executive
Every new year, the internet is flooded with articles predicting what will happen in the year ahead. Some of these are interesting to read. But the problem with predictions is that they're passive. You see that someone says something might happen, and then you go: "Okay, well, let's wait and see how that turns out".
This is incredibly unproductive. You don't want to wait for a prediction to come true. You want to be a part of creating the circumstances for it to emerge in the first place.
So, let's do that in this article. Instead of predicting the future, let's talk about which trend you could benefit the most from focusing on in the year ahead. Or to put it another way, which trends should you use to define your future?
I'm going to divide this article into three sections: Newsroom focus, business-side focus, and market trends. And so, let's start with the newsroom.
One of the most persistent and important trends is the changing public perception about what we think journalism should be. In fact, if we look at the patterns, 2022 is going to be a pivotal year that will divide publishers into 'old journalism' and 'new journalism'.
Mind you, I'm not talking about political attacks on journalism, or bias. What I'm talking about is the expectation that people have today of someone working as a journalist. What do people expect from us in the future, and what will happen if we don't live up to that?
Specifically, there are three things we need to change:
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Baekdal is a magazine for media professionals, focusing on media analysis, trends, patterns, strategy, journalistic focus, and newsroom optimization. Since 2010, it has helped publishers in more than 40 countries, including big and small publishers like Condé Nast, Bonnier, Schibsted, NRC, and others, as well as companies like Google and Microsoft.
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"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé
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