Sweden's TV4 Group has announced it is expanding its presence on YouTube in a new partnership. The initiative will include a stengthened YouTube channel, program-specific channels - like the channel for Swedish Idol created for YouTube last fall - and vlogs from journalists and TV personalities. The new offering will be part of its on-demand service, TV4 Play.

Already up and running are program-specific channels for news programs Nyhetsmorgon and TV4 Nyheterna, TV4 Sport, Let's Dance and vlogs from journalists Anders Pihlblad, Ulf Kristofferson and Olof Lundh, with the list growing daily. 

Stockholm City Hall, where the Nobel Prize ceremony is held, was the scene this evening of a different kind of award: the Bonnier Sales Awards. Sales people from around the Bonnier world converged on Stockholm to see who would win the Bonnier Sales Awards 2013, which were announced late in the evening.

The awards kicked off earlier in the day with an afternoon seminar led by Sara Öhrvall, formerly of Bonnier R&D and current board member of Expressen, Adlibris and Mag+, among others. “To quote Meredith Levien at Forbes: We’re no longer in the media sales business, we’re now in the enterprise technology sales business,” said Öhrvall at the conclusion of the first part of the seminar. Look at pictures from the seminar on our Facebook page.

In the evening, the guests celebrated at a gala dinner and ceremony hosted by Ulrika Saxon, chairman of the awards jury and TV4 celebrity Tilde de Paula Eby. “The best of the best are gathered here this important evening when we show our appreciation and gratitude towards all the dedicated sales people throughout Bonnier,” said Saxon, who noted it had been a challenge for the jury to select the 14 finalists from the 75 nominated sales people and asked all who had been nominated to stand for a round of applause.

Following dinner – the same menu eaten by the guests attending the Nobel prize ceremony – and entertainment, that included Swedish pop star Agnes, the winners were announced with fanfare:

Jim Jansson, TV4, Sales Rookie of the Year
The jury wrote: “Jim Jansson may be a rookie, but he has the skills of a seasoned salesperson – and the sales to prove it. His positive, humble and helpful attitude have given his whole team a new momentum.”

Mats Lagus, Dagens industri, Sales Manager of the Year
The jury wrote: “Mats Lagus sees the big picture and always acts for the best of his team, his customers and Dagens industri. As a sales manager, Mats doesn’t stand behind his team, he stands in front.”

Sakari Palsola, MTV, Multi-Channel Sales of the Year
The jury wrote: “Sakari Palsola is reliable, persistent and can seal even complicated deals. This former ice hockey captain knows it takes teamwork, a desire to win and hard work to get results.

Maria Wiss, TV4, Sales Representative of the Year
The jury wrote: “Maria Wiss balances being both a team player and a game winner with ease. Where others give up, she steps on the gas. Her expertise and passion make it nearly impossible for customers to say no.”

Last week, TV4 in Sweden premiered its first original series in English - Welcome to Sweden - with a whopping audience of 1,695,000 - nearly 20 percent of the Swedish population (preliminary numbers from MMS). The series has also been purchased by NBC to be shown in the U.S.  

Welcome to Sweden features comedian Greg Poehler as an accountant who leaves the U.S. behind to move with his Swedish girlfriend to Stockholm. The show features Josephine Bornebusch from TV4's hit Solsidan as Poehler's girlfriend, Lena Olin as her mother and American actors Ileana Douglas and Patrick Duffy as Poehler's parents. Playing his sister is Parks & Recreation star Amy Poehler, his sister in real life, and in bit parts, actors Will Farrell, Aubrey Plaza and even Gene Simmons of KISS.

The show, created by Greg Poehler and commissioned by TV4, is a co-production of eOne, TV4, FLX and Syskon, which is Greg and Amy Poehler's own production company. 

Winners of Finland’s Grand Prize for Journalism were announced yesterday, chosen from among 456 nominations. The prize includes EUR 7,500 for each winner. The public also chose a winner, which was voted for via Facebook.

