Three media CEOs shared their processes and insights with INMA members during INMA’s World Congress of News Media on Wednesday.

Dr. Rainer Esser from Die Zeit, Katharina Link from Pulse Africa, and Jessica Peppel-Schulz from Tamedia spoke about their individual processes of leading a newsroom, the incorporation of AI into their work, and how they engage with new forms of social media. 

Relationships drive change at Die Zeit

Die Zeit, a privately owned weekly long-form news publication that has become one of the most profitable in Germany, had once been in decline, with minimal profits and low subscriptions. Esser explained. This fostered a desire for improvement and change.

“When a company is in deep trouble, people get a sense that they should move,” he said. 

To develop and maintain this mindset, he turned to a strategy of creating relationships with his staff.

“I was the first CEO to come in and talk to every person and put them on the right track,” he said.  “I would stand in the elevator and talk to people about how they feel, what music they listen to, what fears or ideas they have.” 

When it comes to bringing these ideas to life, Esser said he has a no-loss mindset: “There are no failures, the only failure is not doing anything … . Our focus shouldn’t be on cutting costs but on growth and growing our projects.”

Tamedia fosters a change mindset

Tamedia is a publicly traded news company based in Switzerland with an audience reach of 9 million, Peppel-Schulz explained.

Peppel-Schulz focused on the importance of having the right mindset and a newsroom that understands the necessity for change: “Nothing will ever work if we don’t have the effort of the people to make it happen. The employees’ satisfaction is at the core of success.”

Peppel-Schulz further explained the process of creating an innovative mindset and what it takes, including internal cooperation, time, and patience. She identified the strategy of using small teams when starting a project: “Small teams mean small measurable results, fast successes with low risk.”  

Along with clarity from all stakeholders in the company, Peppel-Schulz said, “it’s all about timing and process. You can’t rush that, it takes time to work things out with your team to identify and solve problems.”

Pulse Africa exploring digital options

Pulse Africa’s Link shared the innovative ways the company is using AI and social media, engaging in TikTok and Instagram reels, and the launch of digital twins.  

The multinational private news and media company has a monthly reach of 100 million. Link explained how AI can be a useful tool for agenda setting, interview prep, and translations. These ways all support the function of a newsroom.

The creation of digital twins —  a digital replica of a journalist that copies the behaviour and characteristics of the journalist, but only exists online — has also been exciting. 

“Journalists have complete ownership of their digital twin; if they leave the company, that digital twin can no longer be used,” Link assured.

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