52 ROUND TABLE Covid-19
CGI Media Solutions Michael Pfitzner, vice-president of newsroom solutions
Working with distributed teams, having home offices with videoconferencing and access to our collaborative remote workflow platforms have been an integral part of our working environment for a long time. Our entire staff was working from the home office before the official lockdown. We have cancelled all our client on-site meetings and instead use videoconferencing, and it’s business as usual for our product and service teams that are available 24/7. In the near future, we are likely to see production workflows for newsrooms that are bound to studios or galleries, which will all require special measures, like separating teams or working with fewer people per team. As core production workflows can rarely be changed spontaneously, newsroom teams have a challenge in adapting to the current situation. Any cloud- based technology with remote workflow capabilities can make the transition easier. Longer term, there is sure to be a rise in the normality of working from a home office or remotely working for core production crews. The drastic and rapid change, coupled with an increased demand for consuming broadcast, has revealed capabilities in remote working previously not deemed possible. As a result, developments in future products
will certainly need to have a stronger emphasis on being accessible and usable off-premises. Working remotely in an effective and efficient way has been key to business continuity. This relates not only to our staff, but to the editorial teams of our customers. We have observed that remote working is possible to a wider degree than people imagined, without severely impacting business. But we also recognise the disadvantage of not being able to have a quick chat with your co-workers across the desk, and we miss the casual exchange of information that happens in an office. Additionally, we have learned that during times of crises, news production needs to be even faster in capturing breaking news and distributing it simultaneously across the various channels: on-air, online, radio and social media. Multiplatform distribution has become more essential than ever. IN TIMES OF CRISES, NEWS PRODUCTION NEEDS TO BE EVEN FASTER
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