That’s the conclusion from a new WAN-Ifra study, World News Future & Change.

Continual transformation and change is a way of life, not a one-time process, according to the study, conducted by WAN-Ifra’s Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project in partnership with the Norwegian School of Management and the UK University of Central Lancashire.

Publishers recognise the way to create these new outside revenues is through investing in new product development. Other important investments listed include marketing and branding, increased audience research and investment in customer relationship management.

More than 67 per cent of survey-takers indicated they will develop new media products in the next 12 months, and half said they are looking for new ways to streamline workflows and processes, so work can be done more efficiently. In fact, six out of ten respondents said developing new media products has the greatest potential to save money and drive efficiency.

Reducing employee numbers is low on the list: Instead, respondents are focussing on cost reductions in materials, printing and distribution, which represent an estimated 70 per cent of a typical newspaper company’s costs. Other areas in which newspaper companies are seeking efficiencies include consolidation of office space, IT and content syndication and content generation.

The second annual report says publishers around the globe understand their traditional revenue sources will not return to the levels they enjoyed in years past, and are making the development of new products and new channels their top priorities for more profit.

“The media ecosystem is changing rapidly, and newspapers and their ancillary businesses are developing new businesses to meet the challenges.

“The hundreds of publishers from around the world responding to our survey are building new print and digital publications, as well as other businesses, such as training and conferences,” says Martha Stone, director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project.

“Our survey documents the reality publishers see in the diminishing print advertising business, but are bullish about building new businesses to replace all or some of that revenue.”

The survey in nine languages aimed to reach top executives from management, commercial and editorial sectors to understand how each branch views the changes that must happen to manage change and flourish in the new media environment.

Almost one-third of the 500 respondents from almost 100 countries came from media companies with 51-250 employees, while nearly another third came from companies with more than 500 employees. National, local and regional papers each provided about one-third of respondents, with an insignificant number coming from international publications.

A quarter of the survey takers came from the Nordic region of Europe. Compared to 2009’s study, geographic distribution did not change significantly.

Respondents detailed the state of revenue making over the past year in their companies and countries, during the global advertising downturn. They also gave insight into their plans to restore and grow their revenue-making over the next one to five years. Plans include things like cost savings, investments, efficiencies and personnel growth and development.

Despite the wide range of resources, regions and company size represented in the survey, a majority of newspaper company executives agreed on the No. 1 objective for their companies in the next year: new product development.

In the 2010 study, more respondents indicated they need additional revenue from outside sources to achieve their business objectives. Nineteen per cent (up more than 4 percent from 2009) said they will need between 11 per cent and 20 per cent more to achieve their objectives. Another 27 per cent said they will need between 21 percent and 30 percent more non-traditional revenue in the next five years, up 1.3 per cent from 2009.

in addition to the cost savings above, investing in training and development is also important, with developing salespeoples’ skills and developing journalists’ skills seen as most important, followed by converging multimedia operations and inter-departmental cooperation, as well as e-business development training and management/leadership development.

The World News Future and Change Study report is offered free to WAN-Ifra members and can be purchased by non-members. Its executive summary is available for free download, see www.wan-press.org/article18731.html.

SFN provides WAN-Ifra members with strategy reports, a library of case studies and business ideas, and a wealth of other information. For information on membership contact Birke Becker at membership@wan-ifra.org.