Jamie Letizia knows relationships. “Strong relationships help build the foundation for successful partnerships,” says Letizia, who works as an integrated account manager with Bonnier Corporation’sParenting. “The best part of my job is building and maintaining relationships with clients and agencies and developing creative solutions for them that exceed their expectations.”

Letizia, who is a finalist in the Multi-Channel Sales of the Year category of the Bonnier Sales Awards, faces some tough competition in the U.S. “Our titles are often up against corporate deals or properties with larger audiences,” she says. “This just inspires us to be more creative with our marketing solutions and sales strategies.” Being creative is definitely something she’s good at: one of her triumphs for the year was a campaign created for Hallmark that included a strong social media component that utilized the strengths of both Parenting and Hallmark.

“My proudest moment for the year would probably be the day we presented the Hallmark integrated program to a room full of clients and agency teams– there was a buzz in the room when we left that had us feeling really excited and optimistic,” Letizia says.

Soon on her way to Stockholm for the awards dinner and ceremony, Letizia is excited to be going to Sweden and meeting her fellow finalists. “It is such an honor to be considered for this award, especially from a global perspective!” she says.

Carl-Johan Löfvenborg holds the distinction of being the only person to be a finalist in the Bonnier Sales Awards for two years in a row. “It feels fantastic,” says Löfvenborg, who is finalist in the new Multi-Channel Sales of the Year category. “I feel very humble and proud and above all thankful to my fellow customer team members who were part of the different solutions and carrying them out and who made it possible for me to be nominated.”

Löfvenborg works with creative sales for the TV4 Group, selling and packaging tailored business solutions around the Swedish TV channel’s various programs, everything from X Factor to the Ice Hockey World Championships. “Working creatively at such a strong media house, with so much different interesting programming and concepts, meeting so many interesting people and companies is the best part of my job,” he says.

The biggest challenge for Löfvenborg is the timing. “Generally speaking, timing is the most important element to doing this type of business,” he says. “That and finding the best ideas and concepts that meet the need of the customer as far as possible.”

With several of his concepts in multi-channel sales becoming customer cases for the TV4 Group, not to mention Löfvenborg’s two finalist nominations, he is obviously a real expert at what he does. His advice to others who want to follow in his footsteps is to focus on long-term business and relationships with customers, partners and colleagues: “You need to offer solutions adapted specifically for the customer and present them to the right decision-makers with the best possible timing. Dare to work across the usual boundaries and be open to cooperation both internally as well as externally.”

Above all, it was a chance to learn more about how book publishers work. So says Maja Hermansson, who works as a web editor and marketer at Swedish online bookseller Adlibris and is spending three months at book publisher Templar in the U.K. under the GROW program. “It’s a great chance to get insight into the entire book chain and exchange experiences within the industry,” she says. And so far, the experience is really living up to expectations.

The differences in the businesses are fairly stark even if they both work with books. At Adlibris, Hermansson works directly toward consumers – as an online seller, it’s all about being an expert at consumer behavior. “You can see in real time which books work for which readers, and there it’s easy to be flexible and change strategies during the day,” she says.

Book publishers have to consider many more aspects and that requires a different type of planning and long-term thinking, she says. Which isn’t to say that the two companies have nothing in common. “Templar started, just like Adlibris, on a very small scale and still has that same DIY spirit that Adlibris also has,” says Hermansson. “A lot of passionate people and a really upbeat atmosphere.”

For Hermansson, one of the best things about the exchange is that she’s gotten the time and and the space to dig into the different aspects of digital marketing from the publisher’s side as well as experience in how PR works in the British market. “I’ve gotten a much greater insight into the English book publishing industry and met a lot of inspiring people who truly love books and reading.”

She’s also built a few muscles along the way: “Nature here is fantastic, you’re dumbfounded every morning when you go out and run in the mountains,” she says. “That and being close to London and Brighton makes it the perfect place for me. I’ll be taking back with me that excitement about books and stronger leg muscles after all my jogging in the mountains around Dorking!”

Despite a very tough start to 2012, Annie Haraldsson had a good year. “We had a lot of setbacks in our sales in the beginning, making it a huge challenge to stay focused on fighting and maintaining the drive to make the deals,” says Haraldsson, who works in sales at the TV4 Group in Sweden and is a finalist for Sales Representative of the Year in the Bonnier Sales Awards 2012. “But I succeeded and I’m convinced that was why 2012 ended up being a really good year.”

