Keynote by Ladina Heimgartner at the European Publishing Congress
"We tell stories - and no one does that as well as we do". Ringier top manager Ladina Heimgartner opened the European Publishing Congress in Vienna on Thursday with a keynote speech.
A spirit of optimism in a time of massive upheaval in the media industry: with an opening speech by Ladina Heimgartner, Head of Global Media at Ringier and CEO of the View-Group in Switzerland, kicked off this year's European Publishing Congress in Vienna. In front of a packed auditorium at Palais Niederösterreich, she encouraged media professionals and publishing managers from across Europe to confidently embrace the latest technological developments in the field of generative artificial intelligence.
The central theme of the congress, with many industry experts and speakers, is the challenges that AI technologies pose for journalism and the business model of media companies. "We are dealing with a tectonic shift," Heimgartner said in her keynote. "Business models need to be completely rethought."
After the disruptive upheavals, first caused by the triumph of the global Internet and later by the advent of smartphones, applications like ChatGTP have the potential to completely change the media landscape once again. The first two stages of development initially had the industry very unsettled. "I'm convinced we can do it this time," said Heimgartner. A lot has been learned from the last two bouts of change - also with a view to now developing profitable AI strategies.
However, many media companies are also facing new competitors. "We have to expect the barrier to market entry to fall," says the CEO of the View-Group. Moreover, existing offerings can't protect themselves from being captured by AI mechanisms. "Nothing will be too regional, too local or too niche anymore not to be discovered by crawlers." They won't stop at paywalls, either.
Nevertheless, Ladina Heimgartner appeals to colleagues in the industry to face the discussion about AI in the media with composure and openness and to be sure of their own strengths. "People are looking for people," she says. "We tell stories - and no one can do that as well as we can." (pp)
The European Publishing Congress will be held in Vienna on Wednesday and Thursday and is aimed at executives from the fields of editorial, digital, design and management. It is supported by Readly, the Association of Austrian Newspapers (VÖZ), the province of Lower Austria and Brauunion Österreich.
