Media Innovation Lab 2025
How media houses design and implement innovative projects together with external service providers.
Case
How Germany’s Leading Pharmacy-Focused Publisher Is Profitably Steering E-Paper and Print into the Future
In the medium term, e-paper and print production remain an important source of revenue for specialized publishers. How can you ensure profitability in this area and position yourself technologically for the future? Deutsche Apotheker Verlag, Germany’s leading publisher of pharmacy information, offers an answer: (Partially) automate production workflows with Agentic AI, reduce operating costs and system complexity, and streamline processes. Plus, no more lengthy IT migration projects—instead, implement best-of-breed solutions in just a few months. The technology partner of choice: markstein. 100% German technology, 100% independent, 100% modern. Without the time-consuming and expensive integration of third-party components, cloud-based, and with a direct connection to the Digital CMS, which is also cloud-based.
Marcus von Harlessem, Chief Transformation Officer, Interim Manager, Markstein
Daniel Gebühr, Head of Production, Deutscher Apotheker Verlag
Verena Geywitz, Senior Product Manager for Digital Magazines, Deutscher Apotheker Verlag
Marcus von Harlessem
Markstein
Daniel Gebühr
Deutscher Apotheker Verlag
Verena Geywitz
Deutscher Apotheker Verlag
Fotos: RGB (von Harlessem), privat (Gebühr), privat (Geywitz)
Lidé: Take Social Interactions Back from Large Platforms
News publishers set the agenda and shape public discourse — yet most conversation around their content happens on big social platforms, which capture the traffic and ad revenue along with it. Lidé offers a European alternative that brings meaningful conversations, audience engagement, and monetization back where they belong: to the publishers. Built on top of existing discussion ecosystems, the platform (lide.cz) transforms readers’ comments into a full-fledged social network run by news publishers. With AI-powered content moderation, fact-checking, and user verification, it enables safe, high-quality public discourse at scale. Already proven in Czechia — where Seznam’s ecosystem now outperforms X (formerly Twitter) — Lidé demonstrates that a European, publisher-driven model can compete with global players. We are now looking for partners across Europe to build local social platforms together, rooted in their content and communities.
Pavel Bouška ; Seznam.cz, a.s. ; Director for International Business Development
Peter Jančárik ; Seznam.cz, a.s. ; Head of Content Moderation
Peter Jančárik and Pavel Bouška
Seznam.cz, a.s.
Fotos: Seznam.cz
Those were the Cases 2025
Case
From community to newspaper:
user-generated content & AI as a growth strategy for publishers
The decline in traditional print readership is forcing local and regional publishers to bind new micro-communities to their media brands. But how can this be done efficiently? One solution is local user-generated content - editorially controlled and supported by AI.
Modular CMS with an innovative reader-reporter view revolutionises the day-to-day work of editorial teams
In the presentation, Kai Gohlke, Editor-in-Chief of Oberpfalz Medien, and Jens Seidel, Chief Sales Officer HUP GmbH, will use the example of ‘Oberpfalz daheim’ to show how myContent PUBLISHING WORLD (www.mycontent.online) supports publishers in seamlessly integrating community content into existing workflows. The strategy: readers provide content, editors and AI take over quality control. Publishers benefit from more local content - without additional editorial resources - strengthen their brand, are unique platforms for vertical content and are therefore more attractive to advertisers and subscribers.
Jens Seidel, Chief Sales Officer und Prokurist, HUP GmbH
Kai Gohlke, Chefredakteur, Oberpfalz Medien
Jens Seidel
HUP GmbH
Kai Gohlke
Oberpfalz Medien
Case
14 Websites in 12 Months: How to Migrate to a Multi-Brand & Multi-Channel Platform in Record Time
Everyone told us, “Migrating 14 brand websites in such a short time – that’s impossible!” Yet by leveraging an efficient multi-brand platform like Purple in combination with rigorous project management, we proved them wrong. In this session, Azir Razzak, CTO at Our Media, and Benjamin Kolb, Co-Founder and CTO of Purple, share the key tactics behind this extraordinary achievement. You’ll discover that the migration was only the beginning – the real transformation began when Our Media embraced the opportunities of a multi-channel platform that seamlessly integrates digital and print. Learn how standardized processes not only save time and reduce costs but also enable the efficient consolidation of diverse brands. Gain practical, real-world insights from a technology partnership that demonstrates the power of ambitious digitalization projects and why bold, innovative organizational change is vital for any successful transformation journey.
