2022-08-23 Robert Shehadeh

Top 5 Reasons to Consider Automating Print Production

Learn the top five reasons why newsrooms should take advantage of automating the print production process.

The traditional newsroom model of creating print content and converting it to digital content is outdated. To build engaged audiences, newsrooms can no longer be constrained by production tasks. Modern newsrooms can now consider automating the print production process to serve print readers with less labor. If you’re curious to learn how it helps improve efficiency in the newsroom, then keep on reading to see the top five reasons why you would want to automate your print production workflows.

 

  1. Focus On Content Excellence

When your business implements a print automation solution, journalists can focus on writing, photography and videography, untethered from print space considerations. Automating the placement of stories and photos on print pages is a first step toward a stronger focus on digital transformation.  

 

  1. Create Channel-Neutral Content

Channel-neutral content can flow as easily into the print paper, or e-reader, as it can onto a website or into an app. With 22% of total effort to deliver a newspaper being used on page layout and copy fitting, this is key to efficiency. Since many readers now get their news online, through apps, or in e-reader form, it’s imperative to have content that can be distributed efficiently to different presentation platforms.  

 

  1. Share The Full Story

Rather than writing and editing primarily to “fill the space” in print, a print automation solution, like Naviga Publisher, provides the ability to focus reporters and editors more on reporting the news and less on production tasks. 

 

  1. Save Your Manpower

By automating the print production workflow, newsrooms can save hours, or days, of manpower. For example, let’s say the average newsroom spends 15% of its time deciding on what content to run, 30% designing the paper, 20% fitting the content, 30% adjusting the content as stories evolve, and 5% creating the final outputs. If your newsroom implements automation in design, fitting, and adjusting content, you could save anywhere from 50%-80% of your team’s time and use it more strategically. 

With Reuter’s Institute reporting that 81% of media companies see AI as an important tool for automating and speeding up newsroom workflows, such as the tagging of content, assisted subbing, and interview transcription, this isn’t something that should be ignored. 

 

  1. Optimize Your Newsroom

Newsrooms can use the money saved by automating print production to create even more content.  

To give you an idea, one of Naviga’s customers, Agderposten of Polaris Media, implemented Naviga Publisher in their newsroom and experienced significant savings in both time and money. They’ve estimated the cost per page has been reduced from €15 to €5. In addition to that, including licenses and other external costs, the total savings from moving to print automation is estimated to be around 60%. 

Newspapers are starting to jump on board with automation to realize all these benefits; at least 22% of publishers surveyed by Naviga are considering using print automation technology. Ready to learn more? Check out our Print Automation e-book, Automating The Print Manufacturing Workflow.