Articles

Sourcefabric Article

To facilitate technological innovation within media organisations, nonprofit software developer Sourcefabric z.ú. has launched a new roundtable to help news agencies share development costs and improve the tools that deliver their journalism to clients.
Called the <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=0c90aef04e&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Superdesk Wire Club</a>, the forum will serve as a development steering committee for news agencies that use Superdesk, our open-source newsroom management solution. Through the club, members will identify features or functions that are of shared interest and then decide on collectively funding their development. Founding members of the Superdesk Wire Club include <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=cf036374a2&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Norwegian news agency NTB</a>, <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=73c25bda85&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Belgian news agency Belga</a>, and the <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=7b6c354dc1&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australian Associated Press (AAP)</a>. Additional agencies are expected to join soon.
“This is about people talking to each other, but it’s also about coordinating solutions,” says Karel Petrák, Sourcefabric project manager and Wire Club organiser. “What do Superdesk users need and want most? The Wire Club will help us answer that question.”
Since Superdesk’s public release in early 2016, nearly a dozen publishers have adopted the CMS or are transitioning to the software, including some of Europe’s leading news agencies. Every month, the platform delivers more than 300,000 news items to over 80 million readers on four continents. Because Superdesk is built on <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=e01c897b52&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">open-source code base</a>, users can collectively make improvements; the Superdesk Wire Club will facilitate this collaboration.
Geir Terje Ruud, NTB’s chief development officer, said: “It's a good idea to build a system for cooperation between customers and users on systems like Superdesk. If we, as customers, can pull or push in the same direction, development will be faster, more efficient and definitely closer to the needs of the customers.”
Tom Wuytack, Belga’s CIO, added: “The Wire Club will allow us to sit in the driver’s seat to ensure that further evolution of the Superdesk software remains relevant for Belga. It will also give us direct insight into useful innovations and integrations from other agencies.”
With journalism still facing difficult economic times, news agencies have begun to cooperate to improve efficiencies and address shared technological challenges. For instance, a group of six European news agencies – led by Dutch agency ANP – is working to develop a system to determine <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=6e63ab7d4c&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">what content users find most engaging</a>. Another initiative, a collaboration between the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur and STT, the Finnish news agency, aims to help news agencies track and match content to reader preferences.
But the Superdesk Wire Club is one of the only forums in the world for news agencies to partner on the development of a common newsroom CMS.
Aslan Aslanov, President of the News Agencies World Congress, says disruptive technologies – particularly social media and mobile platforms – have made technological cooperation among media organisations all the more vital. Any network that brings news agencies together “can help agencies find significant solutions to [shared] challenges,” he said.
Wolfgang Nedomansky, Managing Director of<a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=97dfd378cc&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> MINDS International</a>, one of the world’s leading networks of news agency CEOs, CTOs, editors and business professionals, concurs. “Efficiency and collaboration are keys for the success of news agencies in the future,” <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=dec3935257&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">he says</a>.
Club membership is open only to news agencies. With many of the world’s news agencies facing a variety of<a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=ba79ccd16e&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> commercial, political, and technological challenges</a>, the club’s initial aim is to strengthen this key part of the media industry.
Sourcefabric’s Karel Petrák says: “We want our news-agency partners to have a seat at the Superdesk development table, and the Superdesk Wire Club is one way to do that.”

Sourcefabric launches initiative to help news agencies develop a common newsroom CMS

mike-johnston

Sourcefabric z.ú., Europe’s largest developer of open-source technology for the news media, is doubling the size of its Prague headquarters and merging its German for-profit subsidiary, Sourcefabric GmbH, with its Czech commercial arm, Sourcefabric Ventures s.r.o.
Established in April 2010, parent organisation Sourcefabric z.ú. is a nonprofit developer of open-source software and digital solutions and works to strengthen the editorial and economic independence of media organisations worldwide. This mission-driven development is supported with income generated by Sourcefabric’s subordinate commercial companies, along with donations and project-related funding.
After the organisational merger is completed, global commercial activities will be centered in Prague, where they will be managed by Sourcefabric Ventures s.r.o. The German market, and Sourcefabric’s numerous German customers, will remain a key priority going forward.
With independent media organisations facing a variety of technical and economic challenges, Sourcefabric’s software has been developed to improve newsroom efficiencies. For instance, by automating certain tasks in the news production and distribution processes, news organisations powered by Sourcefabric solutions can free up editors’ time to produce quality journalism.
The core technology powering that vision is Superdesk, a content management and newsroom workflow system <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=4d0ccd629f&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">developed in partnership</a> with leading news organisations – including the Australian Associated Press (AAP) and the national news agency of Norway (NTB). Since Superdesk’s public release in early 2016, nearly a dozen other publishers have adopted the CMS or are transitioning to the software, including some of Europe’s leading news agencies. Every month, the platform delivers more than 300,000 news items to over 80 million readers on four continents.
Among Superdesk’s strengths is its open-source code base, which allows partner media organisations to collectively make improvements, share development costs, and redistribute needed resources for other journalistic endeavors.
To facilitate this innovative media partnership, Sourcefabric has just launched a news agency collaborative called the <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=f0808fc581&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Superdesk Wire Club</a>. The goal of this new forum is to bring together Superdesk clients from around the world to guide the system’s future development in line with the particular needs of news agencies. Founding members of the Superdesk Wire Club include Norwegian news agency NTB, Belgian news agency Belga and Australian Associated Press.
Beyond Superdesk, Sourcefabric’s software is used to strengthen journalism and foster media innovations in some of the world’s most restrictive environments. Other tools in its portfolio of solutions for independent media include:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=b940f3acb1&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Superdesk Publisher</a>, a native extension of Superdesk used to manage news websites and other forms of digital publishing. Current Superdesk Publisher projects include two independent news organisations in the Balkans – <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=413f4a4da9&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Insajder.net</a>in Serbia, and <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=0907d51779&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vijesti.me</a> in Montenegro – and <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=ad432ca08b&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brasil247</a>, one of Brazil’s leading independent media outlets.</li>
<li><a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=f7ffcec5c5&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Airtime Pro</a>, an all-in-one Internet radio automation and broadcasting platform used by DJ hobbyists as well as professional radio stations around the globe.</li>
<li><a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=2816c58efb&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Live Blog</a>, a live online blogging tool, is being used by major media outlets (such as German news agency dpa) to diversify coverage and develop new revenue streams.</li>
</ul>
To broaden its range of media activities, Sourcefabric has partnered with Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), which invests in independent media in challenging environments. A Sourcefabric-MDIF joint venture, SFS Ventures s.r.o., <a href="https://sourcefabric.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b1ad01fc31dc6604968e6439&amp;id=3e44573a93&amp;e=651952ac7d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recently acquired a majority stake</a> in Poland’s Eurozet radio station.
Sourcefabric’s renovated headquarters will occupy two floors of Štenc House, an Art Nouveau building near Prague’s Old Town square that housed a printing press and artist studios in the early 20th century.
“Our client base is expanding, and so, too, are our ambitions. Quality journalism is the lifeblood of democratic societies, and open-source technology is the backbone of quality journalism,” said Sourcefabric Managing Director Sava Tatić. “Our goal, therefore, is to ensure that journalists everywhere, operating under any circumstance, have the tools they need to do their work.”

Sourcefabric z.ú. to Expand Global Headquarters and Streamline Commercial Operations

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