About
Boutique, two-day media business event in the heart of Riga that serves as a meeting space for media professionals — managers, innovators, digital experts as well as editors and content writers. The aim of the forum is to bring the media business community together to share, create, and collaborate. Here, we will exchange the latest professional knowledge that will help discover hidden opportunities in the ever-changing media business world.
The forum is organised by The Centre for Media Studies at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.
“We entered new technological and geopolitical eras that are going to define news publishers’ business models and their relevance for the next decade. How do we adapt? By learning from the best. This year’s Reinventing Media Business will focus on practical case studies on revenue models that work and excel, AI adoption that’s making a real impact, and press resilience in the new geopolitical reality.”
Zakhar Protsiuk, Forum Director, COO at the Kyiv Independent
What to Expect
Expert insights: Powerhouse sessions with leading European media innovators
Inspiring case studies: Real-world examples that spark new ideas
Relatable experiences: Honest stories from peers in the field
Useful connections: Meet collaborators, mentors, and future partners
Speakers
SPEAKERS 2025
Lou Grasser
Chief Digital Operations OfficerLe MondeLou Grasser is Chief Digital Operations Officer at Le Monde, where she leads the subscription, audience, product, and CRM teams. Since joining the company in 2015, she has played a key role in expanding the newspaper’s digital reach and driving its transition to a reader-centered business model. A member of the Group’s executive committee, she also serves on the supervisory boards of Télérama and Le Nouvel Obs, with the aim of fostering digital innovation across all titles of Groupe Le Monde.
Chris Moran
Head of editorial innovationGuardian News & MediaGenAI and journalism: where next?
Chris Moran is The Guardian's head of editorial innovation and the former audience editor. He uses data in the newsroom to execute strategic projects like content reduction and is the bridge between editorial and product, identifying opportunities for new features and ideas that capture the unique voice and values of the Guardian. He is the co-creator of Ophan, the Guardian's realtime analytics tool.
Jacquelyn L Cameron
Chief Revenue OfficerAxiosJacquelyn L Cameron is the Chief Revenue Officer at Axios. In her role, Jacquelyn oversees all
revenue within the organization, including building complex and performant partnerships
with brands, and consumer subscriptions/memberships. Jacquelyn also oversees the Axios
Local division which boasts local news coverage in 34 markets (Chicago, Miami, Denver, etc.).
Previously, Jacquelyn was Senior Vice President at the WP and global head of the public
affairs division at The New York Times. Jacquelyn worked alongside Axios founders Jim
VandeHei, Roy Schwartz and Mike Allen during the first six years of POLITICO.Julia Tymoshenko
JournalistUkraïnerJulia Tymoshenko is a journalist at Ukraïner, and Executive Director of Spend With Ukraine, a nonprofit platform promoting Ukrainian businesses globally. With over 70,000 followers, Julia is a prominent voice shaping international support for Ukraine through storytelling, advocacy, and strategic communication.
Sheetal Puri
Senior Director, Digital FundraisingWikimedia FoundationWhile media organizations often look to each other for inspiration, they may be overlooking one of the world’s most successful reader-funded models: Wikipedia. With massive global traffic, the Wikimedia Foundation runs hundreds of A/B tests each year. This gives us deep insight into what actually drives people to take action. This session will explore how Wikipedia stays free, what we’ve learned through rigorous optimization, and what media leaders can take away to build sustainable, reader-supported models of their own.
Rosalía Lloret
CEOelDiario.esWith more than 20 years of experience in the foundation and development of digital media, Lloret has been responsible for the digital strategy and member of the executive board of the two leading legacy publishers in Spain: El Pais (PRISA News) and El Mundo (Unidad Editorial).
Previously, in 2008, Rosalía Lloret created the new digital division of the Spanish public broadcaster -RTVE- and launched the award-winning TVE on demand services across all platforms.
Lloret was co-founder and member of the executive team of two of the pioneering Internet portals in Spain: Terra.es and Ya.com.
Rosalía Lloret has a degree in Journalism (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), and Master degrees in Global Politics (London School of Economics) and Journalism (Escuela de El País).