Benjamin Kolb, Co-Founder und CTO von Purple
Azir Razzak, CTO bei Our Media
Benjamin Kolb
Purple
Azir Razzak
Our Media
Case
Overnight in the cloud - and onwards with AI in digital asset management (DAM)
In February 2025, the Kölner Stadtanzeiger migrated its image system as well as the agency and newspaper archive to the cloud - a milestone for greater scalability, efficiency and flexible access, even when working from home or on the move. Millions of files, including images, articles and historical issues, were successfully migrated almost overnight without interrupting editorial operations. Since then, ePaper and B2B customers have also benefited from the modern infrastructure. The presentation provides insights into the entire migration process: from the initial planning to the challenges and the immediate steps after the ‘cutover’. A particular focus will be on the integration of the historical archive holdings and the initial experiences with AI-supported metadata enrichment and intelligent search functions - a crucial step in finding the right content more quickly in the huge amounts of data.
Nico Krizsak, Head of Service, DuMont Rheinland Media24 GmbH
Peter Resele, Managing Director of Comyan GmbH
Nico Krizsak
DuMont Rheinland Media24 GmbH
Peter Resele
Comyan GmbH
Case
Lean and smart: how Mediengruppe Österreich is continuing the printed daily newspaper in the digital-first age
Rising running costs and falling revenues from the traditional print business have become common sense in the publishing industry. But how to react to this? In recent years, the European Publishing Congress has shown the entire spectrum from reinvention with a quality offensive to the simple discontinuation of the daily printed newspaper. With the daily newspapers ‘Österreich’ and ‘OE24’ as well as the online portal www.oe24.at, Mediengruppe Österreich is one of the leading news providers in Austria. In the course of digital focussing, it was necessary to develop a sustainable concept for the printed newspaper and the e-paper editions and to put it into practice. Find out in this presentation how it was possible to switch to markstein's cloud-based publishing solution in record time and cut out old habits in the process. Significantly lower operating and production costs enable MGÖ to continue to successfully serve the print and e-paper market.
Georg Elsberg, CTO, ‘ÖSTERREICH’ media group / oe24
Dr Marcus von Harlessem, Chief Transformation Officer, Interim Manager
Georg Elsberg
media group „ÖSTERREICH“ / oe24
Dr. Marcus von Harlessem
Markstein
Case
Colleague Kiki and Grandma - Rheinische Post's experience with automated page production
In October 2024, the first pages were produced at Rheinische Post using SmartPaper, the automated page production system from InterRed. Today, 130 pages ‘run through the machine’ every day. The regional newspaper with 24 local editions and its own jacket places special demands on the new system. Separate pages for different municipalities, limited amounts of content and little to no extra work for colleagues are just some of the challenges. The editorial team also wants to be able to consciously control the use of AI in newspaper production. Martina Stöcker, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Rheinische Post, explains in a presentation how production works on a day-to-day basis, what challenges the team had to overcome, why conversations at the desk have recently centred a lot on grandma and colleague Kiki and why, in the end, it's still people who make the decisions.
Martina Stöcker, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Rheinische Post, Düsseldorf
Manuel Terpelle, Senior Sales Manager & Consultant, InterRed GmbH
Martina Stöcker
Rheinische Post
Manuel Terpelle
InterRed GmbH
Case
What the Jedermann has to do with Textshine: Spelling AI in practice at the ‘Salzburger Nachrichten’
It all started at an in-house AI workshop: a reliable spelling tool was needed. It should not reformulate the texts, but concentrate on real errors. After extensive testing, Textshine was found. Within a few months, the AI solution was introduced for the entire SN editorial team. In this presentation, Textshine founder Alexander Seifert and SN proofreader Mattias Ainz-Feldner give an insight into the hurdles that first had to be overcome. Using selected examples, they show that Textshine has a positive effect on the nervous system in editorial offices. They present further developments of Textshine that are of interest to every media organisation. And they reveal why ‘Jedermann’ 2024 played a not insignificant role in convincing them of the capabilities of this spelling tool.
Mattias Ainz-Feldner, Salzburger Nachrichten, proofreading team leader
Alexander Seifert, founder & developer of Textshine
Mattias Ainz-Feldner
Salzburger Nachrichten
Alexander Seifert
Textshine
Would you like to present your case at the European Publishing Congress 2026?
For more information, please contact
Ines Herrera
E-Mail: ines.herrera@oberauer.com
Phone: +43 6225 2700-31
