The 59th World Newspaper Congress

Newspapers: A New Era of Innovation

An immense wave of innovation continues to sweep through the global newspaper industry, bringing success in its wake for the companies that are seizing the new opportunities and embracing change.

Hardly a day goes by without news of the launch of a new newspaper or associated publications, or a change of format accompanied by new design and new commercial and editorial strategies.

And as the internet matures, newspapers are increasingly diversifying and extending their digital services and products, with more and more profitable results.

The 2006 World Newspaper Congress will update you on these and other key developments in the industry, with the very latest data and information on global newspaper trends, examining new publications, new advertising and circulation strategies, new digital product development, and new business practices.

The programme will include an outstanding line-up of the leaders of many of the world's most innovative newspaper groups, who will share their formulas for publishing success and provide you with new ideas and opportunities that you can adopt, adapt and implement within your company.

The 2006 Congress will precede, by a few weeks, the first hosting by Russia of the G8 economic and political summit. And President Putin is expected to set the scene for that meeting through an address to the Congress opening ceremony.

Moscow, an increasingly vibrant and exciting city, capital of a country in transition, is the ideal location for the most prestigious event in the international newspaper industry calendar.  Don't miss it.

More on the World Association of Newspapers at www.wan-press.org or e-mail to tbalding@wan.asso.fr. 
 

What will you learn at the Congress? Here are some of the stories which will be told in the presentations.

Guest Speakers (Congress and Forum)

The 'Kremlin' stands accused, both inside and outside of Russia, of confiscating the freedom of the media, through the elimination of independent national television, the installation of political control over broadcast content, the takeover of media by state-controlled corporations, the removal of critical editors and commentators by friendly media owners and the use of various kinds of pressure to encourage self-censorship.  Few if any issues have brought such discredit to the image of Vladimir Putin - and that of modern Russia - in the international community as these alleged attempts to prevent the growth of strong, free and independent media.  Will the Russian President convince the world's press that he's been misunderstood?  Or that the allegations are baseless?  Rendez-vous at the opening ceremony of the Congress and Editors Forum to find out …and also to hear about Russia's strategic priorities for the G8 Summit, which President Putin will host for the first time shortly after the conference.

For Vladimir Ryzhkov, senior member of the independent opposition, Russia still hasn't achieved the goal of freedom.  "Formerly Russia had two misfortunes", he says – "Fools and bad roads".  Now they have two more: "poor government" and "an abandoned people".  Ryzhkov, who holds an independent seat in the Duma, the Russian Parliament, says that those who run the country have three principal attributes, "corruption, corruption and corruption once again".  And the press?  "If somebody says that freedom of the press exists in Russia, I shall agree: it exists for one percent of the population".  Western guests are shown large newspapers and an independent Moscow radio station and told the press is free, he says.  "It looks like the multi-party system in the former German Democratic Public".  Vladimir Ryzhkov, co-founder of the "2008: Free Choice" committee will give the conference his vision of the future of Russia as the country moves towards both Duma and Presidential elections.

What does the last Soviet leader think of today's Russia and its progress?  The father of perestroika and glasnost was recently quoted as saying that "positive factors prevail" in the performance of the current occupant of the Kremlin.  Mikhail Gorbachev believes that "Putin sometimes, or even frequently, applies authoritarian methods, but this is not authoritarianism".  Participants will have an opportunity, at a special lunch session, to question Gorbachev further on his views.

Congress and Forum attendees will be welcomed to Moscow by the city's Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, at a special reception and concert in the International Music House.  Luzhkov has been elected four times as Mayor and though his reign has not been without controversy he is attributed with turning the capital from its Soviet drabness into a glittering metropolis.


The Golden Pen of Freedom

The centre-piece of the opening ceremony is the award of the Golden Pen of Freedom, which each year recognizes an individual or group for outstanding actions in the defence and promotion of a free press.  This year's laureate – Akbar Ganji –  was recently released during the fifth year of a six-year prison sentence for his courageous exposure of political repression in Iran.  He has defiantly refused to renounce his views, has been tortured and has undertaken two long hunger strikes. Will he be in Moscow to receive the prize?  WAN is currently leading an international campaign to achieve his release ….


Guest Musical Director

The musical performances at the Congress and Forum opening ceremonies will be directed by Vladimir Spivakov, the Fouder, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia.  Famous personally as an eminent violinist, Spivakov is a respected guest conductor with such renowned orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra.