The winners of Finland’s Grand Prize for Journalism 2013 are:

Article/Episode of the Year: Foreign Ministry Hacking, Timo Haapala, MTV News

Timo Haapala’s revelations of hacking directed at the Finnish Foreign Ministry started an active discussion of digital security in Finland. The episode proved how vulnerable even the most developed data networks can be and how it took a tip from outside the Foreign Ministry to reveal the leak.

Finalists for the category were Katarina Baer from Helsingin Sanomat and Heikki Haapavaara and Jarmo Vehkakoski from Kauppalehti Optio.

Journalistic Achievement of the Year: Me tiedämme missä asut (We know where you live) project, Hannele Valkeeniemi, Aki Kekäläinen and Jarkko Ryynänen, Yle

With great style, the project discusses the hatred directed online against people who think differently from others. People who have suffered from online hate speech talk about their alarming experiences at the project’s website, and the topic is also connected to current affairs programming on television. In addition to interviews, the site contains information such as the laws on hate speech, a discussion forum and the opportunity to participate in a survey on the subject.

Finalists for the category were the Kriisi? Crisis? website and Long Play.

Journalist of the Year: Saska Saarikoski, Helsingin Sanomat

Saska Saarikoski is an accomplished journalist, a master of column writing, interviewing and in-depth reporting. His articles make a strong point and often generate active public discussion. He is even a popular and sharp debater in social media. Saarikoski has the gift of finding new phenomena and questioning conventional wisdom.

Finalists in the category include freelance writer Eeva-Liisa Hynynen and Moscow correspondent Anna-Lena Laurén of Hufvudstadsbladet and Svenska Dagbladet.

People’s Choice: 11-Kollektiivi and Kaskas Media, Kriisi? Crisis? website

Kriisi? Crisis? is an online photojournalism publication produced by 11 photographers (11-kollektiivi) and 11 writers (Kaskas Media). The splendid website in its entirety, produced in Finnish and English, observes different crises in ten countries. The creators expand the possibilities of photojournalism with the site in a fresh and interesting way. 

In separate book award competitions recognizing book design, Bonnier's Swedish and Norwegian book publishers - Bonnierförlagen and Cappelen Damm - were big winners.

The Svensk Bokkonst prize, sponsored by the non-profit organization of the same name, recognizes the best in Swedish book design. A total of seven books published by Bonnierförlagen's publishing companies were recognized as having exceptional design:

• Tio lektioner i matlagning (Ten cooking lessons) by Lotta Lundgren, Wahlström & Widstrand
• Min man dog tusen gånger (My husband died a thousand times) by Rebecka Nordström Graaf, Albert Bonniers Förlag
• Karin! Karin! Karin! Min Engel! (Karin! Karin! Karin! My Angel!) by Per I. Gedin, Albert Bonniers Förlag
• Pappalogi (Dadology) by Manne Forssberg, Bonnier Fakta
• Bonniers Vegetariska kokbok, (Bonnier's vegetarian cookbook) Bonnier Fakta
• Pocketserien Utvandrarna, Invandrarna, Nybyggarna and Sista brevet till Sverige (The Emigrants, Unto a Good Land, The Settlers and The Last Letter Home) by Vilhelm Moberg, Bonnierpocket
• Skräpliv(Garbage Life), anthology of Romanian short stories, 2244

The seven  books published by Cappelen Damm that won eight Årets vakreste Bøker - The Year's Most Beautiful Books - awards sponsored by visual communication organization Grafill in Norway were:

• Bokkunstpris, prize honoring the person or company for their work in promoting good book art - writer and illustrator Anna Fiske 
• Children's and YA Literature - Gold - Emil from Lønneberget, Madicken and The Red Bird by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Bjørn Berg and Ilon Wikland, cover by Elisabeth Vold Bjone, design by Ingeborg Ousland 
• Silver - Nattevakt (Night Watchman) by Synne Lea and Stian Hole, illustration and design, Stian Hole
• Honorable Mention - Purriot og den forsvunne bronsehesten (Purriot and the Lost Bronze Horse) by Bjørn F. Rørvik and Ragnar Aalbu, illustation and cover Ragnar Aalbu, Design Elisabeth Vold Bjone 
• Picture Book - Honorable Mention - Hvor er Albert? (Where is Albert?) written and illustrated by Martin Ernstsen
  
• Cover, Children's and YA - Honorable Mentions - 1920 by Jon Ewo, design by Bleed Design and Nattevakt, cover by Stian Hole
• Open Category - Honorable Mention - Koblinger, written and illustrated by Øyvind Torseter

Daniel Sandström, currently the culture editor for national daily Svenska Dagbladet and previously editor-in-chief for Sydsvenskan, will be publisher and editorial director at book publisher Albert Bonniers Förlag. He starts on May 15. 

