The blog prepared by Tinatin Berdzenishvili, the Director of Media and Communications of First Channel, was published on the website of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

In our latest blog on the importance of Digital Transformation within our Members, Tinatin Berdzenishvili from GPB tells us how, the changing way we’re consuming media is having an impact not just on how broadcasters produce content but on our bodies themselves.

“The media industry is changing, competition is increasing, and audience needs are changing. The media ecosystem is full of new digital players. TV is not enough anymore. The audience expects to receive authoritative, relevant and timely news content across multiple platforms, 24 hours a day.

New generations are already “omnimedia” and multiplatform: they are getting news and information from multiple sources, platforms, news organizations and even from third countries public services. Every media is trying to change to become a relevant player in this new scenario and do it fast.

And in reality, what is the actual source of information for modern human beings? Information is obtained via modern technique: gadgets, planchets, tablets (thousands of new words have been created), which came very close to people. Cell phones have nearly grown into humans’ bodies. Taking into consideration the fact that humans wake up and go to sleep with phones, a new syndrome – the fear of life without cell phone – has been discovered by psychologists.

Recently, when I was discussing this topic with my colleague (a healthcare expert and TV host), I heard a surprising prognosis: due to that fact that obtaining information from short distance results in myopia, nearsightedness will be the biological characteristic of our future generation; children will be born with myopia. In other words – humans’ ability to watch from distance is now lost, similar to as the effect of blended and thermally processed food which does not require chewing, resulting in newborns without their eighth tooth. This is evolution, and further scientific description of this shall be provided in a different article and different space; however, it corresponds to an unavoidable need for digital transformation.

MOBILE FIRST, DIGITAL STRATEGY, DIGITAL NEWS

This is the integral part of modern media organizations’ strategy. In terms of the digital audience, traffic from Mobile device usage is increasing remarkably, following the trend in most countries and obviously we are no exception.

We want to become the quality journalism role-model in Georgia, the most reliable source of news of the country and the Caucasian Region. And in this new context stories, news and content are the core, each on the right platform, in the right format, at the right time and to the right audience. This commitment is the only way to expand our journalism in a new 24/7, multimedia, multi-platform media environment.

When we introduced the integrated newsroom concept, a strategic document jointly developed with innovation, we faced strong resistance within the organization. Initially, the TV, Radio and the Web refused to cohabitate. TV wanted to retain its key position and complained about diminution of its importance. Referring to its specifics, Radio stood on the defensive and refused to give up rapid and flexible news reporting and share it with the Web.

In fact, at first, both TV and the radio did not take the bigger role for the Internet seriously and afterwards expressed an apprehensive warning about a grave mistake of sacrificing three media products to one. It took us two years to show them a different perspective and today our three media platforms at least know, listen and consider each other’s interests. Moreover, self-interest has given way to focusing on common interests

This transformation, while challenging, is the only way we will be able to make the transition from an old fashion siloed organization to an integrated operation that will secure our future into the 21^st century and beyond, as we transform, we will be able to keep pace with audiences as they themselves migrate to a multi-platform, 24/7 information world.”

Source: European Broadcasting Union (EBU)