For the past year, The Globe and Mail worked with the Washington Post to test and refine a new suite of publishing and storytelling tools called Arc.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press
The Globe and Mail has forged a deal that will make it the largest North American news organization to adopt the Washington Post's custom-built publishing platform.
The two companies spent the past year testing Arc, the suite of publishing and storytelling tools crafted in-house by the Post over a three-year period in which the newspaper has undergone a radical digital overhaul under the ownership of Amazon.com Inc. chief executive Jeff Bezos.
Arc was designed specifically for digital newsrooms, and to be licensed to partners, aiming to be a more nimble platform for online storytelling. Its modules span a broad digital arsenal, including tools for editing and publishing, video and app creation, as well as deep data analytics. The technology is supposed to be smooth, stable and adaptable to desktop computers, mobile phones and tablets of all sizes.
"In The Washington Post we've found a partner that not only shares our vision, but has emerged as a world leader in supporting modern publishers through digital innovation," said The Globe's publisher and chief executive officer, Phillip Crawley.
For the past year, The Globe worked with the Post to test and refine Arc, and will begin the transition to the new technology immediately, with the full integration rolling out over the next two years.
"The use of data analytics married to journalistic gut will allow us to put the audience first, and to provide a rare clarity of priorities to the newsroom," editor-in-chief David Walmsley said.
Part of the testing took place in The Globe's business innovation incubator, Lab 351. The new technology is intended to help The Globe publish and analyze its journalism more quickly, and "presents an opportunity to change the way we work as a media company, and as a business," chief digital officer Greg Doufas said.
James Bradshaw