Newspapers In The USA The Next Five Years

Newspapers in the USA The Next Five Years

Paris, 10 April 2008 - Dean Singleton, the Vice Chairman and CEO of the MediaNews Group in the United States, has joined the programme of the World Newspaper Congress, where he will present his group's strategy plans for the next five years, while addressing the current difficulties of the most challenging market in the world.

Mr Singleton, whose company is the largest privately held newspaper group in the USA, with 68 daily and more than 120 non-daily publications, says US newspapers have a promising future but will be much different than they were in the past.

The challenges facing newspapers in the US, the world's largest advertising market and a hyper-competitive media environment, are well known. Although circulation is falling, Mr Singleton argues that robust online and new product growth will offset that trend, and that a revised version of the printed newspaper will also slow the decline.

Mr Singleton will speak in a session on "Newspapers: A Multi-Media, Growth Business," during the Congress, the global summit of the world's press to be held in Göteborg, Sweden, from 1-4 June next. Full details of the Congress, which will be held concurrently with the World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2008, can be found at http://www.wansweden2008.com .

More than 1,600 publishers, chief editors and other senior newspaper executives are expected to attend the events, organised by the World Association of Newspapers.

Other speakers in the session, which will be chaired by Bengt Braun, Vice Chairman of Sweden's Bonnier Group, include: Nelson Sirotsky, President & CEO of RBS Group in Brazil, Tim Bowdler, Chief Executive of Johnston Press in the United Kingdom, Leif Johansson, CEO of AB Volvo, and Fredrik Arp, CEO of the Volvo Car Corporation.

Other highlights of Congress business sessions include:

- A session on the most critical and elusive newspaper audience - young people. Presenting the latest research on the media habits of youth, including the first insights from WAN's international study 'Youth Media DNA', will be Robert Barnard, Partner and Founder of D-CODE in Canada, Anna Serner, CEO and Managing Director of the Swedish Newspaper Publishers Association, and Katarina Graffman, a cultural anthropologist with Inculture of Sweden.

- Presentation of the best from the 2008 strategy reports of WAN's major Shaping the Future of the Newspaper research project, analyzing developments and opportunities in the press industry . Highlights will include the results of a 'Scenario Planning' process engaged by WAN to look at the threats, opportunities and possible disruptions lying ahead for the newspaper industry - and identifying a series of 'roadmaps' to help publishers anticipate change. - A session on "Protecting Publishers Interests", which will provide a summary of actions and projects to protect newspaper content investments, including the Automated Content Access Protocol and media rights to cover public events. Speakers include Gavin O'Reilly, Chief Operating Officer of Ireland-based Independent News & Media and Dominic Young, Director of Editorial Services for News International.

- World Press Trends in the Newspaper Industry, the annual survey of world-wide circulation, advertising and other trends presented by Timothy Balding, CEO of WAN.

- The 2008 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group, which will focus on new supplements and magazines that sell more newspapers; on what works (and doesn't work) in free newspaper publishing; on training for the multi-media era; on a review of the Scandinavian newspaper markets; on multi-media newsroom management - and much else. The presentation will be made by Juan Senor and the team of Innovation consultants.

- A session on how press groups are using outsourcing of editorial, advertising, and digital functions to reduce costs and streamline their businesses. Speakers include Tony Watson, Editor-in-Chief of The Press Association in the United Kingdom, and Joe Webb, the Deputy Managing Director of Independent Newspapers in Ireland.

Other Congress speakers include: Giorgio Valerio, Managing Director, RCS Quotidiani, Italy; I. Venkat, Board Director, Eenadu, India; Sara Ohrvall, Senior Vice President/Research & Development, the Bonnier Group, Sweden; Tomas Brunegard, CEO, the Stampen Group, Sweden; Per Lyngby, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Nordjyske, Denmark; Christian Van Thillo, Chief Executive Officer, De Persgroep, Belgium; Francis Morel, Managing Director, and Pierre Conte, Deputy Managing Director/New Media & Advertising, Le Figaro Group, France; and Arne Wallin, President, Holmen Paper.

The Congress, Forum and Expo will be opened by King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden.

Full details at http://www.wansweden2008.com

Sponsors for the events now include Volvo, Holmen Paper, SAS, Bonnier, the Stampen Group, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Tidningsutgivarna, V-Tab, Latte, VLT, RIA, KBA-Nordic, StingPlay and Taxi Göteborg.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.

ENDS

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