World Press Trends

At the 2005 Congress and Forum in Korea, Timothy Balding, WAN's Chief Executive, gave a very upbeat picture of trends in the global newspaper industry: circulation sales and advertising revenues were up strongly, a huge number of new titles had appeared, more and more newspapers were innovating with new formats, new pricing models were emerging and newspaper web traffic was exploding.  Will WAN's 2006 'State of the Industry' report be so positive about the last twelve months?  Come to Moscow to find out!


The Product Innovators

Les Hinton is Executive Chairman of News International, a company with an exceptional record of innovation.  Publishers in the United Kingdom of The Times, the Sun, the News of the World and the Sunday Times, News is currently leading a spending spree by the UK's national newspapers of well over one and half billion dollars on new printing plants. This act of faith in print products and their future does not, for a second, imply that News International is neglecting the digital media explosion.  On the contrary. Hinton says that The Times alone now has five million readers online, which means that more people are reading the newspaper today than at any point in its 220-year history.  At the same time, the Sun has the most popular websites in the market, the News of the World is outselling all its competitors combined, and The Sunday Times continues to turn out new supplements based on its very sensitive editorial targeting.  Hinton will talk about all these initiatives and the future product innovations enabled by the new print facilities.
 

Mathias Döpfner, CEO and Chairman of Axel Springer, Germany's biggest newspaper publishing company, says that traditional media are threatened by the aging of society and the loss of young readers to digital media.  The 'free-of-charge' mindset led to a "temporary" success for free newspapers, he contends, and made life even harder for publishers.  Now, says Döpfner, this business model is failing.   In a presentation entitled 'Future of Newspapers – Newspapers of the Future', he will suggest two ways out of the 'assumed newspaper crisis': a 'tight interlocking of online with print' – and 'good old newspaper start-ups' such as his group's Welt Kompakt in Germany and Fakt in Poland'.

Guardian Unlimited in the United Kingdom was last year named the world's best newspaper on the internet at the 'Webby Awards' in the US, described by Time magazine as the online Oscars.  Carolyn McCall, Chief Executive of Guardian Newspapers Limited, says that the print Guardian's move last September to Berliner format now means "we will have the most modern newspaper in the country alongside the best online newspaper in the world."  Ms McCall, who titles her Congress presentation: 'Innovation: How Guardian Newspapers Limited Changed Everything Except Our Values in Just 12 Months', believes that "no other newspaper is so well placed to address the print and internet needs of both readers and advertisers".


Shaping the Future of the Newspaper

Michael Grabner, Deputy Chairman of the Holtzbrinck group in Germany, who will give an update on his highly popular 2005 Congress presentation about new newspaper concepts for young readers and new audiences. "It is not possible to have a target group for 14 to 75 year olds", he told last year's event. "I don’t know any other industry that has a huge target group covered by one product," he said of traditional newspapers.  Grabner will bring the Congress up to date with his group's innovative product development strategies – and promises "a lot of progress" and "interesting figures".

Daniel A. Jauernig, President and Chief Executive Officer of Classified Ventures, who will describe a strategic joint venture owned by six of the largest media companies in the United States, which have come together to "collectively capitalize on the revenue growth opportunities in the online classified categories of automotives, rentals and real estate".  Classified Ventures now has several leading national web sites, several of them carried by their newspaper partners local affiliate network of more than 175 online newspaper and TV web sites.

Pelle Tornberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Metro International, the free daily giant, who is known for his bold and controversial declarations about the future of the press.  One of the latest?  That free daily newspapers will in the long-term replace their paid-for counterparts on weekdays, with 95 % of the paid-fors 'surviving' as niche products which readers will only buy at week-ends.  "If you apply the pay TV and free TV model to the newspaper industry", he says, "then the paid-for newspapers probably have to accept living with smaller circulations and probably increasing their prices, increasing the exclusivity.

Karen Ferguson Crotchfelt, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development of The Arizona Republic, who says that to be successful newspapers "must deliver multiple products across multiple mediums with an insane focus on serving specific target audiences". This "audience aggregation strategy" has led her newspaper, part of the giant US Gannett group, to launch 20 new products in the last three years,  to respond to the "urgent need to penetrate key audience targets" before someone else does it. The focus of her Moscow speech will be youth publications, lifestyle magazines and community news titles.