Zakhar Protsiuk
Forum Director, COOKyiv IndependentZakhar Protsiuk is the Chief Operating Officer at the Kyiv Independent, Ukraine’s biggest English-language media outlet. He is also a co-founder and managing editor of The Fix Media, a publication covering Europe’s publishing industry. Before joining the Kyiv Independent, Zakhar was a senior project lead at Jnomics, a UK-based media consultancy, where he worked with 15+ European publishers on organizational transformation, reader revenue, and audience development.
Matthew Harrison
Head of Media ProductsABC NyheterMatthew Harrison is the Head of Media Products at ABC Nyheter in Norway. A qualified human rights lawyer, Matthew has experience working with some of the world's largest news brands whilst at Piano, and Sifted, a spin out from The Financial Times Group. Matthew also works as a Membership Advisor to the Kyiv Independent. He lives in Norway, but is originally from The United Kingdom.
Lea Korsgaard
Co-Founder and Editor-in-ChiefZetlandLea Korsgaard is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Zetland and part of the executive management of Zetland Media, a growing media houseZetland publishing Zetland in Denmark, Ussi Jutti in Finland, and expanding to a third market before the end of 2025. With 100 employees and more than 50,000 members across the organization, Zetland combines innovative text and audio journalism with a strong focus on audience engagement. Lea works at the intersection of journalism, creativity, technology, and business development. She is the author of The Media User's Manual to the Age of Lies and chairman of the board at the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX).
Tomáš Bella
Co-founder and Chief Digital OfficerDenník NTomáš Bella is the co-founder and Chief Digital Officer of Denník N, an independent daily newspaper published in Slovak, Czech, and Hungarian. Denník N is known for its high-quality, long-form journalism and also develops REMP, an open-source subscription management system. Previously, he served as editor-in-chief of Slovakia’s most popular news website and was CEO of the software company Piano. He has been listed among the world’s 50 leading innovators in journalism and media, and has received several journalism awards, including the Slovak Best Reportage prize for his coverage of the European refugee crisis.
Jakub Parusinski
DirectorThe Fix MediaJakub Parusinski is a founding editor at The Fix, as well as managing partner at Jnomics media consultancy. Jakub is a Chief Financial Officer at Kyiv Independent. He has over a decade of experience working in the media sector, including as a journalist, editor and media manager.
Jakub is also a part of an advisory board of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, where he is a program director, media strategy lecturer and mentor to a range of media from across the post-Soviet region.
SPEAKERS 2024
Alex Chapko
GM & Global SVP AlliancesPIANOKatharina Schmidt
Editor in ChiefWiener ZeitungHannah Sarney
Editorial Product Director, Executive EditorFinancial TimesMilda Petkauskaitė
Representative in the BalticsReporters Without BordersJonathan Knight
Head of GamesThe New York TimesDominik Krzysztof Cagara
Co-founder & CFOOC MediaSofie Hvitved
Senior Advisor & Head of MediaCopenhagen Institute for Future Studies, Future Media HubsSofie Hvitved
Senior Advisor & Head of MediaCopenhagen Institute for Future Studies, Future Media HubsSamuel Fairburn
Co-founderFlareDaniel Flatt
Co-founderFlareCécile SOURD
General DirectorMediapartOlena Lavruk
Executive DirectorInkerJakub Parusinski
DirectorThe Fix MediaJakub Parusinski is a founding editor at The Fix, as well as managing partner at Jnomics media consultancy. Jakub is a Chief Financial Officer at Kyiv Independent. He has over a decade of experience working in the media sector, including as a journalist, editor and media manager.
Jakub is also a part of an advisory board of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, where he is a program director, media strategy lecturer and mentor to a range of media from across the post-Soviet region.
