Digital change

Ruffy Magbanua

“Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as crazy ones, we see genius.” – Steve Jobs

HAVE you taken notice of Philippine Daily Inquirer’s sudden twist in its physical makeover and editorial content lately? Digital change has indeed pierced as well into the very nerve of one of the country’s leading broadsheets.

Over a week now, PDI’s transformation has somehow surprised readers, young and old alike, of its new design, and how it treats itself now with subtle banner stories in contrast of the hard-hitting front-page headlines and sub-head news stories in the past.

Still carrying its iconic battle cry “balanced news, fearless views,” PDI has indeed embraced change, saying it has to thrive in an age of constant and endless disruptions of information if only to survive in this era of digital age.

PDI’s new physical outlook was the brainchild of journalism design guru Dr. Mario Garcia Sr., founder and CEO of global media consulting firm Garcia Media.

The new Inquirer has to respond to the needs of how a printed newspaper with a great journalistic tradition would be. It has to nail down a brand that is equal to none for excellence.

For its role in investigative reporting, it has to  adapt to the digital revolution now moving so fast in the new medium–social media.

The collaboration aimed to engage readers across all platforms and to ensure that “the Inquirer content is not just consumed, but experienced.”

A redesign project of this magnitude is unprecedented in Philippine media. It is not just mere changing fonts or layout.

It required adjusting processes, IT infrastructure, rebridging story philosophy, skills upgrade of personnel and training every Inquirer and partner to look at news differently as a multiplatform experience.

Today, PDI readers get what constitutes a new newspaper.  It is not just the design that has changed, but also the approach to storytelling.

And talking of design, local newspapers such as the iconic Mindanao Gold Star Daily would perhaps one day undergo major facelift, attuned basically to the needs of the changing digital landscape.

Indeed, time has changed. Today’s newspapers, be it tabloid or broadsheet, uses the latest in digital technology and it seems there is no end in the innovation of things.

To go digital  means embracing change, and many don’t like change. But why don’t some people like change? The answer to that maybe is the breaking away from the status quo, which is basically a hard thing to do.

Digital transformation is harder than we think, but it can be done. Where ever we go today, we see people, using digital innovations previously occupied by millennials.

But baby boomers and even the septuagenarians are now into it as well – highly engrossed with their mobile apps, conveniently and constantly connected with the outside world.

Digital has already transformed from the dial-up days to instant communication these days on Facebook, tweets and text messages.

Like the PDI, a newspaper has to evolve to attune itself to the changing of the times.

Because, as Steve Jobs has said, the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

E-mail: ruffy44_ph2000@yahoo.com