Ifra has released new ‘flashlight’ and special reports on its current research topics which include advertising strategies, content management, printing technology projects and Web 3.0.

Additions to the Flashlight series cover developments in the media industry including online content use and Web 3.0. Four new Special Reports deal with topics including semicommercial quality, printing blanket specifications, and multi-channel publishing systems and strategies in the advertising business. These are obtainable in various languages both in print or PDF form via www.ifra.com.



The Flashlight topics are:

Safeguarding online content –The tools behind the ACAP-Robots.txt debate, with implications which go right to the heart of the publishing business and its fight for the future;

Web 3.0 – Harnessing data intelligence – describes the emergence of another important space that meets the requirements of knowledge organisation, groups and communities on the web;



The new Ifra Special Reports are:

Semicommercial – Proposal for a new print process standard (28 pages) – presents the results of work by the Ifra standardisation working group for semicommercial printing;

Specifications for blankets in newspaper offset production (16 pages) – covers the discussion between representatives of the press and blanket manufacturers, users and Ifra, under the leadership of bvdm, on blanket parameters from the point of view of their relevance to practice, and the specifications agreed;

Systems for a multi-channel publishing environment (44 pages) – explains how multi-channel publishing systems differ from models for print-centric publishing.

It is about multi-channel publishing environments and their potential for evolved relationships between newspaper publishers and their customers. The digital revolution, media fragmentation and new media experiences have created new opportunities for business and the digital media model extends far beyond print. Printed newspapers are no longer central to the majority of peoples’ media experience, especially for younger generations weaned on digital media and media on demand.

Multi-channel publishing exploits media ‘complementarity’ and has the scope to use all available media channels including but not limited to print, information websites and pages, blogs and forums, social networking sites, electronic newspapers, on demand printed newspapers, SMS messaging, radio and television, and any other channel used to communicate a message.

Strategies in the advertising business – Customer centric communication (84 pages) – explains the new marketing concept for newspaper media, an area of major importance for the future of newspaper publishing houses: the future-oriented marketing of the newspaper media products.

The concept builds on the development of society, customers and media. The new appreciation of Customer Centric Communication enables the regional newspaper media to benefit from the increasing networking of the digital industry. In future the emphasis will be on the localisation and personalisation of information as well as the corresponding appeal to the customers, it says.



Two further ‘Where NEWS?’ reports published in August 2008 are:

The future of newspaper printing technology; and

Scenarios of media use in Europe and North America in 2017.



The Ifra research initiative was launched in March 2006 with a budget of more than one million euros. The accompanying IFRA reports are published as original versions in the English language, with summaries in other languages (translated).

Ifra members can download results of the ‘Where NEWS?’ project free. Contact

Ulrike Leis-Kolb, email leiskolb@ifra.com about the special reports, or see www.ifra.com/specialreports.