Timo Kämäräinen
Editorial Development DirectorAlma MediaMagdalena Woods
Founder and CEOFlareJody Doherty-Cove
Head of Editorial AINewsquest
SPEAKERS 2023
ALYONA NEVMERZHYTSKA
CEOHromadske.uaAlyona Nevmerzhytska is the Chief Executive Officer of the leading Ukrainian independent online media hromadske.ua. Alyona started her career in media in 2012 at English language news source Kyiv Post and since that time media became her passion, work and interest. Alyona always worked on the media business side. Her main goal is diversification of the streams of revenue and media development. She is a graduate of Stockholm School of Economics Riga, media management program. Hromadske was founded in 2013 by a group of journalists at the peak of the Revolution of Dignity. hromadske has no owner, serves its community by delivering objective information of what’s really happening in Ukraine and top world news. Among hromadske recent achievements - together with 6 other media received an award from International Press Institute as a leader among Ukrainian media in adherence to journalistic standards. The reach on all hromadske platforms gathers around 23 million views monthly.
MARI LIIS RÜÜTSALU
CEOEkspress GroupMari-Liis has been working for Ekspress Group almost 11 years. She started as a CEO of Delfi Estonia which is the biggest news outlet in Estonia. After merging two companies together (legacy media and online portal) she was the CEO of the newly formed company called Ekspress Meedia back then. In 2017 Mari-Liis became the CEO of the whole group. She has been driving the digital change throughout the years. The digital revenue in Ekspress group is already 80% of the whole revenue. In the digital media segment, Ekspress Group is implementing a strategy of rapid growth, the goals of which are market development and at the same time increasing market share. By the end of the second quarter of 2023 Ekspress Group has over 175 000 digital subscriptions.
SHIRA JECZMIEN
Founder & CEOSCREENSHOT MediaShira founded SCREENSHOT Media in her mid-20s with a mission to create a next gen media company with a mission to allow young people easy access to content that matters. Today SCREENSHOT Media is a market leader in speaking to youth audiences across all digital platforms, with a cumulative monthly reach across its 2 brands of 450 million. Shira’s area of expertise is rooted in her ability to build teams, grow audiences across platforms and take bold risks in the media space. Shira is also an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins where she teaches digital media to year 2 BA students, and advises on media investment readiness programmes like the BFI and National Lottery's Evolve.
SEBASTIAN KATTHÖVER
Head of Audience DevelopmentDeutsche WelleSebastian Katthöver is DW’s head of Audience Development in Bonn. The team aims to build a network within the multi-language organization, connecting editorial, marketing, web analysis and strategy units. The team manages more than 200 accounts and advises editors on how to improve their footprint on social media and the web. Prior to his current position, Sebastian worked in DW’s strategy department and in communications with RTL Germany. Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster with 289 million weekly users on all platforms.
DARYNA SHEVCHENKO
CEOKyiv IndependentDaryna Shevchenko is the CEO of the Kyiv Independent. Daryna has over 10 years experience as a media manager, trainer and media consultant. After working at Kyiv Post, she became the executive director of Media Development Foundation, ran the investigative journalism department at TV channel ZIK and worked as executive producer of award-winning investigative media Slidstvo.Info before joining Jnomics Media consultancy as Partner. Please give me some time to plan a travel itinerary for Daryna. I'll provide you with all the information a bit later. If you need something else, please let me know!
FEDERICA CHERUBINI
Director of Leadership DevelopmentReuters Institute for the Study of JournalismLearn MoreFEDERICA CHERUBINI
Director of Leadership DevelopmentReuters Institute for the Study of JournalismFederica Cherubini is Director of Leadership Development at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, where she hosts programmes to equip the current and next generation of newsroom leaders with the skills, evidence-based research, and networks they need to navigate journalism’s ongoing transformation and build a stronger and more sustainable future for the industry. Federica is an expert in newsroom operations and organisational change, with ten years’ experience spanning major publishers, research institutes and editorial networks around the world. Federica specialises in devising and implementing new and improved ways of working, bridging people, disciplines, departments, projects and cultures. Prior to joining RISJ, she worked for start-ups like Hearken and publishers like Condé Nast, working on audience first strategies and audience engagement. She is an expert on newsletter strategies and editorial initiatives that drive audience loyalty. Federica was a coach for the Membership Puzzle Project and is currently part of the Mentor Network program for News Product Alliance.
