Credit: Image by Thinkstock
Newspaper businesses do not package content the way young people want to consume it, argued Markus Pettersson, project manager at Sweden's Stampen at the World Editors Forum in Bangkok.
"We need to focus on the passions of young people," he said. "They are hit with so much social, editorial, commercial content – and they are filtering with their hearts rather than their minds." He urged publishers to think in terms of mobile and consider how paywalls are padlocks on a phone.
"We need to focus on passions of young people," he said. When Stampen was addressing this point they saw an opportunity in Swedish singer Håkan Hellström, who he explained is loved by Swedes of all ages. The media group had a wealth of archived images and copy.
And the conclusion? "Let's make hakanhellstrom.com and let's make it mobile," Pettersson said. "And let's use WordPress", for fast reporting.
The site is practising "new storytelling" techniques, he said, using digital music site Spotify to create lists, including of songs which inspired the pop star.
"You need to be credible," Pettersson said. "We couldn't make a Justin Bieber site as it's not our niche."
"And there's money in this", he explained.
Journalism.co.uk is in Bangkok for the World Editors Forum. Follow @SarahMarshall3, @JohnCThompson and #editors13 for updates.
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