The news industry no longer has the luxury of asking what is changing. The question now is what to do about it.

The shift from understanding disruption to operationalising response defines the 96th-Annual INMA World Congress of News Media this week in Berlin. Structured across five days of study tours, conference sessions, focused seminars, and the Global Media Awards dinner, the programme is designed to move media leaders beyond ideas and into execution.

A record 750+ delegates from 38 countries will participate in INMA activities throughout the week, ranging from a thought-provoking conference to practical seminars to immersive study tours to a stellar welcome reception at Museum Island and the Neues Museum to five outdoor walks, runs, and bike rides. 

Across the week, the consistent storyline that emerges is that the forces reshaping journalism — AI, fragmented audiences, and evolving revenue models — are no longer emerging trends. They are already embedded in how news organisations operate.

Study tours: transformation in practice

The Congress opens with three parallel study tours offering a ground-level view of how media companies are adapting in real time. Some 94 media professionals will fan out across 17 German media companies over two days. 

At Axel Springer, delegates will see what it means to re-engineer a publisher around AI — from editorial workflows to product development and revenue strategy. The visit spans newsroom operations, test labs, and cross-brand collaboration, highlighting how technology is now inseparable from journalism.

Other stops reveal how different organisations are solving for growth in distinct ways, including visits to Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Madsack, Der Spiegel, Tagesspiegel, Bauer Media, DPA, and more.

At Die Zeit, the focus is on disciplined product development and how long-form journalism can drive subscription loyalty at scale.

At Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), the lesson is expansion, using targeted digital products to enter new markets and build a sustainable presence.

Regional publishers offer another perspective. Funke Media Group and Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) demonstrate how shared infrastructure, data, and editorial collaboration can scale local journalism while maintaining distinct identities.

At Ippen Digital, delegates will see how AI is being integrated directly into newsroom workflows at scale, from content creation to personalised distribution.

Meanwhile, newer models point to where the news industry is heading.

Media Pioneer presents a membership-first approach built around newsletters, podcasts, and live experiences — even operating from a floating newsroom designed for direct audience engagement.

At Table.Media, the focus shifts to high-value professional audiences, with briefing products designed to deliver actionable intelligence to decision-makers.

Across all three study tours, the consistent takeaway is that transformation is no longer experimental. It is operational.

Conference: redefining value in the AI era

If the study tours show how companies are evolving internally, the two-day conference addresses the broader strategic implications.

The opening keynote from INMA CEO Earl J. Wilkinson will argue that brand has become the defining advantage in an era of commoditised content and collapsing attention — no longer a marketing layer but the core operating system of a news organisation.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales will reframe trust as a system — one that must be built into product design, editorial processes, and audience interaction rather than treated as messaging.

From there, the agenda turns to one of the news industry’s most urgent questions: where value is being created and lost in the AI ecosystem.

As audiences shift from search-based discovery to answer-driven and agent-mediated experiences, traditional pathways between publishers and users are breaking down. Sessions explore how that shift is redistributing power across publishers, platforms, and AI players.

Executives from global organisations bring these dynamics into focus:

• Claudius Senst outlines what it takes to operate as an AI-driven media company
• Paul Bascobert examines the commercial levers reshaping revenue strategies
• Caitlin Clarke explores how premium publishers are adapting audience strategies in AI-driven environments

The second day broadens the discussion to include the wider forces shaping journalism.

Author Anne Applebaum examines the political and societal pressures influencing trust, while Guardian Editor Katharine Viner provides a detailed look at how a major newsroom is restructuring around audience relationships and AI-led innovation. Funke Media’s Julia Becker will share her unfatigable leading role in supporting independent journalism in Germany. 

Other sessions tackle core operational challenges:

• Building meaningful, long-term relationships with younger audiences.
• Designing content that travels across platforms without overloading newsrooms.
• Reinventing local journalism as a sustainable business.
• Rebuilding advertising around first-party audience value rather than scale.

The conference closes with INMA Researcher-in-Residence Greg Piechota outlining the next phase of subscription growth — from new audience funnels and super-user strategies to emerging AI-driven monetisation models.

Seminars: from strategy to execution

The final day of the World Congress shifts fully into implementation.

A series of six parallel seminars offers deep dives into the areas most critical to media companies today, including AI-first newsroom strategy, young audiences, agentic AI, subscription growth, and advertising diversification. The day culminates with an invitation-only executive briefing on news and tech platforms. 

The format is intentionally practical with focused topics and frameworks designed to be applied immediately.

Global Media Awards: recognising the industry’s best work

Running alongside the programme, the INMA Global Media Awards provide a benchmark for innovation across the news industry — spotlighting the work that is already delivering results.

Covering 20 categories from subscriptions and product to newsroom transformation, advertising, and audience engagement, the awards recognise initiatives that combine creativity with measurable impact.

Two hundred finalists, selected from entries across dozens of countries, will see winners announced on May 7 during a dedicated awards dinner at Tipi am Kanzleramt in Berlin — one of the signature moments of the World Congress week. 

A week designed for action

What distinguishes the INMA World Congress is not just the breadth of its agenda but how its components connect.

The study tours provide real-world context. The conference delivers strategic clarity. The seminars translate both into actionable frameworks. The awards dinner rewards outstanding industry initiatives.

Together, they create a full view of how the industry is evolving — and how organisations are responding.

Across the week, the same themes surface repeatedly: integrating AI into core operations, building direct audience relationships, redefining revenue models, and aligning organisations around execution.

The progression is deliberate.

For media leaders, the value of the INMA World Congress lies not just in understanding change but in leaving with a clearer sense of how to act on it.

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