What do the strategic business partners in the SFN project think about the current issues and opportunities facing the newspaper industry?  This special session will conclude with a panel discussion between industry experts – the suppliers themselves –  in the fields of advertising, printing systems and solutions, newsprint, mobile telephony and telecommunications, with Hans-Peter Rohner, CEO of PubliGroupe, Gerd Finkbeiner, Chairman of the Executive Board, MAN Roland, Hartmut Wurster, President of the Newsprint Division of UPM-Kymmene and Stig Eide Sivertsen, Vice President of Telenor ASA and CEO of Telenor Broadcast


The Strategic Innovators

Martin Kall is Chief Executive Officer of Tamedia, a leading Swiss media enterprise based in Zurich.  Tamedia publishes and prints a range of daily and weekly newspapers, both paid-for and free, and magazines, and is actively involved in television, radio, the internet and e-commerce.  In fact it's the only media organization in Switzerland active in all these areas.  As a multimedia content provider, Tamedia has at its disposal the widest range of channels for delivery to readers, viewers and listeners.  Kall will describe his group's strategy.

The Agora Group has been one the greatest success stories in Central and East European media publishing following the collapse of the Soviet empire – and the tale continues.   Its quality flagship newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, today has a paid circulation of 436,000, 2.7 % up on a year ago, in an increasingly competitive newspaper market which has attracted powerful foreign competitors.  A new popular national newspaper launched by Agora last November – Nowy Dzien – announced average sales of 190,000 in the first months.  The group's free newspaper, Metro, also went national in 2005.  The revenues of the group, which operates 30 radio station and publishes 14 magazines, grew 20 % in 2005 as advertising sales increased by 11%.  Piotr Niemczycki, Deputy Chairman of Agora's Management Board and one of the company's founders, will address the question: "Can a quality newspaper grow in the tabloid and electronic media environment?".

Sanjay Gupta is Editor and CEO of Dainak Jagran, which is nothing less than the daily newspaper with the highest number of readers in the world – more than 21 million according to the latest Indian readership survey.  In a presentation entitled 'The Leadership Challenge', Gupta will focus on the 'building blocks' of the Dainak Jagran success story, presenting the newspaper's innovative strategies in circulation, marketing, branding, revenue models and competition and outlining the key challenges facing DJ in maintaining its leadership position.

As President of the Newsprint Division of UPM-Kymmene, one of the world's leading paper companies, Hartmut Wurster is in a privileged position to give a strategic view on the innovative future of newspapers and to assess current global trends.  He will share his perspective with the Congress by looking at the competitive environment for newspapers, presenting trends in the supply and demand balance for newsprint; examining opportunities in emerging markets and talking about the challenging areas and innovative solutions for the future.
The  Sanoma Corporation, a division of SanomaWSOY, the largest media group in the Nordic region, publishes several major newspapers in Finland, a nation with high press readership, but also high penetration of internet and mobile telephones.  Mikael Pentikïnen, the President of the Corporation, will discuss the innovative strategies that keep the group in its leading position.

An innovative strategy of outsourcing is a significant factor in the success of Independent News & Media in Ireland.  Vincent Crowley, the group's Chief Executive Officer, will explain how and why Independent outsourced its accounting, classified advertising and customer service operations, and how this freed funds to invest in a new Sunday magazine, the dual offering of compact and broadsheet formats for the Irish Independent and the launch of a free daily newspaper.

The Global Innovations Report

As each year, one of the highlights of the Congress will be the annual global report on innovations in the newspaper industry presented by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group.  The 2006 report will include, notably, an update on the effects of 'going tabloid', the role of 'blogging' in journalism today, the key issues in confronting the transfer of classified advertising to the internet, developments in online/offline newsroom integration – and much more.

The Digital Innovators

The Telegraph Group in the United Kingdom believes that the integration of print and online is going to be a key success factor in the future of the newspaper business.  Describing its strategy as "evolution not revolution", the group is currently managing its transition to a digital media age within a traditional media context, in the belief that the effective combination of print and digital is far stronger than either part alone.  Katie Vanneck, Group Marketing Director, and Annelies van den Belt, New Media Director, will together describe how significant investment is being made to drive audiences between the 'old' and the 'new' media world; delivering Telegraph content across different channels and increasing interaction between off and online audiences.

Las Ultimas Noticias, a leading newspaper in Chile, has gained international renown with its innovative strategy of measuring reader interest in its stories online and shaping the content of its print edition to reflect its audience's priorities – and drive up circulation.  Agustin J. Edwards, Director General of the newspaper, will explain what they did and the surprises and challenges that resulted.  In his presentation on 'Deriving benefit from Internet readership at Las Ultimas Noticias', he will also explain another initiative to increase advertising effectiveness and generate readership through the reproduction of print pages on the internet site.

