many steps that newspapers have to give up to achieve our real future space.
These changes, like everyone, have great advantages. The first and most important it is that millions of people around the world today show interest and have the ability to access our products. But, certainly, and this is what we most anguish today, this new time is also a great challenge for us all. And a severe threat to those who doubt or resist the unstoppable advance of the transformation of our work and business that supports it.
in the country have decided not only not afraid of change but anticipate as far as possible to be at the forefront of this change, just as we were at the birth of the independent press in Spain and in information quality and competitive in Spanish.
Our values
it is good to take a moment look back and remember how it all started and what is the first reason why we are here. On May 4, we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of our appearance.
In this first issue, Juan Luis Cebrian claimed that this newspaper had always dreamed of himself as an independent newspaper, capable of reject the pressures that political power and the power of money exert continuous over the world of information. We will change, yes, but we will not give up those values of freedom and independence that have managed to bring us this far.
will incorporate new dynamics of work they get to increase the quality and quantity of the contents and products offered by the country and can now be read on paper, through mobile applications, smart TVs or social networks. But will watch the footprint of the country is on all those platforms.
After more than eighteen months of work and discussions, we are approaching a key moment in the history of COUNTRY. In the coming days it will complete the first phase of the work that will enable new wording, and thus will be time for the conversion of the country into a digital newspaper essentially; in a large generator platform content distributed among other media, the best newspaper printed in Spain.
We are committed to continue publishing a print edition of the country’s largest quality for as long as possible. But we digress both in the construction of a large global digital media coverage that can meet the demands of new and future readers. The axis of this medium will be the information. Their tools are all those that technology available to us.
For now, as you are already seeing, we focus on image and video as a great instrument of mass communication. That means is and will become more American time, as it is in America where our growth is higher and our most promising expansion.
For this, as mentioned, are doing works that we facilitate transit to work yesterday morning. Let’s move on to what the industry calls “integrated newsroom” to a new synchronization system equipment and channels. We will implement modern communication tools that can deal with speed and quality demands transparent information in an increasingly demanding with the task entrusted to us by society.
will be a wording, offices, open to collaboration and exchange of ideas, in which the teams will be mixed to build new stories. From now on, in the heart of the main floor will be installed a modern open space dedicated to the creation and coordination of information and its distribution in the different channels.
The center of that writing will have a modern bridge, which will be journalistic profiles, technological development, graphic editing and video, design, production, audience measurement, social networking, SEO and quality control. From there new narratives and new ways of communicating that this newspaper will continue to keep at the forefront of global journalism will be created
Our readers
All this change has a main objective.: stay connected with each of our readers. The country has always been a journalistic organization focused its always attentive and informed readers. Today it must be even more: we must remain a newspaper that serves the needs and demands of those who consult us, who read us, who trust us
do not work for anyone. more important for the reader, but we know that today’s readers have become users who are in very different places and come to us not only buying a copy every day but also through our website using your mobile phone or its social networking profiles.
This new space wants to remain the best place to publish the most prominent journalists, writers, illustrators, photographers, designers and other creators of information and culture in Spanish language, but today is so important content and the way to do reach our audience.
therefore, in addition to the signatures, we are providing us with new work systems and expanding our training plans to shape the news content so that they are easy to find and read or see, because every time readers consume more avidly multimedia content. In this line the launch of The Country Video has been one of the latest hits. Experiences from which we learn many things.
To facilitate the implementation of all this, we have strengthened our management team with new profiles and more tailored to the current needs. Although I do not doubt his ability and effort, neither they nor any of us get the elusive goal scored if not you join us, if you do not help us with your suggestions, with your criticisms, your work in search of excellence.
I think we have the vision, skills and knowledge, but we humbly listen to your ideas and demands of our readers and the community that has made this newspaper that reference that makes us proud. Join the conversation, we summarize in our communication to readers. This newspaper needs all those who bring creativity and good job. We must make a collective effort to change remain true to ourselves and to make it even better, and hopefully be enjoying and being happy while performing this exciting journey.
The country continues its path to celebrate its next 40 years more alive than ever. You are invited to participate in the great adventure of inventing the future from this house that you have built and that is our newspaper.
Thank you for your trust and effort.
A hug
Antonio Caño
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