ANDREAS BENGTSSON
Head of Futures LabSchibstedAndreas Bengtsson is Head of Futures Lab at Schibsted. The Futures Lab is a research and development unit. The Lab’s objective is to influence Schibsted, by providing evidence and point of view on application of emerging technology for business and product innovation. Andreas has 20 years of management experience in technology and has been CTO of both FINN.no and Blocket.se and CPO of Blocket.se.
CHRISTOFER AHLQVIST
Chief EditorGöteborgs-PostenChristofer Ahlqvist has been the Editor-in-Chief of Göteborgs-Posten for six years. Prior to this, he served as Editor-in-Chief at Metro. Under his guidance, Göteborgs-Posten has experienced robust digital growth and garnered recognition for its journalism and business achievements. The newspaper was awarded "Newspaper of the Year" in Sweden in 2022 and received three first-place awards at the INMA awards in New York in May. Ahlqvist also serves on the board of directors for Utgivarna, an interest organization for Swedish publishers, and TU, a member company comprising all established Swedish newspapers.
PATRICK BOEHLER
Acting Head of Innovation and Audience EngagementRadio Free Europe/Radio LibertyLearn MorePATRICK BOEHLER
Acting Head of Innovation and Audience EngagementRadio Free Europe/Radio LibertyPatrick Boehler leads product, audience and marketing efforts at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and oversees its Academy and Innovation Lab. An award-winning reporter and editor, he has worked on digital transformation and efforts to serve audiences in some of the world's most challenging markets incl. China and Russia with The New York Times, The South China Morning Post, the Swiss public broadcaster, and other outlets, and taught reporting at the University of Hong Kong.
GRZEGORZ PIECHOTA
Researcher-in-residenceInternational News Media AssociationGreg Piechota is a researcher-in-residence at the International News Media Association and the lead of INMA’s strategic initiatives: Readers First and Subscription Benchmarking. An ex-research fellow at Oxford and Harvard universities, he studied technology-enabled disruption patterns across industries and business model innovation in news media. In 2023, he lectured on AI in marketing at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Greg is a former media executive with 20+ years of industry experience, beginning at Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza in 1996 where he worked his way up from local reporter to news editor and vice president of Agora Foundation. He serves on boards of non-profits, publishing groups and e-commerce companies in the United Kingdom, Germany and Ukraine, including the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London. His book, Unlocking the Customer Value Chain, written with Thales Teixeira of Harvard Business School, was published in 2019 by Currency. His latest report, AI Guide and ChatGPT Promptbook For News Marketers, was released in 2023 by INMA.
KONSTANTINS KUZIKOVS
CEODelfi LatviaKonstantīns joined Delfi Latvia as CEO in 2013, following his tenure as Chief Operational Officer at Super FM group. Delfi Latvia, a leading news media organization, has received numerous professional industry awards. In recent years, it has become the largest local advertising online platform and a digital subscription pioneer with over 20,000 subscribers. Konstantīns also is a graduate of the media management program at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.
CHARLES MINTY
Director of Digital Reader RevenuesThe Guardian News and MediaCharles Minty is Director of Digital Reader Revenues at The Guardian News and Media. With a decade of service to The Guardian, Charles has been a key driving force in revolutionising their revenue approach. This transformation has led to a total paying base of over 1 million digital subscribers and The Guardian achieving record income levels following the shift of audiences from traditional print to online platforms. Prior to his current position Charles worked within the retention and engagement team at The Times of London.
VESA LINDQVIST
Strategy and Business Development ManagerSanoma Media FinlandVesa Lindqvist works in strategy and business development for Sanoma Media Finland - publisher of the biggest news media in Finland. He has over twelve years of experience in leading new subscription business projects in Helsingin Sanomat, Today HS has more than 400,000 subscribers, a base that’s been growing every year since 2017, when the 25 years of subscription decline began turning around. Peviously he has worked in telecom industry responsible for mobile subscription business growth. He is passionate about reseach and data driven business development.
RAWAN DAMEN
Director GeneralARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism)Rawan Damen - Director General of ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism) has 25+ years of experience in television and digital production and training in addition to media management. Before joining ARIJ in Jan 2020, Rawan worked on producing and directing more than 30 hours of documentaries and investigative TV stories, published in different languages. She was a senior commissioner at Al Jazeera Network for 10 years (2006 – 2016). She also led large interactive multi-language international platforms. Rawan received a Master’s degree with honorable distinction in media and communication from the University of Leeds in the UK, 2003. She was also awarded the Media Creativity Award from the Arab Thought Foundation in Beirut, 2015.