Haraldsson relishes the challenge, and the best part of the job for her is finding creative solutions for her current customers as well as new ones. “Meeting so many different customers within so many different industries makes for a lot of variety from day to day,” she says.

She certainly has the sales to confirm her success. One of Haraldsson’s proudest moments of the year was when she managed to convince an important customer, AJ Produkter, to advertise on TV4 for the first time with happy results. “They’ve chosen to more than double their investment with us this year,” she says.

Haraldsson believes that it’s important to stick with it, no matter how difficult it may look at the moment.

“Don’t give up,” she advises other sales representatives. “Continue to fight even if it sometimes feels tough. Sometimes it takes a long time to do business and to convince the customer that your channel is the right choice of media, so patience and persistence are important to have.”

In conjunction with a gala dinner for some 170 guests, the winners of the Bonnier Sales Awards 2012 were announced at Stockholm City Hall, scene of the Nobel Prize dinner. From among 14 finalists, four winners were named during the festive ceremony.

Stockholm City Hall, well-known setting for the Nobel Awards dinner, served as the stage for the Bonnier Sales Awards 2012, where the winners were revealed at a gala dinner and ceremony. 

Below are the winners and the jury's rationale:

Rookie of the Year: Antti Ylimäki, MTV Media

“Antti is a good listener, ambitious yet humble. With a great knowledge of the market and in particular the competition, he really does the homework needed to seal the deal.”

The prize is worth EUR 3,000 euro and a place at Bonnier's inspirational conference GRID.

Finalists included Magnus Brovall, Sydsvenskan and Anna Hansson, Bonnier Tidskrifter.

Sales Manager of the Year: Lise Hjertaas, Dagens Medisin

“Lise really knows how to motivate her staff with a warm heart and passion, and leads by example. At the same time, she never loses sight of the bottom line.”

The prize is worth EUR 10,000.

Finalists included Andrew Leisner, Cycle World, Bonnier Corporation and Olli-Pekka Rantala, MTV Media.

Multi-Channel Sales of the Year: Jamie Letizia, Parenting, Bonnier Corporation

“Working with marketing, development and editorial, Jamie creates solutions that break new ground for customers. Realistic yet diplomatic, she takes responsibility all the way down the line.”

The prize is worth EUR 10,000

Finalists included Carl-Johan Löfvenborg, TV4 Group and Roland Ågholm, Expressen.

Sales Representative of the Year: Annie Haraldsson, TV4 Group

“Despite a tough start to 2012, Annie managed to significantly surpass her budget through hard work. She closed deals that no one else thought were possible, with courage and a positive attitude.”

The prize is worth 10,000 euro.

Finalists included Vivian Berg, Äripäev; Cecilie Larsen Noer, Capa Kinoreklame; Christine Pedersen, Bonnier Media; and Anders Wallner, TV4 Group.

You can look at the pictures on our Facebook page.

Earlier today, Bonnier AB announced a new partnership with Ratos to form a major new cinema business for Northern Europe. The new business will combine the strengths of Bonnier’s cinema chains in Sweden and Norway, SF Bio and SF Kino, with Finnkino’s cinemas in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

We talked with Jonas Bonnier, CEO of Bonnier AB about the partnership.

Why has Bonnier entered into a partnership with Ratos?

SF Bio and Finnkino is a dream combination. Through a partnership between Bonnier and Ratos, the new group will have owners committed over the long-term who have business acumen and financial strength. This is an offensive move on our part and will help us take the lead in the ongoing consolidation of the cinema industry in Europe.

Under the partnership, Ratos will own 60 percent and Bonnier 40 percent of the new group. Why is Bonnier reducing its ownership in SF Bio? Why not just sell it?

SF Bio is a very well-run and successful company that we want to keep over the long haul. With this kind of partnership, we ensure that SF Bio has the resources to be a leader in the continuing consolidation in the Nordic and European cinema market. It also creates the best possible conditions for Newco to grow.

Who will be the new CEO?

SF Bio’s current CEO Jan Bernhardsson will become CEO; he also continue as CEO for SF Bio. Liisi Jauho will remain CEO for Finnkino.

