The working group for regional and thematic media will actively work on the implementation of strategies to improve the availability, quality and reach of regional and thematic media portals in Croatia.
On Thursday, February 28, the Croatian Association of Digital Publishers established a new Working Group for Regional and Thematic Media dedicated to the development and improvement of regional and thematic media portals. The members of the group are key representatives of regional media houses, media that create specialized content, and consultants on the digital market, namely: Josip Krokar, owner of Fikre; Marko Matijević, founder of Smart House; Mia Biberović, editor-in-chief of Netokracija; Vedran Stapić, founder and owner of Agroklub; Maja Maldini, owner and director of Plantae Consulting; Ante Fumić, founder of Prilika Grupa, and Tomislav Wruss, media director at Hanza Media.
At the first, founding session, members of the working group elected Ante Fumić to lead them in the first term. Ante Fumić, the new president of the Working Group for Regional and Thematic Media on the occasion of its founding, says:
“I believe that with this establishment of the Working Group, we have initiated processes that will enable better development of the digital media scene in Croatia, and have opened up opportunities for regional and thematic media to make even better progress and inform the public. Our members already include several strong regional and thematic media, but we strive to increase the number of members because many smaller media in Croatia need support, cooperation and new media knowledge that HUDI can provide. We have already started with the first activities, we will inform members and the public about everything promptly through the hudi.hr website and social networks.”
The goal of the working group is to develop and implement strategies to improve the availability, quality and reach of regional and thematic media portals in Croatia. Some of the things that the working group will focus on are encouraging cooperation between regional and thematic media and the founders of the Croatian Association of Digital Publishers, which are 24sata, Hanza Media, Index Promotion, Telegram group, RTL Hrvatska and NovaTV, in the activities of publishing content and performing and applying together in various EU funds allocation projects.
Ante Fumić and Ozren Kronja, Photo: Niko Goga
The working group will be in charge of the organization and establishment of legal advice and the creation of guides that will provide guidance to digital media in various legal processes. This includes answers to questions about how to behave at all points of the process, what types of real processes digital publishers may encounter, and the like.
The gathering of experts from the industry and the cooperation of various digital publishers within the Association also enables the exchange of knowledge. The working group for regional and thematic media will be in charge of the selection of topics relevant to the digital publishing and advertising market and the organization of various education accessible to all HUDI members.
Ozren Kronja, executive director of HUDI said:
“By establishing a working group for regional and thematic media, the Croatian Association of Digital Publishers has taken a strong step towards unifying the digital media market and encouraging cooperation, which will ultimately contribute to a higher quality of content available to everyone. This is only the first step, this year HUDI plans to open additional working groups to address all current challenges in the market, from the need for relevant and up-to-date insights to tackling AdTech in digital advertising.”
The working group will meet regularly over the coming months to discuss and develop strategies to improve the quality and accessibility of regional and thematic media portals in Croatia. Through its activities, the working group hopes to create an inclusive media environment in which all digital publishers contribute, perform together and meet the needs of all Croatian residents.
The association’s executive board consists of Stipe Grubišić, director of digital operations at Hanza Medije, Maja Blumenšajn, director of new media at Nova TV, Tonko Weissmann, executive vice president and board member of RTL Croatia, Zoran Turković, executive director and board member at 24sata, Miran Pavić, founder and the director of Telegram Media Group, and Ivan Pleše, chief operating officer of Index, also the president of the association.