With such a distinguished career in journalism, what made you decide to go work in book publishing for Albert Bonniers Förlag?
I’m a person who loves literature and books, and to get to work with them in a more tangible way, from start to finish, and for a publisher with so much history and such great authors was irresistible.

What will be your biggest challenge?
I need to simultaneously learn a new industry while being a part of changing it. The whole digital journey, that the newspaper industry has long been making, is going to inevitably turn the book industry upside down.

As a journalist covering culture, do you ever get a chance to read books for pure pleasure?
I’ve always read a lot, I can’t distinguish anymore between reading for work and reading for pleasure, it’s a part of life.

Yesterday, Bonnier was named No. 6 in the Randstad Awards, which rank the most attractive employers based on an independent employer branding survey. The survey, which is produced by employer specialist Randstad, is the largest in the world and was conducted in Sweden for the first time this year.

“We’re proud and excited to be recognized as one of Sweden’s most attractive employers,” says Elisabeth Palombo, head of talent management at Bonnier AB.

Some 150 companies took part, and the top 20 received awards. Among the issues the survey looked at were work environment, co-workers, benefits, salary, security, education and development.

“It’s great that our employees in Sweden are happy and very satisfied with their jobs – and that they let others know,” says Palombo. “The results of the survey are a reflection of the work we at the headquarters and our subsidiaries have put into  talent management. But we can’t rest on our laurels. Talent management will continue to be an important focus for us, now and in the future. This is just one more step toward the goal to be at the top.”

The TV4 Group has made a preliminary strategic decision to change its news coverage and will discontinue its local news programming. Some 140 people could be let go. The decision also includes strengthening of national news coverage with 25 local reporters in nine locales throughout Sweden.

"It's a tough message for employees, for local journalism and for TV4 and [TV4's news production company] Nyhetsbolaget," said Casten Almqvist, CEO for the TV4 Group, in a press release (in Swedish). "But the media industry is undergoing a major restructuring, and with current uncertainties around regulation, we need to prioritize. We currently put nearly half of our news resources into local TV programming, which isn't sustainable in the long run. The goal is to put more resources in news coverage on digital platforms and our major news broadcasts at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Despite the cutbacks we will have broader coverage throughout Sweden than any other commercial news outlet on a national level."

In April 2013, launched a new way for fans of Popular Science to experience the magazine: as a TV show “broadcast” on web and available on smart television sets - those connected to the Internet. Now, Bonnier Corporation has extended the series and added two new magazines, Saveur and Cycle World.

“This is a growing marketplace - Over The Top (OTT) services are very new and expanding rapidly with the sales of new connected TVs and OTT Boxes like Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire,” says Sean Holzman, chief brand development officer for Bonnier Corporation. “We have an opportunity to have our brands front and center, and we want to give them every opportunity to connect with their consumers on every platform and to find new ones.”

The series are available via Net2TV’s Portico TV, which provides a range of OTT programming. “Anyone who has a connected TV or OTT box can access them,” says Holzman. “It’s great for us to bring our brands to new platforms and reach consumers in a new way. You’ll be seeing new titles launching on Net2TV – plus you can find our titles in stand-alone apps for other devices as well.”

April 23 is World Book Day and Bonnierförlagen, the Swedish book publisher, is spreading a little extra love when it comes to reading.

"We want social media to explode with photos of books and reading," says Karin Schyffert, who works with digital marketing at Bonnierförlagen. 

What the publisher is doing is pushing a campaign on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The campaign asks users to share pictures of themselves reading, ask others what they're reading, and to use a range of hashtags in Swedish such as #LäsningSmittar (reading is contagious), #Titel (title) and #Författaren (author).