TOMAS BALŽEKAS
CEO15min groupTomas is a media entrepreneur since 2005. He has been involved in various forms of media business. News sites, newspapers, magazines, news agencies, classifieds, cinema, books. Tomas has worked with Schibsted media group for over ten years. Has served on the board of Lithuanian National Television and Radio, has served as independent board member of Telia Lithuania. Currently Tomas is co-owner of 15min group and few other companies as well as CEO of news companies 15min and BNS Lithuania.
SPEAKERS 2022
CAITLIN CLARKE
Business Development DirectorFinancial TimesCaitlin Clarke leads Business Development at the Financial Times. She has a background in commerciasing new content products, developing alternative revenue streams and go-to market strategy. She's worked at other major media outlets like the New York Times and Bloomberg and has also worked at two start-ups who sold primarily into the media industry - Trint and Hearken.
MARTIN JÖNSSON
Editorial Development DirectorBonnier News, Dagens NyheterMartin is an Editorial Development Director of Bonnier News - Sweden's largest media house, with 45 newspapers and 50 magazine titles. Employed at Dagens Nyheter as Head of Editorial Development since 2016. With the 40 years of experience in journalism, for the past 15 years he has been focusing on digital transformation, media trends and media consumer behavior. Previous experience involves being a Director of Digital at Swedish Public Radio, Managing Editor at Svenska Dagbladet, Editor in Chief of trade journal Journalisten and several other magazines. Guest Professor in journalism at the University of Gothenburg 2008-2009.
LAURA DÖING
Digital Format and Product DevelopmentDeutsche Welle (DW)As a member of the DW’s Digital Format and Product Development team, Laura Döing is responsible for podcast development across all sections of DW; Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany's international public broadcaster.Laura Döing develops digital formats for diverse target groups all over the world. She is a multimedia journalist who has been working with video, audio, text anddata for more than 10 years - and got hooked on user-centred design and data-based development.
MEELIS MANDEL
Editor in ChiefÄripäevMeelis has been with Äripäev, Estonian biggest business news media channel, since the mid 90ies - as a reporter, opinion editor, news editor and head of opinion. Since 2007 Meelis has been an Editor in chief of Äripäev, leading a strong editorial team and growing their digital subscription base. Also responsible for the Russian version Delovoje Vedomosti.
MICHAEL KOWALSKI
Head of ProductTortoise MediaMichael is a Head of the Product at Tortoise Media, a news startup based in the UK who have built a membership community of 100,000 over the past two years. Tortoise offers a mix of daily live events, long interactive reads, email briefings, and podcasts. Michael is a New Zealander who has long been resident in London, where he has worked on major media projects for the London 2012 Olympics, Newscorp, and the Guardian. He has previously co-founded three technology startups, developing new platforms for technologies ranging from data visualisation to augmented reality. He curates Confluence, an annual conference about storytelling.
RICHARD FURNESS
Managing Director of Consumer Revenues & PublishingGuardianRichard has worked at Guardian News & Media for 23 years and in that time has overseen some groundbreaking marketing initiatives including the launch of the Guardian's Subscriber scheme, the "3 little pigs" commercial which aired in 2012 to great acclaim, Glastonbury sponsorship and a multitude of digital product launches and newspaper redesigns.
In his most recent roles Richard led as the Guardian & Observer's transformation into tabloid shaped newspapers as Publishing Director and in 2018 was promoted to Managing Director of Consumer Revenues & Publishing, leading on GNM's digital subscriptions, newspaper strategy, e-commerce and live events.In May 2021 Richard was appointed Managing Director of Customer Engagement & Business Development and is focussing on building a coordinated strategy across the Guardian’s growing multimedia portfolio and reader revenue opportunities.
