Czech editorial system succeeds in Germany, CTK and dpa to cooperate on further development

13.03.2009

The Czech News Agency (CTK) has licensed the largest news service provider in Germany 'dpa' to deploy CTK´s Multimedia Editorial System (Multimedialni redakcni system, MRS). Both news agencies have also agreed to cooperate in further development of MRS and in future sales of the system. Several other European news agencies have also already expressed interest in the MRS.

"In addition to news items, technical expertise is becoming ever more essential to news agencies. We are looking forward to working together with our Czech colleagues in this field," said Malte von Trotha, dpa's CEO.

"We see the fact that such a major agency as dpa has decided to acquire the rights to employ and develop our MRS?system as confirmation that we are moving in the right direction," stated the Director General of ČTK, Milan Stibral.

An editorial system is the technological backbone of any news agency´s business. It has to be multimedia-based, versatile and based on the way journalists really work. MRS was developed between 2003 and 2006 when it was clear that none of the available systems were suitable for the CTK. It was deployed at the CTK in 2006 and is continuously upgraded. It is also the technological backbone of the internal re-alignment the CTK is currently undergoing. The system allows the agency to offer its clients news services in all media forms and integrated with a planning module.

After intensive analysis that lasted more than six months, the dpa news agency has established that MRS meets its key needs. dpa wants to further develop the system and add functionality. It plans to deploy this new system gradually, starting with the photo editorial department in 2010. By 2011, all editorial departments at the agency should be employing the new system. dpa's Editor-in-Chief, Wilm Herlyn added: "The new production infrastructure will provide editorial desks with a powerful tool that will enable them to work more rapidly and flexibly in future, and also to adapt to changing customer requirements." MRS is also essential to ensure that agencies do not have to make any sacrifices to speed and reliability of their reporting even in the demanding environment of multimedia.

The system design is based on flexible integration of all media into multimedia "packages". The CTK system is unique in that it integrates news and a database of events directly into the editorial system core. This allows not only planning at the CTK but also within the editorial departments of its clients while it automatically maintains appropriate relations among news items, be it text, photos, infographics, audio or other media that the agency provides in relation to a specific event. All these inter-media connections are also distributed to the agency's clients, so that they can use them for the automation of processes and increased effectiveness. The whole news process is thus fully transparent for the clients.

About dpa:
dpa is the largest independent news and information service provider in Germany. The agency is jointly owned by the German media, and the business group employs some 1100 personnel. In the financial year 2007, dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH achieved a turnover of approximately € 93.8 million and annual net profits of around € 4.4 million. In addition to its internationally published text services in German, English, Spanish and Arabic, dpa provides image, graphic and audio news services round the clock. Its portfolio extends to multimedia and mobile services, as well as editorial and technological services, amongst others.

About ČTK/MRS:
Czech News Agency (CTK) is the national news agency of the Czech Republic. Its 370 personnel produce texts in Czech, Slovak and English. The organisation has its headquarters in Prague. The CTK is a public corporation but receives no financial support from the state. Despite this, the agency has continuously been operating at a profit since 1996. The CTK is not only responsible for multimedia-based reporting, but is also a major producer of internet content. A supervisory body appointed by parliament is responsible for overseeing the CTK.

The MRS system (Multimediální Redakční Systém) was developed in the Czech Republic in 2003 - 2005. By this time, the CTK already had at least 10 years' experience in the development and maintenance of its editorial systems. MRS has been in service in the CTK's editorial departments since February 2006 and has since been continuously enhanced and upgraded.