First edition of JB Digital features an article about President Lula

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Tomorrow, president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be featured in an article that highlights a new phase for JB, which becomes the first 100% digital newspaper in Brazil at jb.com.br, starting this Wednesday (September 1, 2010).

Last week, Jornal do Brasil journalists Leandro Mazzini, Luiz Orlando Carneiro and Jose Aparecido Miguel, accompanied by Alessandro Pessanha from the technology sector, presented the minister of Social Communication, Franklin Martins, in Brasilia, with a project that essentially migrates the printed newspaper to a digital tool.

Franklin Martins, a journalist, considered the new phase a natural progression, showing himself to be open to adopting new technologies as vehicles for communication. "Over the last couple of years we have been thinking differently. We do not know the future, but we believe that in about 25 years, all newspapers will have moved from paper media to digital media", he says.

The Lula Government's minister of Social Communication also states that JB's new phase is a challenge to other large Brazilian newspapers to evaluate if and when they will migrate to the digital realm.

In this new phase, Jornal do Brasil will remain flexible, modern and influential, following its pioneer tradition. In 1995, it was the first Brazilian newspaper on the Internet.

Communications and ads transmitted by the newspaper emphasize that the new phase is being carried out with the approval of JB subscribers and readers.  In this age of digital readers and the Internet, exacerbated by ecological problems, the extensive consultations that we make regarding the future confirmed that most people want modernity. Most want to be ahead of the times.

In light of the similarity amongst so many prestigious means of communication around the world, Jornal do Brasil aims to update its modes of interaction with the reading public, prioritize ecologically sustainable practices and increase its abilities in cutting edge technologies.

With these updates, there will be no change in the editorial line of independence and quality that has distinguished Jornal do Brasil for 119 years.

Contrary to what has been propagated by a few poorly-informed sources, Jornal do Brasil is on its way to a new and better phase, and is making a decision that resonates positively throughout the country and abroad.

The economic and environmental costs of paper are not sustainable. Furthermore, they are unnecessary. For example: Each day that a single newspaper like JB is not printed on paper, 72 trees are not cut down. Given the fluctuation of printing over the span of a week, in one year more than 30,000 trees will be saved. In one year with a digital version, forested areas equal to more than 1,200 Maracanas will be saved, a reference to the renowned soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

For Jornal do Brasil, thinking that the newspaper and paper are synonymous is the same as thinking that a certain TV channel is the TV itself, that a radio station would not be successful if there were also no portable or table-top radio manufacturer, or that websites should manufacture their own computers.

In the 21st century a newspaper is the result of confidence and interaction between the public reader and a century-old brand of credibility. A tie with great potential given new information technology.

JB will be compatible with all digital readers (iPad, Kindle, Alfa, Nook, Mix, Libre). Its modern design is friendly, on electronic paper, and will automatically conform to any computer screen.

In addition, any reader can print, selectively and without wasting paper, a portion of the news that he/she wishes to take home or to the office.

The three main content areas

In this new phase, JB digital content will be divided into three focused areas:

(I) Real Time: driven and produced by its own sources and the best Brazilian and international news agencies. Real Time will also have "appetizers" (small notes or, for more extensive subjects, paragraphs that whet the appetite and cause the reader to become hooked on the JB Digital exclusive content version). Real Time will have content expanded to photo, video and sound.

(II) JB Digital: the traditional Jornal do Brasil that focuses on the vastly diverse volumes of content that has always characterized the newspaper. Initially, JB will be, as it is today, a daily product designed for reader-friendly software platforms, on computers and any kind of mobile device (laptops, desktops, iPhones, BlackBerry, or the modern digital readers, like iPad, Kindle, Mix etc.).

The reader only needs to access the website jb.com.br and click on the JB Digital icon for the newspaper's electronic pages to immediately adapt to your computer screen's format. With a mouse, or when that is unavailable, through the interactive screen, it will be possible to increase or reduce the font and image size for each article.

This product will be available through a monthly subscription fee of R$ 9.90, 20% of the old price of the paper subscription. However, with the launch of Jornal do Brasil's new phase, the digital content will be freely available to the entire populace for fifteen days.

(III) Blogosphere (Sociedade Aberta): There will be many interactive blogs with JB's main columnists and writers. This in addition to the collaborative medium through the 'Sociedade Aberta' [Open Society] publication, a trademark of digital democracy in Brazil, as it is with the media brands in the world's most advanced democracies. The Blogosphere will also sport the innovative JBWiki!, a page produced and maintained 100% by readers.

Soon, JB will also relaunch its traditional brand names 'Programa', 'Ideias', 'Domingo' and 'JB Ecologico', featuring new technological tools.

Jornal do Brasil will also continue promoting its area of conferences and events. Debating Rio de Janeiro and Brazil in different parts of Brazil and around the world have been a significant strength for JB.

SOURCE JORNAL DO BRASIL