“News and Newspaper Industry: Towards a New Leadership in Innovation,” a statement of principles and a draft action plan, was released at the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and World Advertising Forum, the global meetings of the world’s press that drew 1,000 publishers, chief editors and other senior newspaper and news publishing executives to Turin, Italy, this week.

The document, which can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/104703 (bottom of the page), calls for cooperation and partnerships to ensure that innovations that can benefit news media around the world are identified, developed, analysed, shared and publicized.

The initiative will be conducted under the umbrella of WAN-IFRA’s Media Innovation Hub, which fosters long-term growth in the news media business by tapping into the innovation provided by the growing network of emerging technology providers and innovators worldwide.

“We see the future of news media being invented right now, all around the globe, by hundreds of different companies, universities, and entrepreneurs,” the document says.

“However, their separate efforts, research, prototypes, and roll-outs receive inconsistent attention and analysis. Many good ideas fail only because of a lack of development support. Others get hyped beyond their real value. Vital lessons and examples are not being widely enough or rapidly enough disseminated.  Considering these challenges, the global Alliance intends to serve four key missions:

- To SHARE a strategic vision and a clear understanding of research and development programs in the works with potential value to the news media industry. The Media Innovation Hub is a catalyst and a curator for start-ups and emerging technology or service providers with growth potential in the news media sector.

- To CONNECT those various efforts to partners and resources so that they might reach their potential. The Media Innovation Hub will screen and map international technology, consumer innovation, best practices, and key players. It keeps the international news publishing community up-to-date about the latest trends and actionable business cases. It serves as an innovation evangelist and accelerates the technology transfer between research centres, suppliers, and publishers.

- To FACILITATE stronger and more effective cooperation between news publishers and the academic and research environment. The Hub will share the results of those initiatives with the wider news media industry, which is hungry for more change. The Hub provides news media companies and their technological partners with services to access international pre-competitive, multi-disciplinary research and innovation programs initiated by private and public funding partners, particularly the Horizon 2020 European R&D framework program.

- TO TRAIN media professionals and encourage multi-disciplinary approaches enhanced by closer collaboration with academic centres associated to the project.

The document “is a starting point and a statement of principles,” said Vincent Peyrègne, CEO of WAN-IFRA. “It is a work in progress, and we welcome comments and participation.”

“The project has already received a lot of attention and strong support,” he said. “We felt at WAN-IFRA that there was a lack of a global community anchor and we felt the need to fulfill this role. Everything is about partnership.”

The International Alliance for Media Research and Innovation steering committee includes: WAN-IFRA, World Association for Newspaper and News Publishers; EPFL, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; iMinds - Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; PUCRS - Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande Sul, Brazil; NextMedia, an initiative of Finnmedia, Finland; Media Innovation Studio in the School of Journalism and Media at UCLan in England, England; Aalto University School of Business, Finland (tbc); Médias Suisses, the publishers' association of the French-speaking part of Switzerland; AFP - Agence France-Presse, France; and Grupo RBS, Brazil.

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Stephen Fozard, Media Innovation Hub Project Director, stephen.fozard@wan-ifra.org, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis rue Beaubourg, F-75003 Paris - France