Published 2014-03-18

Nieman Lab praises VGTV

Nieman Journalism Lab recommends the international media industry to look to Schibsted for successful models for news innovation.

Ken Doctor published the article “The newsonomics of Schibsted’s VGTV and  web-native TV” on the renowned journalism site “The Nieman Journalism Lab”, which is “an attempt is to help journalism figure out its future in an Internet age”. The article has already stirred attention in social media. 

In his article, Doctor takes a close look at why VG has had so much success with building a new digital news business.

Click to read the full article on Nieman Journalism Lab

Ken Doctor’s three main takeaways from the Schibsted model:

  • Focus on growth, not survival. Survival is a fool’s game, as legacy newspapers playing defense just see themselves more and more depleted with each passing year.
  • Be a pirate, not a guard. Go after other people’s markets, as VGTV aims in the long term for TV/video advertising.
  • If you are going to do it, do it at scale. Hiring an analyst or an engineer here or there won’t build the future; hiring 150 in Poland might.

 The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. The Nieman Journalism Lab’s mission “is to investigate and chronicle the changing world of journalism in the Internet age through original reporting, analysis and incisive commentary”.