The social media users who get the most likes and favorites in each channel will win a package of books from the publisher. The contest runs until April 27, 2014.

"During the current national election year, with political parties focusing on schools and reading issues, we at Bonnierförlagen want to highlight love of reading. We work with books, stories and reading because we get so much from it, and we want to give it back and spread the word!"

Sydsvenska Dagbladet AB announced today that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire fellow southern Swedish daily Helsingborgs Dagblad. Read more in an article at Sydsvenskan.se here (in Swedish).

Swedish book publisher Wahlström & Widstrand is releasing Juvelskrinet (the jewelry box) the 42nd book in Jan Mårtenson's popular detective series featuring antique dealer Johan Kristian Homan. But there's plenty more to celebrate: tomorrow the publisher is also putting out Homan hittills (Homan to-Date), an e-book that pulls together all 42 novels in the series. The e-book includes as well the short story collection Jubileumsmord (anniversary murders), the recipe collection Mord på menyn (murder on the menu) and the guidebook Mord i Gamla Stan (murder in old town) - plus a new interview with the author conducted specifically for the book.

With an equivalent of 38 kilos of books taking up more than a meter of book shelf space, Homan hittills is the most comprensive e-book ever published in Sweden - and maybe the world! 

The last word goes to author Mårtenson: "Persistence pays off."

Finland’s No. 1 commercial radio station, Radio Nova, recently got international attention for its reinvented website – the station was named an honoree in the global Webby Awards. The awards, which the New York Times has described as the “Internet’s Highest Honor” received 12,000 submissions from 60 countries around the world. Radio Nova won in the Radio & Podcasts category. Voting is currently underway for the people’s choice awards.

“Being nominated as an Honoree in the ‘Oscars of the Internet’ is naturally a great achievement and a huge recognition for the innovative and experimental co-operation by our super talented Radio Nova digital team and Frantic,” says Ninja Huhtamäki, vice president for programming at Radio Nova.

The site was completely redesigned and relaunched a year ago with the help of creative agency Frantic, but is constantly being tweaked and improved.

“Our goal was to create a site that lives and breathes in pace with radio, a continuous stream of active radio-like content instead of the typical stable archive of articles and interviews,” says Huhtamäki. “Top performance of scalability was the other major goal, and the result speaks for itself.”

The relaunch has been a great success, with statistics to prove it: Traffic increased 50 percent, mobile use increased 310 percent and tablet use, a whopping 340 percent.

The award is definitely icing on the cake for the channel. “We’re extremely encouraged by the attention and can’t wait to introduce our next level of radio and web – a match made in heaven,” says Huhtamäki.

Watch a video about the website redesign.

For the 21st year in a row, Swedish interior design magazine Sköna hem is giving out the Årets Möbel award – the Furniture of the Year prize. The winner is chosen by the magazine from among a small group of four to five finalist pieces, and has become one of Sweden’s most prestigious – and awaited – awards for the furniture and interior design industry.

This year, the winner is Gustav Person’s table “Spänna” (which means stretch), announced earlier today. The award will be given out at a ceremony later in May.

“The prize is the oldest of its kind in Sweden today as far as I know,” says Dan Gordan, an editor at Sköna hem who has been involved with the prize since its inception, first as a writer and later as jury member. “While all sorts of interior design magazines give out prizes left and right, we have a qualified jury and award the prize to only one piece of furniture, with the winner receiving a sum of SEK 30,000.”

The prize definitely has a life far beyond the magazine. For example, when the Swedish government declared 2005 “a year for design,” the magazine created an exhibit, Årets Möbel, which appeared at eight museums touring throughout Sweden. And for last year’s 20^th anniversary, Sköna hem threw a massive party in the courtyard of the National Museum in Stockholm.

“Through the prize, we show that Sköna hem is a serious player to the furniture and interior design industry,” says Gordan. “And our readers understand this of course, they see that their magazine makes a difference outside their living rooms.”

As for this year’s prizewinning table, the jury wrote: “A table for furniture lovers, a design with poetic appeal. Furniture-maker Gustav Person’s master’s project for the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design was a test of joining, where with the help of poetry he added something extra to the design process. The table is held together through the power of the wood itself, there is no need for glue or screws.”

