AZ Medien Gruppe of Switzerland, which owns radio, TV, and a range of
newspaper interests, announced that it has restructured and introduced a
crossmedia department. Led by Christoph Marty, who successfully was
running the newspaper until now, the new entity will combine all
online activities with all classified activities.
That in itself is a nice structural move, as we have known for years that the two belong
together but rarely have we seen newspapers admit it — and reorganize
their departments accordingly.
In addition, Marty will be responsible
for further developing some very successful crossmedia topics such as
health and cooking, which already are proving to be sustainable
revenue sources engaging TV, radio, online, and newspaper audiences.
The news has prompted a set of other news organizations to look
closely at their media skills and strategies. Ringier announced a
“new media project” which intends to look at digital business models
across the various countries where Ringier is involved.
To make the distinction between old and new media is so 1994. As if reality — and
mainly newspapers’ main sponsors, the advertising world — have not
long abandoned such trivial distinctions and arrived at intention-driven, not media-driven,
business decisions.
