January 2012Yes, digital publishing is here to stayTablets might still be a niche market in India, but they are a rapidly growing and promising new media channel for newspaper publishers. Digital publishing to tablets is another step in the ongoing evolution of the media industry. This change forces publishers to define an effective multi-channel publishing strategy, enabling them to effortlessly address any channel and to monetise new channels such as tablets successfully. A special report by Stefan Horst. An analysis of press articles, statements made by research companies and vendor press releases about tablet sales in India in 2011 leaves you with no clear answers when it comes to data. The figures vary from below one, up to several tens of millions. However, the tenor of all these publications is the same: the tablet market in India will flourish in the coming years. The availability of affordable readers such as the Kindle Fire and low-cost tablet devices such as the Aakash are expected to further spur the market. Thus, it is time for publishers to prepare to integrate tablets into their portfolio of supported media channels. The benefits tablets offer for publishers are manifold – they are the first mobile device that enables publishers to extend their existing publication brands to the digital world. With reader-attractive tablet editions of their titles, publishers are able to increase the reach of their publications and to tap new revenue sources. Dinamalar surges forward on the new media frontA 60-year-old newspaper has adapted and moved with the times, and moved quickly. Its Web site attracts more than two million unique visitors and more than 190 million page views a month; its iPhone, iPod and iPad applications have recorded a substantial number of downloads and page views, with various apps being made available on the Android platform as well. All run and managed by a small team that is highly focused on delivering value to users as well as clients, and it has paid off well. Sashi Nair reports on the Dinamalar new media success story.
Balasubramanian refers to dinamalar. com as India’s No. 1 publication portal, with 2.05 million unique visitors and more than 20.43 million visitors a month, more than 192 million page views a month, with about 47 per cent of users in the 25-35-year age group. It’s been quite a remarkable success story, which Balasubramanian in his presentation pointed out was because of innovative content for mobile platforms, dedicated teams for photo and video galleries, dedicated content, technical and marketing teams for the iPhone, iPad and Newshunt mobile site, and special content for the global Cutting down on waste, the right way to optimise productionLean process is a management philosophy focusing on reduction of common wastes to improve overall value, says R.D. Bhatnagar, chief technology officer, DB Corp Ltd. He refers to eight areas where wastage can be reduced and outlines some of the most popular tools used for lean processes. From the Dainik Bhaskar newspaper production workflow, it is clear that each element needs to be seamlessly linked to another and unless there is a harmonious blend, consistency and quality will suffer.
Click for more details ...A printing plant must be designed to cope with extraordinary situationsThe decision to set up a printing plant is a crucial step in the newspaper business. Especially today, when the future of the print industry is facing challenges from many quarters and when media owners need to analyse where future growth markets lie. Setting up a new project has a long-term impact on business. It calls for investing in smart ways and investing right. Selecting the right site is as important as getting expert opinion from engineers and studying all available information. In his presentation made at the WAN-IFRA 2011 Conference, Thomas Wiederkehr, managing director, IE Graphic Engineering, Germany, elaborates on some critical points. Nidhi Adlakha reports No one will doubt the need for understanding the engineering involved in installing presses to cope with natural disasters and challenging economical situations. Throwing some light on aspects that are hardly discussed or considered important was Thomas Wiederkehr, managing director, IE Graphic Engineering, Germany. Addressing delegates at the WAN-IFRA 2011 Conference Print Summit, he stressed the need for engaging technologies that required low maintenance and were sustainable, economical and safe.“There are numerous decisions that a publisher needs to take before finalising a production site. For instance, whether he should own it or outsource the task, adopt expansion measures and a multiple smaller decentralised philosophy of operation instead,” he said. Dwelling on the requirements of a new plant, Wiederkehr said the requirements must be analysed from the point of view of editors, publishers, advertisers and operations managers. The site must offer high product flexibility, adapt to last-minute changes, allow for late editorial closure deadlines and also adapt to market requirements, special sections, new products etc. “The future production site must allow for increased colour capacity for each page, offer high product design flexibility, ensure state-of-the-art production quality and secure the ability to realise new special product effects,” Wiederkehr pointed out. Factors such as increased staff efficiency, shorter production time frames, cost reductions, easy product distribution and delivering quality content rest with the publishers. Optimising the process in newspaper print production
Objective Input Processing ‘Concentrate on making images that reflect your passion’Ross Taylor is an award-winning photojournalist of The Virginian-Pilot in Virginia, the US. His style of photography strives to reveal images which convey a lot more than words. He is currently the mentorship chairman of the National Press Photographers Association in the US. Taylor is grateful for the time he recently spent in India. He has travelled a great deal but India remains his favorite country, the one that has had the most impact on him. He says he feels continually drawn to India and will be "coming back".“It's a country and a people that I hold dearly with a lot of respect and admiration,” says Taylor. Here are his responses to questions posed by Sashi Nair
Do the reader’s eyes usually travel to headlines first or to pictures?
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It was at the WAN-IFRA Conference in Chennai in September last year that S. Balasubramanian, head-marketing, New Media, Dinamalar, presented a case study of how readers could be attracted to consume news on the mobile platform, and how opportunities could be created for generating new revenue. Dinamalar, printed in ten cities across Tamil Nadu, is a 60-year-old newspaper that sells about 0.9 million copies a day. “It is known in the market for editorial standards, providing innovative content and quality readership. It was the first to launch an educational programme for students,” Balasubramanian says to me later when I meet him in his office in Egmore.
Improvement usually means something we have never done before.” It was this statement by Shigeo Shingo, a Japanese industrial engineer and an expert on manufacturing practices and the Toyota Production System, one of the structured and lean manufacturing processes in the world, that R.D. Bhatnagar, chief technology officer, DB Corp Ltd used to kick-start his presentation at the WAN- IFRA Conference on lean production techniques and an optimised workflow.
Process optimisation is the discipline of adjusting a process so as to optimise some specified set of parameters without violating a constraint. The most common goals are minimising cost, maximising throughput and/or efficiency. This is applied in most of the automobile and engineering industries in general, and our focus is how we can use this important Statistical Process Control tool in newspaper printing industries. 
How important is visual imagery for a newspaper or an Internet site?