Interested in owning your own Spänna? It’s available from furniture company Källemo. 

Bonnier Corp.’s Field & Stream has won a coveted National Magazine Award, taking home the top prize for General Excellence in the Active Interest category. Field & Stream received the National Magazine Award honoring magazines that cover active sports, outdoor recreation, and health and fitness. Sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), the National Magazine Awards are the preeminent awards for magazine journalism, with General Excellence widely regarded as the industry’s highest honor. 

"I’m particularly thrilled with Field & Stream’s win for General Excellence," said Anthony Licata, editorial director of Bonnier’s Men’s Group. "This is a nod not just to one particular story or aspect of the magazine but rather to the excellent work of the entire staff."

Today, Bonnier Media Deutschland announced that Hartmut Jedicke has asked to step down as head of Bonnier Books International and as the board chair for Bonnier Media Deutschland and Bonnier Publishing, U.K. Jedicke, who has been with Bonnier since 1995 and served as CEO for Bonnier Media Deutschland from 2007 until 2013, when he was succeeded by Christian Schumacher-Gebler, will continue to serve as a member of the German board, as well as for the recently acquired publishing house Marginesy in Poland.

In conjunction with Jedicke’s stepping down as board chair, Bonnier AB has announced it will be combining all its book operations into a single business area, headed by Jacob Dalborg.

Dalborg, who currently heads the Nordic book operations, will be the new board chair for Bonnier Media Deutschland. Dalborg will also serve as board chair for Bonnier Publishing in the U.K., which is run by CEO Richard Johnson.

“Hartmut has been key to the growth and development of Bonnier’s German book publishing operations, not least during his years as CEO,” says Tomas Franzén, CEO for Bonnier AB. “I would like to thank Hartmut for his hard work in making Bonnier Media Deutschland a success. I am pleased that he will continue to contribute his knowledge and expertise as a member of the board.”

“After 20 happy years of very active work for the Bonnier group, I am glad to be reducing my work on the operational side and to be focusing more on the strategic work with the boards in Germany and Poland,” says Jedicke. 

Bonnier Media Deutschland is among the top publishing houses in Germany. The German group includes, among others, leading book publishers Ullstein, Piper, arsEdition, Thienemann/Esslinger and Carlsen, the German publisher of Harry Potter and the Twilight series.

Swedish newspaper GT (Göteborgs-Tidning) took home a first prize in the prestigious global International News Media Association (INMA) Awards, competing against newspapers from around the world. The paper won for the best use of social media with its campaign #VoteGBG. The awards were given out at the annual meeting of the INMA, held in San Francisco earlier this week.

“It’s fantastic that GT, among all the world’s big media companies, is the newspaper that took first prize for the best use of social media,” said GT Editor-in-Chief Frida Boisen in an article in the paper. “Throughout the conference, not least this evening, many of the world’s most influential media powers have heard about the democracy efforts GT has made in Göteborg. For myself, I feel this prize belongs to all Gothenbergers who have signed the petition for a public referendum in Göteborg. Your efforts were truly exceptional.”

So what are you working on?

Sami Kumpula: I started out with the Outdoor Group and then switched to the Technology Group, which includes Popular Science, Popular Photography and American Photo, working with ad placement on the websites. I work with TV ads at MTV, so I love learning the software that Bonnier Corp. uses and getting to see a whole new side of media.

Jessica Enns: I’m working with campaign planning and optimizing the advertisements for MTV’s TV channels, putting all the puzzle pieces together. There’ve been a lot of ins and outs, it’s been a steep learning curve for me. But I’ve surprised myself with how much I’ve learned to use the system, even though it’s in Finnish. It’s a lot of Google Translate.

Do you have much contact with each other?

JE: Before we arrived, there was a lot of back and forth explaining things and giving helpful tips. But after we started, not as much.

SK: It was very helpful that we talked ahead of time. But now if I need something, I just ask the people here. But they miss you! Still, we see what you’re doing on Facebook…

So what’s the most important thing you’ve gotten out the experience so far?

SK: Jobwise, it’s been learning a new side of web advertising, seeing a bigger picture in a bigger market, I really love learning new stuff. And in general, just getting to meet new people.