KIRILL ARTEMENKO
Co-founder and CEOPaperpaper.ruKirill is a co-founder and a CEO of the St. Petersburg based media company Paperpaper.ru. Besides doing local online daily media, Paperpaper.ru makes educational events and city festivals, sociological researches for brands, paid email-newsletters as a part of a membership program for their readers. Before starting Paperpaper.ru in 2012 from scratch as a lean media startup Kirill worked as a reporter for different local and nationwide news outlets. From 2012 to 2018 he was an editor-in-chief and a CEO of Paperpaper.ru the same time, after 2018 he focused on the business issues of the company. In 2021 Paperpaper.ru is a break even media company with almost 35 people in staff.
JOÃO PAULO LUZ
Digital & Publishing DirectorIMPRESAResponsible for Digital & Publishing Business in IMPRESA since 2015. In the previous 14 years led the digital advertising business of Portugal Telecom with an integrated approach to 4 screens, with focus in second screen apps, linear TV interactive spots and re-targeting ads based on behavioral data collected by the set top boxes. Founding Member of IAB Portugal in 2014, representing IMPRESA in the Board of Directors.
OLLE ZACHRISON
Head of Digital News Strategy & Deputy News CommissionerSwedish RadioOlle Zachrison is Head of Digital News Strategy & Deputy News Commissioner at Swedish Radio (SR). Before taking on his new role at SR, he was Head of News & Current Affairs for four years. He has a background in newspaper journalism and has been Managing Editor and Business Editor of national daily Svenska Dagbladet.
ALEX CHAPKO
General ManagerPianoAlex Chapko is a General Manager at Piano Software, overseeing company growth, partnerships, and client relationships across India, Central Asia, Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Alex has been working with the Indian market for over 8 years, starting as a CEO of Newzmate - a content marketing cloud acquired by Piano in 2018. He is today working alongside hundreds of brands and content publishers across 30 countries, helping them identify and implement the necessary strategies and technology stack to improve audience understanding, engagement, and monetisation.
NILS RIISE
General ManagerPianoNils Riise is a General Manager at Piano and oversees company growth, partnerships and client relationships across the Nordics. A marketing technology expert with a strong background, Nils has extensive knowledge of how to drive revenue in the publishing industry, particularly through Digital Subscription, Programmatic Advertising and Targeting.
SONALI VERMA
Director of Business DevelopmentTHE GLOBE AND MAILSonali Verma works with content producers all over the world to help them transform their business models and embrace a data-driven culture. As the manager of digital production and audience engagement teams at The Globe, she led a mind shift in getting journalists to understand how data could make them more effective, while staying true to their mission to build a better Canada.
She also collaborated with The Globe’s data science team on an analytics project that evolved into an artificial-intelligence and machine-learning platform called
GALINA TIMCHENKO
CER & PublisherMEDUZAIn 2014 Galina established Meduza Project - independent news outlet and became editor-in-chief and the CEO and publisher. Previously she worked at Kommersant newspaper as an editor, from 2004 to 2014 and was editor-in-chief of the most popular Russian news outlet Lenta.ru.
OLGA RUDENKO
Editor in ChiefKyiv IndependentOlga Rudenko is the chief editor of the Kyiv Independent, an award-winning media start-up launched in November 2021 by the former editorial team of the Kyiv Post. Olga is the former deputy chief editor of the Kyiv Post. She has written for global publications, and was a fellow at the Chicago Booth School of Business in 2021.
SPEAKERS 2020
VICTORIA SVANBERG
ChairmanNWT MediaVictoria is a board member of NWT Gruppen AB, and a president of NWT Media, as well as president of the Swedish association of publishers TU and vice president of the Association of European Publishers News Media Europe (NME). Victoria also holds MBA from Stockholm School of Economics and is an honorary doctor at the University of Karlstad. Having worked in the industry for many years, she has gained experience in media industry in various board positions and positions in NWT Media.
ROBIN GOVIK
Director of DevelopmentBonnier NewsAfter 12 years as an editor at Schibsted and Sweden's leading national news source Aftonbladet, Robin left for Sweden's leading local news source – Mittmedia. After being responsible for the product development team at Mittmedia, which is part of Bonnier News group, Robin has become a Director of Development at Bonnier News.