The Session Chairmen

A distinguished selection of Russian newspaper leaders will chair the business sessions: Rafael Akopov, CEO of Prof Media; Alexandre Kaverznev, CEO of Extra-M Media; Derk Sauer, CEO of Independent Media; and Eugene Abov, Deputy Director General of Prof Media.

The Congress
Schedule

The Digital Advertising Explosion - Exploiting the Potential of Our Media
The Annual Digital Media Round Table

Winning Strategies for the New Generation
The Annual Young Reader Round Table

(these events are open to all participants and take place at the Marriott Grand Hotel, 26 Tverskaya str., Moscow)

10h00 – 12h00 
Opening Ceremony at the Kremlin State Palace

Musical interludes by the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia and Children's Chorus, directed by Vladimir Spivakov, Founder, Music Director and Principal Conductor; Denis Matsuev, pianist; young violinists from Vologda, North Russia, supported by the Spivakov Foundation.

Welcome addresses by:

• Leonid Makaron, President of the Russian Guild of Press Publishers (GIPP)

• Vladimir Putin, President, Russian Federation

• Gavin O’Reilly, President, WAN

Presentation of the 2006 WAN Golden Pen of Freedom by George Brock, President, World Editors Forum, to Akbar Ganji, Investigative Journalist, Iran

12h00 – 13h30 
Lunch at the Kremlin State Palace

All Congress sessions take place at the Manege central exhibition hall (next to the Kremlin)

13h45
Opening of Info Services Expo 2006.  Sponsored by Reuters.

14h00 – 14h40 
World Trends in the Newspaper Industry: an update.  Timothy Balding, CEO, WAN

14h45 – 18h00 
First Session: The Product Innovators

Session chairman: Rafael Akopov, CEO, Prof Media, Russia

The new golden age of media?
Les Hinton, Chairman, News International, United Kingdom

20h00
Dinner and entertainment at Kolomenskoye, the 17th century summer residence of the Russian Tsars

9h15 – 12h30 
Second Session: Shaping the Future of the Newspaper
WAN presents the results of the latest research and strategy reports in the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project

Speakers/panellists:

The WAN classified advertising survey
Martha Stone, Manager, Special Projects, SFN

Classified Ventures - a case study of newspapers working together to succeed online
Daniel Jauernig, President and CEO, Classified Ventures, USA

The pure play perspective
Paul Zwillenberg, Global Head Media and Entertainment, OC&C Strategy Consultants, United Kingdom

From Seoul to Moscow - An update on: New newspaper concepts to attract young and new target audiences
Michael Grabner, Deputy Chairman, Verlagsgruppe von Holtzbrinck, Germany

Extending audience reach through new product development
Karen Crotchfelt, Vice-President/Market & Business Development, The Arizona Republic, USA

The free daily model
Pelle Tornberg, President and CEO, Metro International

12h30 – 14h00 
Lunch (option: discussion with Dmitry Medvedev, First Deputy Prime Minister, Russian Federation.  Attendance limited to pre-registered participants)

Session chairman: Alexandre Kaverznev, CEO, Extra-M Media, Russia

Martin Kall, Chairman of the Management Board and Head of Newspapers Division, Tamedia, Switzerland

Can a quality newspaper grow in the tabloid and electronic media environment?
Piotr Niemczycki, Vice-President of the Management Board, Agora S.A., Poland

The leadership challenge
Sanjay Gupta, Editor and CEO, Dainik Jagran, India

Newsprint - Trendlines
Hartmut Wurster, President, Newsprint Division, UPM-Kymmene, Germany

Session chairman: Eugene Abov, Deputy Director General, Prof Media, Russia

Outsourcing - a publishing solution
Vincent Crowley, Chief Executive, Independent News & Media, Ireland

10h30
Coffee break

10h45 – 12h00  
2006 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group.  Presented by Claude Erbsen, Douglas Griffen and Juan Senor

12h00 – 13h00 
WAN Annual General Meeting (open to all participants)

13h00 – 14h15
Lunch (Option: Discussion with Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union.  Attendance limited to pre-registered participants)

Session chairman: Derk Sauer, CEO, Independent Media, Russia

Telegraph New Media - Beyond the Printed Word
Katie Vanneck, Group Marketing Director, and Annelies van den Belt, New Media Director, Telegraph Group, United Kingdom

Deriving benefit from internet readership at Las Ultimas Noticias
Agustin J. Edwards, Director General, Las Ultimas Noticias, Chile

Newspapers can 'Own the City'
Arturo Duran, President, Interactive and Business Integration, CanWest Mediaworks, Canada

20h00
Gala dinner at Luzhniki
Performance by the Moiseyev Dance Company