JE: Yeah, the opportunity to meet new people is one of my favorite parts of the experience as well. And learning the TV industry from the inside out – pop culture is my life, so it’s fascinating to see TV up close and in another country. Also, I love being able to travel, I’ve been to Estonia, Sweden, Denmark and other places in Finland, it’s very cool to be able to see so much so close, that’s almost impossible in the U.S.

How about the cultural differences - food, for instance? 

JE: I love seeing all the little cafes, we don’t have that in the U.S., but really everything is different. Even the sushi has its own flair.

SK: There’s food everywhere here, it’s weird but I’ve enjoyed it, well, too much. Ice cream is so cheap! Every day we go to a different restaurant for lunch.

JE: I’ve enjoyed having the cafeteria at work instead of going out to eat because I always have the hardest time deciding where to go back home!

Since you haven’t spoken much to each other recently, anything you’d like to say or ask each other?

SK: Well, I'm really curious, how have my colleagues treated you? Be completely honest, I want to know the truth!

JE: Heidi [Manninen, Sami's boss and Jessica’s supervisor at MTV] has been fantastic, and some of the girls have been really  great, they invite me out all the time to everything.  My birthday was in March and they took me out to several places, it was so nice that they planned something even though I had just arrived.

SK: It’s the same here, all my friends work for Bonnier. They invite me everywhere.

What’s your favorite part of the exchange so far? Anything you’ll be bringing back home with you?

SK: I love the beach, but Winter Park is just so beautiful. The nature is amazing, there’s water everywhere and I go paddle boarding with one of my colleagues here at the lakes. I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful – it’s like summer in Finland in a way, only warmer!

JE: I love that the days last forever. But I think what I’m going to take back with me is patience. I’ve had to work here very carefully, step-by-step, and I can see that it’s improved my work. And of course, I’ll take back all the friendships I’ve made, I’ve invited everyone to stay with me when they come to Florida!

SK: Exactly, all the relationships I’ve made – both in terms of the job and also privately. And I’m going to be nicer in my e-mails, American style!

Magazine company Bonnier Publications, with headquarters in Denmark, has sold its shares in Bonnier Publications Russia to its partners.

With a base in Moscow, Bonnier Publications Russia focuses primarily on the food market, with websites, books and the magazine Gastronom. The company also publishes the lifestyle magazine Women's Secrets.

Getting young people involved in the upcoming national elections in Sweden is the aim of a new campaign started by TV4's longstanding anti-racism project Nollrasism and free weekly Nöjesguiden. The campaign, Valvakan, will begin with several election programs broadcast from Almedalen Week, the big Swedish non-partisan political meeting, as well as music festival Way Out West. The programs will be broadcast on TV4 Play, TV4's YouTube channel as well as Nöjesguiden's channels.

The initiative culminates during the election weekend, Sept. 13-14, with a  party and election watch from Stockholm, much of it broadcast live on TV4 Play. The initiative is part of TV4's long-standing Nollrasism project to combat racism.

The actual election coverage will be lead by Nöjesguiden's Editor-in-Chief Amat Levin, who will be joined by various columnists from the paper. The election coverage as well as shows from Almedalen and Way Out West will address political questions and include interviews with key figures within popular culture, performances and panel debates. Everything will be shown in TV4 Play, TV4's YouTube channel and Nöjesguiden's own channels.

"TV4 has worked with Nollrasism for over 15 years, and it's great to be doing this project together with Nöjesguiden," says Lisa Leuhusen, project manager for TV4's Nollrasism project. "It's an exciting complement to TV4's other election coverage. Together, we'll be working to engage young voters before an election where they have a chance to influence Swedish politics, but might have been hesitant to take part. Hopefully, we can help increase engagement and get those who maybe thought their voice made no difference, to go and vote."

TV4 started Nollrasism in 1998, with the purpose of taking the fight for equality, to stand up for diversity and tolerance and combat xenophobia and racism. Over the years, Nollrasism has sponsored fundraising, talks and tours. The project has had cooperations with organizations such as the Red Cross and Expo among others, as well as with schools around the country