EDITORIAL COMMENT

Flame Tree Media is more than an interested party in what goes down in the New Zealand media market. One of our key clients is Fairfax NZ and we have also consulted for independent publishers there.

We believe the proposed merger between Fairfax NZ and NZME would be a good thing for New Zealand, those businesses, journalism and, most importantly, for Kiwis.

We produced this submission for the NZ Commerce Commission, which is considering whether to clear the merger. It is expected to make its final decision by March 15, 2017. Coincidentally the Ides of March.

​Hmm.
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Communication units have learned a lot in recent years about leveraging social media, but if they really want to supercharge their messaging they should adopt the best behaviours of modern newsrooms.

Newsrooms have the attributes, processes and energy that power content for ultimate audience engagement.

Over 30 years, I’ve run or worked in dozens of newsrooms in Australia and New Zealand - the biggest and smallest. I’ve also seen how exceptional operations like The Sun and The Guardian in London, and the Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe have operated. Each of those newsrooms have a personality and idiosyncrasies that exude their target market.

Like any organisation, no one newsroom does everything superbly.
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But here’s 10 traits of newsrooms, compiled from the best of the best, that comms teams could use as a checklist when considering how to better position themselves.

 
Keeping up with the information revolution is an exhausting exercise - but taking advantage of five forces will put smart operators at the head of the communications pack.

​Never before have there been so many ways to communicate and never has it been so complex - lots of social media platforms, tools, apps and methods to send you bonkers.

Whether you're a business or a personal brand, cutting through the claptrap requires a simple, strategic and sustainable approach. Couple that with the right intel about the communications battlefront, and you're on your way. 

Be it with our work with big media undergoing transformation or with small companies seeking to establish a DIY newsroom approach, some common themes are apparent.

Here's five of them - forces we believe will drive content success into 2017:

Muhammad Ali's passing should remind us that not only did he redefine boxing, but he was the consummate innovator - a man who provides lessons to anyone who wants to survive and thrive in a dog-eat-dog world.

Ali teaches us that innovation is not about iteration - it's about blazing trails.

"I don't have to be what you want me to be, " Ali told reporters after the bout against Sonny Liston in 1964 that launched his career.  "I'm free to be what I want."

Publishers, who have suffered an unprecedented pummelling in recent years, could do with some of that self-belief.

One media organisation that is displaying its own brand of magic is Fairfax Media New Zealand. Like a young Cassius Clay, the Fairfax team is willing to do things its own way. 

For the past 18 months, Flame Tree Media has helped design and implement the company's signature editorial transformation program News Rewired.

In May, Fairfax NZ won the award for corporate innovation at the International News Media Association (INMA) awards in London - along with best in show for Asia/Pacific. In all, Fairfax NZ won four first places - more than any media brand. In the world. 

So, what are the Kiwis doing that others aren't?

Five traits are common to those who become world beaters.

​One of the best aspects of running your own company is the ability to put your money where your mouth is by supporting not-for-profit ventures or by performing pro bono work.

At the big end of town, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is all the rage. For some companies that makes for a nice feel-good story and pictures for the annual report. Other blue-chip companies take a more serious approach with dedicated staff, programs and KPIs.

Running a boutique communications start-up, I'd encourage small companies to identify how they too can donate skills and services. 

This can be a stretch when pulling revenue in the door is the priority and time is precious. But, in business parlance, the ROI is real. And who wouldn't want to spread some love in this increasingly corporatised world? 

Here's six tips for making the experience work for both you and the not-for-profit.​

​The trolls are coming, the trolls are coming - and, if they haven't already, they are about to take your social media, turn it back on you and blast you to high heaven.

Think of them as the Storm Troopers who hunt out easy prey and raze Jakku in the Star Wars epic The Force Awakens. Or the hulking Orcs who obliterate everything in their path in Lord of the Rings. Or the Dementors who suck the life and soul from the good hearted in Harry Potter.

You get the picture. They're nasty.
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But it need not be apocalyptic. You can repel them, or in the least mitigate damage by observing five basic tips. ​

A sad reality about today's digitally driven and metric-obsessed newsrooms is the diminished standing of the never-humble newspaper editor.

Less and less, we have editors of newspapers. More and more, we have content directors across platforms. 

Less and less, editors are kings and queens of their domain - the personification of their masthead's place in the community. More and more, slick marketing of digital assets takes prime position.

Oh, well, that's the media business today and let's not get too romantic about it all.

That said, I'd like to think there's a little bit of the old editor in all of today's news hounds. Particularly, the good bits, of which there are many. 

So in a rather dubious salute to my editor colleagues I'd like to unlock the top 10 secrets about them - and what makes them tick.