In 2020, the Swedish publisher decided to simplify its newspapers’ print layout process by investing in new technology. The company partnered with a Norwegian start-up Aptoma, and over the next year and a half worked to integrate their products into Schibsted Media Platform, the companywide CMS.

The automation features are now in use at six of the publisher’s newspapers, with impressive results. At Aftenposten, 80% of print pages are now produced using the automated workflow. At Bergens Tidende, Norway’s largest newspaper outside Oslo, the print layout design workflow is now fully automated.

Thanks to the efficiencies stemming from the new process, the same work can now be done by fewer people, said Fredric Karén, SVP Editorial (digital transformation) at Schibsted. For example, Bergens Tidende’s print desk has shrunk from eight to three people.

Karén joined WAN-IFRA’s recent virtual Newsroom Summit to present new automation features at Schibsted, and to discuss what benefits the publisher seeks from automation.

The recording of the full presentation is available below this article.
Web-based tool to streamline layout process
The new features that Schibsted integrated into their CMS have simplified the publisher’s tech stack, Karén said: instead of having separate tech for the website and paper, the same tool is used for both outputs.

Concerning print design, the web-based tool uses AI to assess the elements that are selected for a page, such as the length of…