What does this mean for the individual cinema chains, will they change?

No, SF Bio and Finnkino will remain under their own brands.

What does the new group mean for moviegoers?

There will not be any drastic changes from one day to another. But in the medium and long term, this partnership is good for audiences as we create a strong player who can promote Swedish film distribution and support the production of Swedish films. SF Bio already provides the largest portion of private film funding in Sweden as part of its responsibility to support the production of Swedish films. Plus the deal provides future additional advantages when it comes to investing in technology, quality and new cinema houses in Sweden, Finland, Norway and our other markets. 

For more information, read the press release.

Yesterday evening, the winners of Finland's Grand Prize for Journalism were revealed. They were chosen from among a record number of nominations: 462. The finalists within the three prize categories were announced already on February 15. The jury chose the final winners from among the finalists yesterday. The prize for each winner is EUR 7,500. The public also had a chance to choose a favorite, with their votes made via Facebook.

The winners for 2012 and the jury's rationales were:

Article or feature of the Year: Hanna Nikkanen and Anu Silfverberg, HS-Kuukausiliite: "Uskomaton murhenäytelmä" (An unbelievable tragedy).

The story of Enkeli-Elisa,  a bullied 15-year-old girl who committed suicide quickly spread on the web and in the mass media at the beginning of 2012. Nikkanen and Silfverberg took the story with a grain of salt and started investigating the details more closely. Their main article revealed that the story was a fake. The story was a strong reminder of how important it is to check the facts, and also taught both readers and journalists to be more critical of phenomena that appear in social media.

Finalists included Laura Mattila of Olivia, for Tämän pojan elämä (this boy's life); Pekka Juntti, Jussi Leinonen and Sammeli Harve of Lapin Kansa and Pohjolan sanomat, for Oman onnensa nojassa (left to their fate).

Journalism of the Year: Juha Kauppinen, Suomen luonto: articles on the Talvivaara mine's environmental impact.

Juha Kauppinen has been a leader in reporting on the Talvivaara mine's environmental impact. Kappinen challenged authorities, dug into investigations, interviewed locals and collected his own water samples for analysis long before Talvivaara's problems intensified in November. His newspaper scoops and blog have spread far from just Suomen luonto. Kauppinen jumped passionately into the topic but gave precise information and documented it all with facts.

Finalists include Tuomo Pietiläinen of Helsingin Sanomat/Tampereen yliopisto for his promotion of investigative journalism; and Kaius Niemi and team of Ilta-Sanomat for "Sana on vapaa" (talk is cheap) series of articles.

Journalist of the Year: Pekka Holopainen, Ilta-Sanomat

Pekka Holopainen bravely tackles the most difficult subjects in sports and gets to the bottom of things with his soaring and free style. He bows to no one. Doping, money as well as current heroes and villains within sports are his particular areas of expertisie. As a sports columnist, he's among Finland's best.

Finalists include Niklas Meltio, freelance and Timo Haapala, MTV3 News.

People's Choice: Pekka Juntti, Jussi Leinonen and Sammeli Harve, Lapin Kansa and Pohjolan Sanomat: "Oman onnensa nojassa" (left to their fate)

The article series highlighted the residents of Enotiki's biggest fear: the large municipality has no police. The situation has led to a number of near-miss situations, as the reporter Pekka Juntti wrote in his short tales sprinkled throughout the main article. The cleverly built piece presented 30 residents in a photo, who in one way or another represented the argument in the headline: "The Government Leaves Us Alone."

The jury for Finland's Grand Prize for Journalism 2012 included:

Jouko Jokinen, editor-in-chief, Aamulehti
Atte Jääskeläinen, editor-in-chief, YLE Nyheter
Vesa-Pekka Koljonen, newspaper advisor and editor-in-chief emeritus
Pekka Seppänen, columnist and journalist
Leeni Peltonen, editor-in-chief, Kotiliesi
Paula Salovaara, managing editor, Helsingin Sanomat
Marjaana Toiminen, CEO, Bonnier Publications Oy
Jari Tourunen, editor-in-chief, Savon Sanomat
Merja Ylä-Anttila, jury chair, editor-in-chief, MTV3 News and News Desk

Tuomo Mörä, jury secretary, media researcher, Helsinki University

Jury members do not take part in judging their own media. Finland's Grnad Prize for Journalism is sponsored by Bonnier.

Estonia and Finland may sit next to each other on the map, but there are some major differences between Estonians and Finns. “People in Finland are calmer than Estonians back home,” says Veiko Tõkman, who normally works at Estonian business daily Äripäev but is spending three months at MTV Media in Finland under the GROW program. “We are more edgy and serious. It is easy to live here in Finland - everything works like a charm, to the point that it is almost boring. Finns are good- spirited, humble and happy people who are open to outsiders.”

While Tõkman is a big fan of the Finns, he applied to GROW not to experience another culture, country and people, but because the exchange is giving him a chance to work on motion graphics. It’s a big difference from his job as a photo editor for the paper and as a photojournalist for both photos and video.

“I was already very interested in motion graphics and 3D, and when the motion graphics designer position in Finland with GROW showed up on my radar it just sounded too good to be true,” he says. Which is not to say that the job poses no challenges. Unlike at Äripäev, Tõkman doesn’t have the final say in the end product, there are many more people to please and steps to take. But it’s all part of learning how things work in a different part of media.

“I’ve had my eye on the Grow program for a while. Ever since my good friend from America Craig Kotilinek visited Äripäev through the same program couple of years ago. It is just an amazing opportunity to step aside and take a look at what you are doing from a another angle without actually having to make a big ‘bridge-burning’ decision in your life.”

Bonnier is launching a new initiative, Decide to Develop – D2D. The initiative is aimed both at employees within Bonnier as well as for future talents. We talked with Bodil Ericsson Torp, VP of Communication and Human Development, about D2D and why it was established.

What is Decide to Develop?
It is a long-term initiative for people working at Bonnier companies as well as those outside the group. We want to better connect, support and inspire our employees working in the digital areas of our companies. The initiative includes a range of programs and events that will help do this. To those outside, the aim is to better highlight the digital achievements of Bonnier. The entire initiative was developed based on findings from interviews with employees throughout the group as well as external interviews and analysis.

Why are you focusing on new talents?
Our vision is to continuously reinvent media. In order to do this during the media revolution that is currently underway, we want to attract, retain and develop the best people. The D2D initiative provides a stage for our activities that are focusing on this goal.

Does Bonnier need to catch up regarding digital?
Many outside of the group perceive us mostly as a player in the analog media world. But that’s not true anymore. There are lots of innovative and successful companies within Bonnier working in many platforms. We need to be better at communicating our digital achievements. We naturally want to attract talents with the kind of knowledge that isn’t often connected with a traditional media company, talents who will shape Bonnier’s future.

What will be the first activities under the label D2D?
The next few months we will have an emphasis on entrepreneurs. At the beginning of April we’ll launch Bonnier Accelerator, a program to partner up with new entrepreneurial talents. We’ll also be present at Stockholm Startup Day and Startup Career Launchpad in London as well as sponsor other events.

What about for those already working at Bonnier companies?
In April we’ll start the Bonnier Digital Forum. It’s a series of invitation-only meetings where Bonnier employees from all over the world meet to exchange ideas, get inspired, share knowledge and workshop. This is one way of connecting people within Bonnier across company boundaries. We’ll also have GROW digital, which is a development of the GROW exchange program. And we have more to come. You can keep up with what’s happening under D2D via a new website which will be up shortly, as well as on Twitter at @bonnierd2d, Facebook/BonnierD2D and YouTube/BonnierD2D.

It was a chance to work in another market, another country, another business. “It’s a great opportunity and experience that I have not been offered at any other places that I have worked,” says Jannie Eriksen, who normally works as a graphic designer at Bonnier Publications in Denmark but is spending three months at The Five Mile Press in Australia under the GROW exchange program.

“Even though I am very satisfied with my line of work I aim to develop my skills constantly and for a long time I’ve wanted to work overseas. The GROW position as designer at The Five Mile Press was the perfect opportunity for me to gain new knowledge and get inspiration from another Bonnier business that works with a different market.”

At Bonnier Publications in Copenhagen, Eriksen works with print advertising for magazines and spinoff products – all for adults. One of the biggest differences is that in Melbourne she’s working a lot with children’s books. “Most of my work has been designing covers for children’s books – and some adult titles,” she says. “I truly enjoy working with the children’s books. It is so fun working with bright colors, big patterns and a bit crazier typefaces.”

Eriksen is also falling in love with the country: “The weather has, so far, been perfect, the nature is stunning, beautiful and absolutely breathtaking and here are so many animals that we don’t have in Denmark. The list of fun things to do is endless.”

Her co-workers have also really helped make her three months truly special, welcoming her with open arms. “My colleagues at FMP have been more than nice and we have a lot of fun during the day,” says Eriksen. “I made some really good friends and they have invited me to their homes for dinner and to sleep over, they’ve been showing me around and helped me with whatever questions I may have had.”

The toughest thing about the exchange? “I have to go home in about a month,” she says.

Today Bonnier Business Press AB closed a transaction with ZAO Ajur-Media, the publisher and brand owner of fontanka.ru, confirming the Feb. 12 Bonnier acquisition of 51 percent of the shares of Ajur-Media.

ZAO Ajur-Media publishes several websites – the most read online news website in St. Petersburg, fontanka.ru, as well as fontanka.fi, fontanka.fm, Doctor Piter and Voditel Peterburga (St. Petersburg’s Driver).

“This is an important step in securing our position on the St. Petersburg media market,” says Anders Eriksson, CEO of Bonnier Business Press AB. “The deal fits with Bonnier Business Press AB’s strategy to grow more actively in new media and outside of Scandinavia. The size and strong growth potential of the Russian market has been attractive for Bonnier and recently we have actively looked for new business opportunities there.”

“I think Fontanka is definitely the best media in this city of 5 million people,” says Andrus Vaher, CEO for Bonnier Business Press ZAO and future CEO of Ajur-Media. “Fontanka has shown outstanding growth figures during the last five years in readership and in sales. The website has an extraordinarily strong and loyal core audience and high quotation ratings. The editorial office has really done a great job and the long-time editor-in-chief of Fontanka, Aleksandr Gorshkov, will definitely continue with his team also after the deal. The main tasks for Bonnier in our joint business will be the sales and administrative parts.”

ZAO Ajur-Media publishes websites with a total audience of 250,000 unique visitors per day. Fontanka.ru was launched in September 2000 and is the oldest and most influential online media in St. Petersburg, read by one third of all internet users in the city. The company has 70 employees.

Bonnier Business Press Sweden announced today the acquisition of Svenska Nyhetsbrev AB from Bisnode AB.

“The purchase of Svenska Nyhetsbrev is completely in line with our ambition to be the leader in Sweden for niche digital news and information for the Swedish business world,” says Mikael Nestius, business area responsible for Bonnier Business Press Sweden. “Svenska Nyhetsbrev is well-paid for its high-quality editorial material and has succeeded in increasing revenues while they move readers from print content to digital. We will be able to learn a lot from their work.”

Svenska Nyhetsbrev was started 20 years ago and publishes unique editorial material in the form of newsletters in six different industries: pension, insurance, pharmaceuticals, telecom, power and banking. The company also offers seminars and other network-expanding events to its readers. Svenska Nyhetsbrev has 26 employees and had a turnover of SEK 34 million and 10 percent profit margin in EBITA for 2012.

Writing, taking photos, doing layout and learning how to vet sources is what students learn when KP Newspaper School comes to visit. The school is an initiative of Kamratposten (KP), Sweden's venerable newspaper for kids, and Editor-in-Chief Lukas Björkman says everyone who reads newspapers has something to gain from learning about how a newspaper is made, and the goal of the school is that KP inspires school classes to start their own newspapers.

"KP Newspaper School is a service that schools can buy," says Björkman. "What you get for the money is one to two days of newspaper education, both theoretical and practical, for the classroom. The goal is that it should end up with the students starting up a school paper. All students who take part get a KP newspaper and a KPress card that certifies they've taken the class.

The students learn as much as possible about how to make a newspaper, including text, photos and illustrations, layout and design, vetting sources and much more. So far, the course has been popular with schools and Björkman says he expects a boom in the fall, when schools will have new budgets to work with.

"We want to be out in schools more," says Björkman about KP's goals for the course. "And we hope that those who have taken part in the course finish the school day with a smile on their lips and new knowledge in their minds."

The press cards that students get once they finish the course are more than just something a little extra that KP provides. "I remember when I was a kid my friends and I liked getting this kind of proof thatwe've taken a course, and I doubt things have changed since then," says Björkman. "I remember that I kept the driver's license that I got at Legoland's driver's school for a long time after!"

Read more about how KP Newspaper School works.  Or about how the course went at the Benzelius School in Luleå, or look at the newspapers created during the course. (Links in Swedish)

On April 11, Bonniers Konsthall will be taken over by some 30 hackers whose medium is art and 30 artists whose medium is tech. It’s Europe’s first Art Hack Day, following on the success of similar happenings in New York, Boston and San Francisco. We talked with Olof Mathé, the founder.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you?
Hmmm. I’m a bit shy. But I studied engineering and physics at the Royal Institute of Technology and philosophy of science in Paris. Nowadays I work at a startup in San Francisco, Inkling, a publishing platform for beautiful and interactive e-books – check out inkling.com if you want to read awesome books or inkling.com/habitat if you want to make awesome books.

Art + Hackers: How did you come up with the idea for Art Hack Day?
Well, there is a burgeoning hacker-artist community and it's all about bringing us together.

On a personal note, I had almost always been involved with both art and technology so it was natural to connect the two. I think hacker culture has things to learn from the art world, and vice versa (if you believe there ever was a difference between the two). I’d been part of several startup-focused hack days but felt that the format actually works better for art making – and so you have Art Hack Day.

But ideas are one thing, what really matters is execution!

What is Art Hack Day really – a network, an art movement, an event?
Art Hack Day is unbelievable fun. It's also an Internet-based non-profit for hackers whose medium is art and artists whose medium is tech. So it’s a network, an art movement and an event. Everyone involved is passionate about the expressive potential of new technology and the power of radical collaboration in art. (Read more at arthackday.net)

Every Art Hack Day explores an artistically, politically and technologically relevant theme. In San Francisco, the theme was “Lethal Software”, and recently in New York City it was “God Mode.”

I can't wait to see how participants will interpret the Stockholm theme, “Larger Than Life” - e.g. how we embellish/amplify ourselves online.

What do you want to get out of Art Hack Day?
Creative euphoria. Art Hack Day cracks open the process of art-making in this weird and whimsical way that gives rise to a special cohesion among participants and culminates in a unique exhibit.

Beyond that I guess we want to explore what happens when you take the best of hacker culture and bring it to the art world and vice versa.

For example, we think that teams can create better art than individuals. That execution is what makes a concept powerful. That all projects are prototypes that can be improved – the concept of a “finished” work of art seems obsolete. At Art Hack Day, participants form teams and end up working off other people's ideas or backlogs (we’re all big open source fans). It's a testament to the power of radical collaboration and collective authorship.

Most hack days are woefully drab and often more about showcasing a specific company’s APIs and recruiting developers rather than celebrating the creative process.

We’ll have succeeded once Art Hack Day becomes irrelevant as a movement and an event.

How did you end up at Bonniers Konsthall?
I met Björn Norborg, project manager at the gallery, by chance via Sara Öhrvall who works at Bonnier. It was an obvious fit, Björn is a Net artist himself!

Also, I grew up in Stockholm and thought it was cool that Peter Celsing [the architect for Bonniers Konsthall] got to build an interesting building in Stockholm, so Bonniers Konsthall has always been on the radar - well, since 2006 in any case!

How can people take part without being there live?
Skilled hacker artists can participate remotely, just get in touch with me via Twitter at @olofster and we’ll fix it. If you want to come to the exhibit, you need to RSVP via Facebook.

Curious about what’s been created at previous Art Hack Days? Check out some of the links below:

• FaceTheft Mirror - "a mirror showing the face of the person who looked in the mirror before you"
• MemDescent - "navigating how a computer looks on the inside, visualization of a computer’s RAM"
• ScratchML - "a new language for documenting DJ scratching"
• Pantheon - (Disclaimer from Olof Mathé) “I worked on this. Lets you take over another person’s identity online”
• Iconoclashes:  "new artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection"
• Eye of Providence - "looks like an eye with material from security cameras projected from inside"
• Turriptosis Nutricula - "jellyfish, the only animals that attain God Mode"
• Other goodies here, here and here - "too many good ones to call them all out individually"

Art Hack Day is sponsored in part by Bonnier D2D.

Mediafy, which is the Nordic region's biggest online retailer of magazine subscriptions has strengthened its position by acquiring Finnish competitor Lehtiapaja.fi.

Mediafy also owns the websites Tidningskungen.se as well as Bladkongen.no and Lehtikuningas.fi.

Mediafy has historically grown through acquisitions, such as its 2007 purchase of Tidningsbutiken.se, which at that time was the competitor - and happened to be ten times bigger - as well as the 2009 purchase of Blablabla.no in order to strengthen its position in the Norwegian market.

"Lehtikunigas and Lehtiapaja are budgeted to sell 55,000 and 80,000 subscriptions respectively in 2013," says Mediafy CEO Johan Sundström. "By combining the operations and improving the volume through our IT system while using Lehtiapaja's customer database in a smarter way, we think we can end up at 180,000 subscriptions in Finland for 2013, an increase of over 30 percent.

"The deal comes at a good time since we are right now rolling out our new product FLEX in the Nordic region. By becoming twice as big in Finland, we have a bigger incentive to develop the FLEX digital platform even more quickly."

The deal has been under discussion with Lehtiapaja.fi for more than six months.

"The deal is strategically important considering we know from our previous acquisitions that when Mediafy reaches a certain volume in a market, you get more of everything, above all in terms of brand marketing, such as in TV commercials, for example," says Sundström. "The purchase makes possible even bigger and more powerful campaings for magazine publishers."

Entrepreneurs looking to turn a bold new media idea into reality, Bonnier Accelerator is looking to team up with you. A new program from Bonnier’s digital talent initiative Decide to Develop (D2D), Bonnier Accelerator is now open for innovators applying for the chance to develop a brilliant scalable media concept into a business together with Bonnier, either one of their own ideas or one provided by Bonnier.

“Reinventing media is our vision, and we are looking for people who will help us do this,” says Bodil Ericsson Torp, VP for communication and human development at Bonnier. “The media industry is undergoing a major shift and this puts extremely tough demands on our companies in terms of their digital development. It also means it is ever more important for us to find new digital business opportunities. We feel the program will help us do this while providing an opportunity for a lot of entrepreneurs out there with good ideas who are looking for funding – and who could benefit from Bonnier’s experience, breadth of media and global reach. Bonnier has some of the industry’s sharpest brains and we can offer something unique.”

For the next month, anyone with an idea for a new media concept or interest in becoming an entrepreneur on their own merit together with Bonnier can apply by filling out a form and uploading a video application here. An Expert Jury will choose who will take part initially as well as who will go further. The jury includes Andreas Ehn, founder of Wrapp and former CTO of Spotify and Jakob Tolleryd, CEO of Compricer, plus from Bonnier, CEO Jonas Bonnier as well as Anders Eriksson, CEO of Bonnier Business Press, Ulrika Saxon, CEO of Bonnier Growth Media and Bodil Ericsson Torp.

Those who will take part initially will be announced in mid-June. Starting Sept. 2, they will spend an intensive three months in a program tailor-made for them. They’ll have a mentor from within Bonnier, get to know relevant people and brands within Bonnier, receive tools for innovation, leadership and pitching techniques and have plenty of time to network at events like GRID and the Bonnier Digital Forum.

Bonnier employees may also apply but only with an idea, and the idea cannot be related to existing brands. If accepted, they would need to get permission from their home company to take a leave of absence from their current position.

“With more than 200 years of journalistic and editorial experience, we know a lot about the industry,” says Ericsson Torp. “Enough that we know we need to be constantly changing in order to stay relevant and build future sustainable business. If you want to join us on our journey, D2D and Bonnier Accelerator are the right forums for you.”

You can read more about Bonnier Accelerator and apply here. There is even a fun challenge where you can get a taste of where your entrepreneurial skills might lie – the Bonnier Accelerator Test on Facebook. You might be surprised at what you are best at!

Yesterday, Expressen TV launched Primetime, a news, entertainment and sports show broadcast on the web. The show runs from 6:30-11 p.m.

"Expressen TV has broadcast live from news events during the day for several years now," says Anna Rastner, managing editor for Expressen Digitala Media, the digital division of the daily newspaper. "With Primetime we're taking live broadcasting to a whole new level. By broadcasting during the evening, we're reaching a large audience that's on Expressen.se at that time."

The program hosts for Primetime are Anna Jernberg Carlson, previously host on TV4, and Niklas Svensson, Sweden's most influential reporter, according to Focus magazine. They will be filmed live in Expressen's new TV studio between 7 and 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

News will be on the hour and half-hour, and reporting from sports events will be broadcast live from various arenas. Primetime will have a range of guests from song artists to politicians, as well as relevant people from the news of the day.

Expressen TV is increasing its cooperation with TV4 and TV4 News - TV4's weather forecasts will be shown, for example, as well as news from local TV4 stations.

"At TV4, we've seen a lot of viewer engagement from viewers for our broadcast news programming, even beyond the actual original live broadcast," says Viveka Hansson, program director for news and current affairs at TV4. "Expressen has a strong digital channel with its news site, and with a stronger cooperation with them we get even more opportunities to pull in viewers."

Expressen has had a cooperation with TV4 and Nyhetsbolaget to broadcast live news and co-production of programming, such as the political program Pihlblad & Svensson that premieres today.

Bonnier Corporation brands took home three MIN Best of Web awards at the awards ceremony this morning in New York. The annual awards recognize excellence in digital initiatives and are among the most prestigious of their kind in the U.S.

Popular Science won two awards, for Best Digital Magazine and Best Tablet App — Paid App. Saveur won the Best Email Newsletters category for Saveur— Simple Weeknight Meals, The Menu, Recipe of the Day and Saveur Celebrations. 

 In all, Bonnier brands were finalists in eight different categories.

Swedish daily Dagens Nyheterhas won first prize in the Tablet Publishing category in the European Digital Media Awards presented by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. DN's tablet edition was honored for its content, design and user-friendliness.

"It's exciting that our journalism is available and appreciated in a number of channels," said DN Editor-in-Chief Peter Wolodarski in an article in the paper. "Our tablet edition has been out for two years and continues to be published every day, year round."

Four real-life cases from Bonnier Digital. Forty students from Hyper Island studying to become digital data strategists. Six weeks of brainstorming, research, number-crunching and creation. Three judges providing feedback – Rasmus Winther Mølbjerg from Platon, Johannes Holmertz and Linda Ribbing, Dagens industri. That’s the breakdown in numbers of a recent project between the cross-company digital service provider Bonnier Digital and innovative digital college Hyper Island, where the students worked for six weeks to come up with solutions which they then presented to the judges.

“The thinking behind the project was that it would give Hyper Island students some real-life experience, while we at Bonnier Digital and Dagens industri would get some new ideas and ways of solving things,” says Eric Foster, who together with Fredrik Ögren, was responsible for the project at Bonnier Digital. “Not to mention we get introduced to new rising talents,” he says.

The students worked in groups of four or five to come up with solutions to the cases, three from Dagens industri and one from Bonnier Digital. The cases included figuring out ways to improve Dagens industri’s editorial dashboard, better understand Dagens industri customers and drive website visits at Dagens industri, as well as develop solutions that use an API developed by Bonnier Digital that aggregates content from different Bonnier brands.

“The biggest challenge is coming in as a young person to this big corporation with so many stakeholders,” says student Emil Löwnander, whose group came up with the idea for a cross-brand app that uses gamification and people’s interest in their own profiles to generate downloads and use. “But working with so many stakeholders was kind of the best part as well. To get access to real databases and business information was great, and the whole class really helped each other.”

One of the most important parts of the exercise was a mid-project workshop, where each group got feedback on what they’d done so far and what they were planning on doing from Rasmus Winther Mølbjerg, Dagens industri’s Jesper Mothander  and Bonnier Digital staff Malin Stråhle and Cia Bohlin. For most of the groups, it meant making sure that whatever cool solutions they came up with for the end users would have a strong business element to them as well.

“During the middle evaluation we realized on the spot we needed to change direction, and we took in all that they said and changed everything,” says student Itai Peleg, whose group came up with an augmented reality concept for Dagens industri, which the judges deemed their favorite of the eight concepts presented. “What was so good about this project is that it’s real win-win: they need fresh ideas and we get a client.”

For Dagens industri, it definitely was a win-win. “We see the project as an interesting chance to get ideas from students with fresh eyes,” says Ribbing. “We’ll be looking carefully at what they provided us and see how we can use the ideas we think are valuable and profitable.”