From Disruption to Transformation: New Strategies for Prosperity in a Digital Age
May 14, 2015
The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association (SNPA) and the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media are hosting a conference to steer newspaper executives toward greater profitability as technology redefines consumer behavior and alters the traditional ways that readers consume news and information.
The conference – "From Disruption to Transformation: New Strategies for Prosperity in a Digital Age" – will be held May 18-20 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The conference is led by Penny Abernathy, the author of "Saving Community Journalism: The Path to Profitability" and a Knight Chair of Journalism and Digital Economics, and JoAnn Sciarrino, longtime advertising executive and currently Knight Chair of Digital Advertising and Marketing. Abernathy and Sciarrino, along with other news executives, draw upon cutting-edge research and analysis that reveals pathways to transformation and long-term profitability.
The program content is geared toward publishers, general managers and CEOs.
"The goal of this conference is to help top newspaper executives come up with a strategy for their company, a timeline for implementation, and a system for measuring progress," Abernathy said.
Abernathy, a journalist and business executive at several news organizations, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, presented a one-hour overview of the program at the SNPA News Industry Summit in Charlottesville last October, and similar overviews at other press associations. The extended conference in Chapel Hill is designed to delve into the details of three key strategies for success, and to examine the successes at newspaper companies that already are deploying these strategies to transform their businesses.