March 30, 2015 | Business Models, Keynote
ISOJ Keynote: Robert Picard will analyze “the changing business logic of media companies”
One of the premier academic experts who has extensively studied the crossroads of media economics and management, Robert Picard, will be the keynote speaker on the Saturday afternoon session at the 16th International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ).
The symposium, held April 17-18 at the University of Texas at Austin, attracts journalists, media executives and scholars to discuss the multitude of issues impacting the world of online journalism. Registration for ISOJ can be accessed here.
Participants will hear Picard, from the Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford, address this topic: “The changing business logic of media: Why contemporary trends require rethinking company strategies.”
In an email interview, Picard expanded on the “contemporary trends” forcing media companies to reconsider their business strategies.
“The fundamental factors are changes in dominant technologies of communication, the integration of social media in mass communication, and individualized media use patterns — this affects content distribution and consumption, advertising and marketing.”
Picard, a prolific researcher and commentator on the topic of media business and who spoke at ISOJ in 2006, said recently that “all media are being affected” by the digital revolution. “Music and home video went first, then print and now television.”
He added that his keynote will target television and print, discussing “some of the tipping points that require print and broadcast managers to change their strategies.”
Picard hopes ISOJ participants will walk away from his address April 18 with an appreciation for thinking “about contemporary and future changes and what effects they will have on media firms and their choices.”
“One can’t understand how journalism is being affected without understanding the broader picture of media,” he said. “Far too often decisions are still being made on instinct and hunches and belief that things will somehow get better in the future.”
Chairing the discussion after Picard’s address will be George Sylvie, an associate professor at the School of Journalism, Moody College of Communication at UT Austin.
The program for the ISOJ can viewed here.
ISOJ will be held at the auditorium of the Blanton Museum of Art, on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. General admission is $120 for two days of engaging speakers, but faculty members can buy a discounted ticket for $60 and students can pay just $40. The fee includes entry to all sessions of the conference, plus breakfast and lunch on both days.