Planning in the fog: Building a multi-year strategy for news media

In 2026, media strategy can’t rely on stable assumptions: distribution is shifting, the revenue mix is under pressure, and technology choices have long-term consequences. This session, during the early afternoon of Congress Wednesday, is a practical guide to building a multi-year strategic plan that still holds when the environment changes faster than your annual budgeting cycle.

The three speakers each bring direct, current experience of developing plans and nailing strategy for their organisations:

Nine months ago, Sophie Gourmelen took over as President of Groupe EBRA, France’s largest regional daily press group with nine local daily news brands, €479m in revenue and over 121,000 digital subscribers. She had a clear mandate from owner Crédit Mutuel: return the group to sustainable profitability. In her first interview since taking the job, she was direct about how she intends to do it – not through cost-cutting alone, but by rebuilding the editorial proposition first. “All the savings plans in the world won’t be enough. The foundation is a strong editorial promise.” She is currently building a five-to-six year strategic plan for the group.

Joseph Oughourlian is Chairman of Grupo PRISA, the Spanish media group behind El País, Cadena SER and AS, with operations spanning Europe and Latin America and co-founder of activist investment fund Amber Capital. In March this year, he presented investors with a four-year strategic plan for Grupo PRISA, including a goal of €1.12bn in revenue and €240m EBITDA by 2029, saying: “We will strengthen the business, drive new revenue streams, and leverage innovation, artificial intelligence, and internal talent to expand our reach and capture market opportunities.”

Anders Opdahl is CEO of Amedia, Norway’s largest newspaper publisher with over 100 local and regional titles, more than 800,000 subscribers and a track record of digital transformation that is studied across the industry. Under his leadership, Amedia has expanded beyond Norway into Denmark, acquiring Berlingske Media in 2024 and entering a cross-ownership agreement with Jysk Fynske Medier in late 2025, while also holding a stake in Bonnier News Local in Sweden. What makes Amedia’s story so relevant to this session is that Opdahl has had to build and execute long-term strategy while managing structural change across multiple markets. He has also shown a willingness to make strategic bets with long time horizons, including a joint bid with TV 2 for Norwegian football rights through 2034.

The session will be moderated by Mariam Mammen Mathew, CEO of Manorama Online, the digital arm of Malayala Manorama, one of India’s oldest and largest media groups. She is also the Vice President of WAN-IFRA and the Chairperson of the Digital News Publishers’ Association of India.

Wednesday June 3 | 14.30

Explore our line-of of 100+ speakers and full programme →