WIEBKE MEEDER
Head of Subscription GrowthSpiegelBefore taking on the current role, Wiebke had worked for more than four years at Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich, setting up performance marketing there and at the end leading the marketing and sales for digital products. In 2018 she joined the digital distribution team at SPIEGEL with a strong focus on pushing SPIEGEL+. In 2019, direct marketing and digital distribution teams were merged and Wiebke took charge of the subscription growth business for all products at SPIEGEL, digital and print, being responsible for the development of the circulation and revenues of digital products and the further development of digital marketing as well as the existing sales analysis and e-commerce processes..
KIM PERRY
Director for International Strategy and OperationsThe New York TimesFounded and lead NYT Digital Transition team. Created in 2015 as a training team to bring digital skills and thinking to the core of the newsroom, the department matured into a 25-person strategy, training and 24/7 publishing support group that’s responsible for the continuous transformation of the Times’ 1,600-person newsroom. The team’s goal is to drive specific and tangible change. Kim worked closely with top leadership to implement strategy at scale; this encompasses newsroom structure and workflow, establishing new teams and mandates, brainstorming coverage and digital storytelling, and other strategic initiatives. In July 2020 as an essential partner in major digital initiatives, Kim Perry becomes director for International strategy and operations.
TOMAS BELLA
Head of DigitalDenník NTomáš Bella is co-founder and web director of "Denník N" (dennikn.sk), which is independent Slovak daily newspaper, supported mostly by online subscriptions, with editorial focus on high quality long-form journalism: reportages, interviews, analyses. Editorial policies are entirely controlled by its own journalists, who own 49% of the shares of the company. Tomas also was editor-in-chief of the largest provider of Slovak web journalism; sme.sk and co-founder and first CEO of Piano, company offering publishers paywall software. Listed among the world's 50 leading innovators in journalism and media, Tomas had won several journalism prizes- recently the Slovak Best Reportage award for his coverage of European refugee crisis.
RASMUS KLEIS NIELSEN
DirectorReuters InstituteRasmus Kleis Nielsen is Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. He is also Professor of Political Communication at the University of Oxford. He was previously Director of Research at the Reuters Institute and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Press/Politics. His work focuses on changes in the news media, on political communication, and the role of digital technologies in both. He has done extensive research on journalism, American politics, and various forms of activism, and a significant amount of comparative work in Western Europe and beyond.
agenda 2025
SEPTEMBER 17
Registration + coffee ☕️
Opening remarks by Edgars Spuravs & Victoria Svanberg
“The Axios Model: Inside Axios’ Approach to Innovation, AI, and Business Growth”, Jacquelyn L Cameron, Chief Revenue Officer at Axios
“elDiario.es journey to 100,000 paying members and what we’ve learned along the way”, Rosalía Lloret, CEO at elDiario.es
☕️ Coffee break
“The Power of Many: What Wikipedia’s Grassroots Fundraising Model Can Teach the Media”, Sheetal Puri, Senior Director, Digital Fundraising at Wikimedia Foundation
While media organizations often look to each other for inspiration, they may be overlooking one of the world’s most successful reader-funded models: Wikipedia. With massive global traffic, the Wikimedia Foundation runs hundreds of A/B tests each year. This gives us deep insight into what actually drives people to take action. This session will explore how Wikipedia stays free, what we’ve learned through rigorous optimization, and what media leaders can take away to build sustainable, reader-supported models of their own.
“Inside Le Monde’s innovation strategy and approach to AI”, Lou Grasser, Chief Digital Operations Officer at Le Monde
Le Monde has surpassed 665,000 paying subscribers – 90% of them fully digital – with sustained double-digit growth, driven by continuous focus on retention, a high ARPU, and improved profitability. Its AI strategy blends editorial integrity and innovation, through partnerships with OpenAI and Perplexity, to build controlled, value-enhancing products that align with its commitment to visibility, reader trust, and long-term independence.
Panel discussion: “Resilience amind revenue, AI and geopolitical disruption”
Speakers: Chris Moran (Head of editorial innovation at Guardian News & Media), Lea Korsgaard (Editor-in-chief at Zetland), Yulia Tymoshenko (Journalist at Ukraïner).
