The 2008 Newsroom Barometer, a global survey, which collected the opinions of more than 700 editors and senior news executives, reveals that many press executives around the world are optimistically grasping modern media trends while increasingly forgoing more traditional practices. At the same time there are important differences that stem from varying obstacles and advantages unique to the press in different regions of the world.

Fifty-six representatives of the press from Africa and the Middle East responded to the survey, which was conducted by Zogby International and commissioned by the World Editors Forum and Reuters. RAP 21 analyzed their responses, in comparison to the worldwide findings, with the idea of them being a microcosm of the industry at large in Africa and the Middle East.

Around the world, moving away from the solely ink and paper news model has taken sway-44% believe on-line will be the most common platform for reading news in the future. Though, this change will not lead traditional news forms into obsolescence-31% still think print will remain the main news outlet. Concomitantly, 86% believe integrated print and online newsrooms will become the norm, and 83% believe journalists will be expected to be able to produce content for all types of media, in print or online.

In Africa and the Middle East, the responses suggest that the media is fully attuned with the pressures of moving into the digital mixed-media age, though it appears they are making the shift at a slower rate. In ten years time, 44% of the respondents indicated that print would remain the standard platform for reading news while online media would garner 28% of readers and mobile and e-paper, 21% and 5%, respectively. Similarly, 72% of journalists will still be expected to become multimedia journalists despite the longstanding print focus.

An anomaly to emerging newspaper markets, the survey indicates that African editors are split between making the shift to a free-news model. 44% reported that they think news, online and print, will be free, 41% said it will not be free and 15% are unsure. In contrast, in the Middle East and Northern Africa, 74% think news will be free.

Due to the print media stronghold in Africa and the Middle East it appears that the urgency of setting up integrated newsrooms is not as imperative as in other parts of the world. Still, 77% of newsrooms are expected to adjust to new advents and embrace the integrated or multimedia newsroom model within 5 years time. Currently, 38% claim to already have an integrated newsroom, compared to 53% around the world. This figure can be contested, as the meaning of an integrated newsroom can be unclear, especially to smaller newsrooms insofar as staffers typically perform more than one job.

Nevertheless, over the next two years it is believed that 39% of newsrooms will make the change in Africa and the Middle East, and also at the same rate at the worldwide level.

Such indications suggest that the media in Africa and the Middle East is just slightly behind the worldwide trend of breaking the hegemony of traditional print. The survey signifies more static development in African and Middle Eastern newsrooms, perhaps a phenomenon linked to the unique obstacles and needs that face their media.

Globally, the greatest threat facing the industry, according to 58% of the respondents, is the declining number of young people who read newspapers. Furthermore, there are a number of other threats that are linked to the declining young readership rates. 38% saw the Internet and digital media as a threat and not far behind, lack of editorial innovation (36%) and lack of investment (29%), all of which contribute to not securing new loyal audiences among today’s youth.

In Africa, the gamut of threats facing the future of newspapers arise more evenly from several sources, rather than being more heavily laid in one cause. The decline of young readers, though still the most imminent threat facing newspapers in Africa, was identified as a threat by in comparison, only 39% of the respondents. Closing the gap, the rise of Internet and digital media (38%) and lack of editorial innovation (34%) were also the second and third most pinpointed threats to newspapers. Dissimilar to the global statistics, radio and television, a preponderant media outlet in many parts of Africa, were also identified as a threat by 18% of senior news executives in Africa, compared to the global statistic of 5%.

Threats to the newspaper’s editorial vitality and independence carry a different set of causes. In Africa and the Middle East, political pressure is the reigning threat, according to 61% of the surveyed editors, whereas only 19% of news editors feel that globally, making this the starkest difference between Africa and the Middle East and the universal findings.

Amid a handful of emergent changes in the industry, the outlook for newsrooms remains encouraging around the world. Especially in Africa and the Middle East, the respondents indicated that they are optimistic about the future of their newspaper. 88% are optimistic and 63% think the journalistic quality will improve over the next ten years. Globally, 85% of the respondents are optimistic about the future, however, it appears that this optimism lays chiefly in financial gains-only 45% of editors around the world foresee journalistic improvement.

In response to this clouded optimism in the industry, editors from all parts of the world said that the most imperative need is a skilled staff of journalists. Between African and the Middle Eastern respondents, 46% reported that they would first retrain their journalists with new media skills, 19% would retrain with traditional skills and 19% would recruit new journalists if resources were made available. At the universal level 35% would retrain journalists with new media skills, 31% would recruit more journalists and only 12% would retrain with traditional skills.

Mending the gap between growth and quality is also crucial inasmuch as a towering 67% percent of respondents in Africa and the Middle East and an equal percentage in the rest of the world believe analysis and editorial pages will increase in importance.

The Barometer Newsroom survey confirms that the worldwide consensus on the future of the newsroom depends heavily on multimedia and a staff that can seamlessly work each new technological facet and long-standing tradition. In Africa and the Middle East, however, it will not be as smooth, or quick, of a transition as overbearing politics might well overwhelm the art of the new innovation age.

To find out more about the Newsroom Barometer please visit the Editors Weblog to read a 6 part series that includes more in-depth analysis and statements from John Zogby and WEF President George Brock.

The articles can be found at: http://www.editorsweblog.org/analys...