Editor’s note: In an ongoing series, INMA is profiling our most engaged members — our super fans — to give members a chance to learn more about each other. Today we profile Lukas Görög, data strategist for Die Presse in Vienna, Austria.

The birth of News Media 3.0 is something Lukas Görög, data strategist for Die Presse in Vienna, is excited about.

According to Nieman Lab, News Media 3.0 will open the door to a future in which companies or individual news creators can collaborate in ways that were not viable in the past. This excites Görög, who sees a tremendous amount of potential as these new doors are opened.   

Being a data strategist, Görög is also well aware of the positive and negative power of data: “Data is like a fire. If used properly, one can cook a delicious dinner with its help. If not, one will set his/her own house on fire.”

In recent years, he has become more aware of the many possibilities of data usage but also is aware of the growing number of threats. “This knowledge is helping me design new data projects at DiePresse in the most functional and safest way possible,” Görög said.

INMA recently caught up with him to learn more. 

INMA: If you had your career to do over again, what would you want to know in the beginning?

Görög: During my career, I understood that the most important are relationships and bonds between people. So, I treat every relationship as if it would be a lifelong one.

INMA: What makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

Görög: While working for a quality medium in Austria, my work is having a big impact on journalism in the country. Data and tech influence us more than we are able to admit. And when not only friends but also random people keep telling you that Die Presse is the best news medium in Austria — that is the thing that gives you wings. 

INMA: What is the craziest job or project you’ve ever done in media — and what did you learn from it? 

Görög: There were plenty of them: building a data lake, setting up the tracking, designing article recommendation logics, designing dashboards and reports, and even doing data journalism. During my five-year career in the media industry, I worked in all of these areas, and each of them brought me one step further.

Probably the most impactful one was bringing data directly to the journalists via dashboards, reports, analyses, and ongoing explanations. Not all journalists have a mathematics or tech background, whereas looking at numbers feels more natural [for me]. But seeing that those who don’t [have this ability] can also enjoy working with data and are interested in using the data is extremely motivational.

INMA: What success within your company are you most proud of right now?

Görög: As a data strategist, I am very proud that I could help change the company mindset, transforming the mindset where data is not an understood buzzword to a mindset where data is in the head and heart of the news media organisation.

Furthermore, I am very satisfied when data is used, seen, and felt within all the company departments. Now, without looking at data, we basically wouldn’t make any decision.   

INMA: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Görög: If not everyone is onboarded on the project, nobody is. News media develops as quickly as the slowest element of it. And if you need to increase the speed of development, you must offer a helping hand, very often with education and training.

INMA: What do you do to relax?

Görög: Hiking and kayak.

INMA: If you hadn’t gone into news media, what was your backup plan?

Görög: I studied renewable energy — I would possibly be fighting climate change, or I would be running a small coffee house.  

INMA: What is your favourite thing to read?

Görög: Professionally, Greg Piechota’s blogs at INMA, and personally, self-development literature.

INMA: What do you find the most challenging/interesting about the news media industry right now?

Görög: News media reflects and impacts the world we live in. To do it more precisely, many newspapers start adopting new formats like video or podcasts. But these are traditionally more typical for TV and radio stations. This transformation is connected not only with new formats, and the speed of content creation, but also with a change of mindset.

I believe we can observe, almost in real time, the inception of News Media 3.0. And this challenge is a very interesting process I will keep an eye on.

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