Australia’s ‘Financial Review’ online with Méthode, with print to follow

Fairfax Media’s the ‘Australian Financial Review’ has gone live with EidosMedia's Méthode web delivery platform as the first stage of a multiple-media project. Moving production of its digital channel to the Méthode portal server is part of a reorganisation that has merged the paper's print and web operations into a single multiple-media newsroom, with print production due to switch to Méthode early next year. Chief executive and editor-in-chief of the Financial Review Group Michael Gill says the new platform provided an opportunity to truly combine newspaper, magazine and web operations. "Now we follow a single-copy principle with online and print publication being fed from the same content base." The paper's digital channel (www.afr.com) is a subscription-based service and subscriber access is managed automatically by the platform. The platform incorporates an DRM feature ensuring articles are only read by bona fide subscribers; copying and pasting outside the subscriber's browser renders them illegible. Gill says the adoption of Méthode has brought immediate productivity and revenue benefits: "We've been very impressed by the speed of the new platform," he says. "It's noticeably faster than the old system in every respect. Writers can see updates and additions published online almost instantaneously, compared with a delay of several minutes with the old system. Reader response is much faster and we've found it really easy to roll out new sections." The AFR also makes use of Méthode's news planning feature - a shared workspace where proposals for news coverage can be linked to text and media sources before being assigned to specific individuals and teams and entering the newsroom workflow. EidosMedia Group chief executive Gabriella Franzini says the AFR has taken full advantage of Méthode's productivity features to create a highly streamlined news operation: "It's been very satisfying to see how they have been able to use the platform to deliver immediate benefits and added value for their subscriber base." After the print edition of the Australian Financial Review in January next year, the next stage of the project will see transfer to Méthode of the magazine Business Review Weekly and its associated portal, followed by the other titles in the group's portfolio. The Financial Review Group includes the AFR and its www.afr.com portal, weekly and monthly magazines including ‘Business Review Weekly’ and the monthly ‘Smart Investor’, as well as professional and special interest magazines aimed at the Australian, New Zealand and Asian markets. Each has an online edition.