Moderator: Jakub Parusinski (Director at The FIX)
🍹 Networking and Drinks
SEPTEMBER 18
☕️ Coffee
“GenAI and journalism: where next?”, Chris Moran, Head of editorial innovation at Guardian News & Media
After two years of grappling with a challenging new technology and its implications for newsroom practice and the wider ecosystem, where do we stand now and what does the future look like? While much of the focus has been on what we build with GenAI, the challenges of the next two years may be more about how we educate ourselves to cover a ubiquitous, complex technology and how we define ourselves and our value to audiences when news summaries are available in every platform, product and device.
“How we built the Kyiv Independent during war: successes, setbacks, and what we learned”, Zakhar Protsiuk, COO at Kyiv Independent
The Kyiv Independent was founded less than four years ago— and over 90% of its existence has been shaped by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In that time, it has grown from a small startup into one of the country’s largest and most prominent media outlets, trusted by global audiences. This talk shares the key successes, painful setbacks, and lessons from building a resilient newsroom in wartime.
☕️ Coffee break
“Making Journalism Profitable: How Denník N Grew from 0 to 80,000 Subscribers”, Tomáš Bella, Co-founder and Chief Digital Officer at Denník N
Slovak news outlet launched a new subscription drive in spring 2025 and attracted 24,000 new trial subscribers in just 10 days. Tomáš Bella, its co-founder and former CEO of the subscription company Piano, will share practical strategies for building a sustainable reader-revenue model outside Western Europe. He’ll also explain how Denník N manages to fund the largest newsroom in Slovakia while prioritizing the most demanding (and expensive) forms of journalism.
“Zetland’s Journey: Membership, Storytelling, and Nordic Expansion”, Lea Korsgaard, Editor-in-chief at Zetland
Zetland is a Danish media company that has built a sustainable, ad-free model around storytelling, audio journalism, and a close relationship with its 40,000+ members. Lea Korsgaard, its co-founder and editor-in-chief, will focus on how Zetland’s narrative-first approach has driven both its membership growth and financial sustainability. She will also discuss their recent expansion into Finland and share practical advice on developing new ventures based on the Zetland model.
Lunch 🍝
“Ukraїner: Adapting in the Time of Constant Change”, Yulia Tymoshenko, Journalist at Ukraïner
When the full-scale invasion began, Ukraïner quickly shifted from its multi-media travel expeditions around Ukraine to war documentation — launching new formats, opening new channels, publishing books, and expanding content in multiple languages to meet the moment. Now, following the abrupt end of long-term institutional support such as USAID, the organization faces a new challenge: to rethink its business model, secure alternative sources of funding, and continue telling the stories that matter. This presentation offers a look at how Ukraïner has navigated past turning points — and how it continues to adapt in a landscape defined by constant change.
“Re-launching ABC News in Norway: How to disrupt one of the world’s most advanced news markets?”, Matthew Harrison, Head of Media products at ABC Startsiden AS
Join Matthew Harrison as he shares key lessons and strategies behind the launch of the new ABC News for Norway. This session will cover re-launching a major site in a competitive market, with insights on revitalizing the 6th largest news site in Norway; balancing legacy audiences with new segments and the strategies that are driving successful audience expansion; implementing a modern tech stack, and building new content niches.
Closing Panel Discussion and Remarks
Tickets
INCLUDING COFFEE BREAKS + LUNCH + EVENING RECEPTION
A minimal participation fee is applied, so that we can cover basic expenses of the event – travel and accommodation for speakers, venue hire, lunch and coffee breaks and evening reception. By purchasing the ticket you contribute to the event and the community building amongst media professionals in the region.
REGULAR FEE
GROUP TICKET
For six or more people from one organisation*
Scholarships
Not available
*Payment by invoice is available as well.
Venue
Reinventing Media Business Forum will take place at the STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS IN RIGA, a leading business school in the Baltics. It is located in the heart of the famous historical art-nouveau district in the capital of Latvia.
ADDRESS
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga,
Strelnieku Street 4a, Riga (Latvia)