Newspaper vs. e-paper, target groups & ideas for the future: This and more was the focus of our third MENTogether in cooperation with FUNKE Medien Thüringen last night.

Around 20 media professionals from the fields of journalism/editing, books, blogs, and text were present.

💸 Michael Tallai, Managing Director of Mediengruppe Thüringen, provided insights into the challenges, but also the prospects, of the industry. In addition to competition from free content on social media and an increasingly aging readership, he cited the exploding costs of printed newspapers as a core problem for the entire industry. In addition to paper and energy prices, the main factor here is delivery: "Just the delivery of daily newspapers and advertising papers costs us 60 million euros a year in Thuringia – nothing has been printed yet, and no editor has been paid."

🗞️ 🔜 📱Like other media companies, FUNKE Medien Thüringen will therefore increasingly focus on expanding its digital offerings (e-papers, paid content, etc.) in the future, and the printed daily newspaper will increasingly disappear from the breakfast table.

❓What about podcasts or newsletters as additional sources of income, how is FUNKE trying to reach young people, and what ideas are there for local journalistic content on social media? – These and other questions were brought to the discussion by the participants.

The MENTies were then able to see where the texts for the Thüringer Allgemeine are created daily during a tour of the modern editorial offices on Juri-Gagarin-Ring – and then immediately exchange their impressions and expand their network.

Many thanks to Michael Tallai and his team for the invitation and the exciting insights, as well as to everyone who attended for their great interest and the many interesting conversations!