Print media won’t die, but it must adapt

Jean-Luc Breysse, deputy chief executive officer of Le Firago Group, one of the biggest media companies in France, says print media is not going to die.

Jean-Luc Breysse, deputy chief executive officer of Le Firago Group, one of the biggest media companies in France, says print media is not going to die.

Published Jun 11, 2017

Share

IMAGINE waking up in the morning to buy your favourite newspaper and you’re told newspapers are no more - print is dead.

Well, stop worrying, because according to the deputy chief executive of Le Firago Group, one of the biggest media companies in France, this is not going to happen.

“Print is going through intense change, is print dead? No, we don’t think so,” said Jean-Luc Breysse. “The fact that it’s going through intense transformation and competition doesn’t mean it’s dead. We need to invest brain and money to transform our business.”

Breysse was speaking during the World News Congress in Durban this week.

“Our strategy is editorial excellence. This is the only way we can make our brands famous and reliable,” he said.

Breysse said one of the advantages for print journalism was that people needed in-depth analysis, not “superficial slogans of fake news”.

He warned that for print media to weather the storms of digital media, it must “adapt and transform”.

Le Firago is the oldest daily newspaper in France, founded in 1826 with a circulation of more than 300 000.

While some were already wielding pens waiting to write the obituary of print media, Breysse said newspapers will never vanish.

“We are having a hard time, but we believe in what we do. We believe that if we stay alert to the revolution of usage, if we befriend technology, if we resist the doubt and survive through the media revolution, then excellence, reason and good sales will prevail.”

In 2015, Independent Media was named the winner of the 2nd Annual Global Innovation Awards - Africa region at the International News Media Association’s awards ceremony in New York.

This was after the launch of its Mobile Journalism (Mojo) studio.

@LunganiZungu

Click here to Follow the Sunday Tribune on Twitter

Related Topics: