Why Purple is bringing an editorial expert on board as Head of Consulting, and what it means for your publishing house

The future of regional and local journalism will be decided in the coming months and years. It depends on whether publishers make bold and smart decisions. Those who manage to consistently draw on the deep trust of their readers and on their own local expertise can reach a larger readership than ever before, with new products and new revenue opportunities.

What this takes is clarity, courage and innovation. This is exactly where Purple comes in. Since the beginning of May, we have had an editorial expert on the team in Andreas Müller, someone who knows the newsroom from his own experience. From trainee through several editorial leadership roles to editor-in-chief of the Schwäbische Zeitung, he spent around 20 years at a regional publisher and knows how change in newsrooms succeeds, and how it tends not to. We spoke with him about his move, his new role as Head of Consulting and what it means for you as a publisher.


After more than 20 years in journalism and thepath from trainee to editor-in-chief, you have now moved to Purple. Why was now the right time for this step?

I look back with great satisfaction on two decades in journalism. As a reporter, as a duty editor, as an editorial manager and as a leader, I was able to gather a rich wealth of experience. At the biblical age of 49, the time had simply come for a change of scenery and perspective. At Purple, my colleagues work with the same passion for journalism that I have always had. So it is a very good fit for me and suits me well.

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With you as Head of Consulting, Purple has createda new role. Why do newsrooms today need more support through processes of change, and how do you want to support them?

In 15 years of editorial leadership responsibility, I learned a great deal about how change succeeds on the one hand and what holds it back on the other. I would like to bring that to bear at a challenging time, when smart and bold decisions are called for, especially at regional and local publishers. I see myself as a sparring partner for decision-makers in media houses. I will be careful not to come across as a know-it-all, but I do try to nudge people a little out of their comfort zone. In any case, I want to use my new role at Purple to help ensure that good journalism has a good future.

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You describe yourself as someone at the intersection of content, workflows and systems. What does that mean in concrete terms, and which experiences from the newsroom do you bring in particular?

In my view, journalism has a good future when these three components are well and sensibly aligned with one another. The core of everything, for me, is relevant, well-crafted journalistic content for established and new products. And then you need an efficient organisation of workflows as well as the right technology. The three cogs have to mesh cleanly. In my various roles I have gained experience in all three areas, and above all I know how important it is that everything works in practice in the newsroom and not just in theory on presentation slides.

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What challenges do you currently encounter most often at regional and local publishers?

The teams in the newsrooms are tending not to grow, to put it cautiously. At the same time, the pressure to serve more and more channels with precisely tailored content keeps rising. I see a great opportunity in this in principle. But without the right strategic steering and without the right tools, it quickly turns into overload. And of course it is an enormous challenge to manage the balancing act between new digital channels and good old print without mishaps.

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Purple pursues the approach: create content once, publish everywhere. Why is a central workflow becoming increasingly important for many publishers?

Multichannel publishing has enormous potential. It allows publishers to reach more people int heir regions than ever before. But it will be neither economically sensible nor organisationally possible to maintain or build a separate editorial team for every channel. What it takes in the newsrooms is openness to technological support. Through AI-optimised enrichment and structuring of content in a central workflow, I reach readers with my story where they are and in the formats they ask for. But again: everything stands and falls with the relevance and quality of the core content.

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Workshops and sparring sessions with publishers are a focus of your work. What can participants expect from a day like that, and which topics are particularly in focus at the moment?

In the workshops we rely on practical exchange with and among the participants from the different houses. After all, they all face the same or very similar challenges. We want to show them that there are ready-to-use solutions for their problems, and give them the chance to work with our tools themselves. My declared goal is to make the workshops as buzzword-free a zone as possible and to deliver practical, usable ideas.

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With Nitro, Purple is building a platform for independent regional publishers. What is the idea behind it, and why can collaboration be an advantage for publishers today?

Nitro is based on our conviction that there are technological challenges today that an economically and journalistically ambitious house can no longer take on alone.Together, publishers are stronger. They learn with and from one another, share solutions and investments, and together with us as an independent technology partner they keep up the pace of innovation and implementation. On a state-of-the-art and highly dynamic technological foundation, the publishers then independently create, present and market their established brands, their new products, their exclusive content and their regional store of knowledge.

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You were already at the VDL industry meeting inyour very first week at Purple. How important is direct exchange with publishers, and what can media houses learn from one another?

Anyone who only stews in their own juices and believes they have to do everything single-handedly will fall short of their potential. Open exchange and standing together as an industry are, in my view, the better option. I found the conversations at the VDL industry meeting encouraging. There was no glossing over the challenges, but there was no despondency either. Instead, there were many confident ideas for a successful future for regional journalism.

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Putting it into practice

How strategy, workflows and technology can be brought together in concrete terms is something you experience best through direct exchange. That is exactly the idea behind our Nitro Workshop: a day in Berlin for independent local and regional publishers, where participants plan, write and publish across all channels int he system themselves, all the way to the automated print page. The next dates are 27 August and 22 September 2026, participation is free of charge and places are limited.

You will find all the information and the registration here.