Banbridge Chronicle is saved by DNG Media and integrated into the wider group thanks to Scoop 7 editorial system.
A bright future for the banbridge chronicle
The Bainbridge Chronicle is a weekly newspaper based in County Down, just outside Belfast. Earlier this year the paper was bought by DNG Media Ltd, joining the groups’ other four Scottish regional publications.
Although the Irish publication had a 151-year history, the existing business model had become outdated and unprofitable; the timely takeover prevented the much-loved paper from being closed down.
Conformedia had installed Scoop 7 editorial system at DNG Media during the lockdown in 2020. The light server technology allows connectivity from anywhere, providing a flexible working model, whereby users can work remotely, and production can flip between sites to accommodate staff absence and demand.
This was particularly helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing the Scottish team to transition seamlessly to remote working and thus enabling the continuous production of pages during the lockdowns and times when staff had to self-isolate; the successful hybrid workplace is now accepted practice throughout the organisation as many staff chose to continue working from home.
Conformedia integrated the Banbridge team into the DNG Media working environment, allowing page production to be distributed to the wider team throughout the group; with journalism and print production remaining locally in Ireland.
The system is highly productive. Journalists write copy directly into Scoop and then the page production team, who are working from their homes and offices in Scotland and England, pick up the story and create the pages. The whole team can see the page build state via Scoop’s newsroom monitoring and supervision tool “PageTrack”, via a thumbnail overview, with detailed views of the current page state as PDF.
Peter Laidlaw, Managing Director at DNG explains why this model is so successful.
“Page makeup takes place in Annan and Dunoon in Scotland, as well as Northumberland in England; we also have several members of the team working from France. Thanks to Scoop 7, staff can choose where to live as they are not bound to an office. Pooling resources brings greater flexibility and operational efficiency, and we retain talented people who enjoy a better life-work balance. The integration of the Irish team with the DNG work environment has delivered a productive and cost-effective model for the group.”
Conformedia rolled out Scoop 7 in 2020 initially at DNG in Annan, for the Dunoon Observer and Annandale Herald, with the Dunoon titles, The Dunoon Observer, and Isle of Bute News, following shortly afterwards. This model was easily replicated into the Irish arm of the group. Within just one week, Conformedia had removed all the old systems and equipment, installed new hardware, software, a firewall and trained the team on their new system.
David Rayner, Manging Director at Conformedia describes the rollout .
“The Banbridge Chronicle is a weekly paper, forcing system changes to be made in the brief period between publications. The new system was put in place alongside the legacy system, swapping them over in the time between closing off one weeks’ publication and the start of the next.
“We had already rolled out Scoop 7 in the Dunoon offices, so it was a straightforward delivery; once connected to DNG network, the new site came online, working as part of the wider group. The paper was refreshed and relaunched within a week under the new owners. It was great to see the new system embraced by the editorial team in Banbridge who had no problem learning it – and the readers didn’t miss out on their weekly paper!
“Scoop 7 is ideal for small and medium sized newspapers and magazines; It is reliable, has great functionality, and offers an affordable, fully featured, out of the box complete editorial system.”
Conformedia ensures businesses have the right IT in place so that they can work efficiently regardless of location
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Banbridge Chronicle now has a bright future
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The roll out of Scoop 7 has enabled the integration of the Banbridge Chronicle into the DNG Media Group working environment, delivering a productive and cost-effective model for the group
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Consolidated production offers greater flexibility and cost-effective page production
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The Irish team were quickly integrated into the organisation using Scoop 7 Editorial System
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Page production can take place anywhere in the world and can be viewed in real-time. Full control and transparency are available to the editor and senior management in real time, even though they reside in different countries
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Scoop 7 has provided a hybrid working model. Staff have a flexible workplace, allowing them to work remotely and from the office as they desire