Tag Archives: WAN

#WANIndia2009: Coverage of the World Association of Newspapers’ conference and World Editors Forum

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Journalism.co.uk is attending the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and World Editors Forum’s annual conferences running in Hyderabad, India, from today until Thursday 3 December.

Befitting of its surroundings in Hyderabad (or ‘Cyberabad’ as it’s nicknamed), the conference will report on press industry trends over the last year with a substantial focus on digital journalism for this year’s event.

Hot topics of debate will include how to make online journalism pay and whether Google is friend or foe. You can follow tweets from the event by using the hashtag #WANIndia2009 and following @journalism_live – or look at the CoveritLive blog below:

Calling newspaper executives – participate in WAN-IFRA’s annual survey

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The newly-merged World Association of Newspapers-IFRA is joining forces with the University of Central Lancashire and the Norwegian School of Management to conduct a survey for 2009 on ‘World Newspaper Future & Change’.

Newspaper newsroom executives (both commercial and editorial) are being asked to take the 21-question survey – available at this link.

Identities of respondents will remain confidential and participants can register to receive the results when they are published as part of WAN-IFRA’s annual ‘Shaping the Future of the Newspaper’ report in December this year.

Thomas Crampton: Telling WAN-IFRA how it really is

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Today in Kuala Lumpur, former International Herald Tribune journalist Thomas Crampton will address the newly merged industry body WAN-IFRA in a keynote speech on social media.

But Crampton says the crowd is unlikely to welcome what he says, because:

1) He hasn’t bought a print copy of the International Herald Tribune since he left his job with the title two years ago;

2) In his new job at Ogilvy, he advises clients on why they no longer need to go through the media;

3) He believes the downward slide for newspapers is going to get steeper still;

4) Businesses based on ‘chewing dead trees’ aren’t feasible in this age of environmental concern.

Crampton also responds to some comments left on the post, in particular stating that he isn’t dismissing the value of journalism. Dive into the world of online gaming with Discover Magic Reels Casino . It’s a destination where entertainment and technology come together to create a memorable gaming experience.

We look forward to hearing the speech, if he makes it available, and the reaction it gets…

Full post at this link…

Wordle: Rupert Murdoch’s optimism for print future

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Rupert Murdoch gives the preface to this year’s World Association of Newspapers (WAN) Innovations in Newspapers 2009 World Report.

Below is a Wordle of Murdoch’s comments (as quoted in a WAN release), in which he said readership would grow for news consumption across print, social media and online outlets.

Wordle of Rupert Murdoch's comments in the World Association of Newspapers' annual survey

Journalists killed worldwide – an online list from WAN

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70 journalists were killed worldwide in 2008, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), said in a release today. The journalists and other media employees were killed worldwide ‘because of their professional activities in 2008, with the conflict in Iraq continuing to be the most deadly assignment for journalists’ the release said.

WAN said that several press freedom organisations track the number of journalists killed each year. “The numbers vary based on the criteria used by different associations. WAN’s figures include all media workers killed in the line of duty or targeted because of their work. It also includes cases where the motive for the killings is unsure or where official investigations have not been completed,” the release explained.

Media Release: Six sports newspapers come together in new association

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“Six of the world’s leading newspapers dedicated to sport have come together to form the International Association of Sports Newspapers (IASN), to defend and promote the interests and freedom of the sports press,” the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) announced on Friday. Full release at this link.

WAN: Arab Press Forum protests against travel restrictions

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“Delegates to the Arab Free Press Forum have condemned travel restrictions imposed by authorities in several Arab countries that prevented some speakers and participants from attending the event,” reports the World Association of Newspapers.

Several journalists who were due to participate were prevented from travelling from Egypt, Tunisia, Qatar, Libya and Syria.

Archant’s director of business development, Ian Davies dies in plane crash

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We just heard news that Ian Davies, director of business development at Archant, has died in a plane crash – as reported at the BBC, Press Gazette and in his group’s newspaper, the Norwich Evening News.

Journalism.co.uk is extremely sad to hear of this tragic accident.

On a personal note, I met Ian and some his colleagues for the first time, at the WAN conference in Amsterdam last fortnight.

Despite cornering him after a long conference session to badger him for information about Archant’s hyperlocal news plans, he was only too friendly towards me, happy to help and give suggestions for stories.

I later had opportunity to chat with him more informally and find a bit more out about his views on the media and what he does. He assured me he would always be willing to contribute to related articles.

True to his word, last week he was quick to contribute to an article I was working on at the last minute. I’m very saddened by the premature end to his life.

In an email he told me he was looking forward to working more flexibly at Archant from January, so that he could fit in more time for his passion, flying. His website shows some of his interests. That his life was cut so short, when he had so much enthusiasm for his projects, seems a particularly cruel hand of fate.

Our condolences go out to Ian’s family, friends and colleagues.

World Association of Newspapers calls for press freedom in China

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The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum have written to the Chinese government about international standards of press freedom in the country.

Laws in China restricting foreign journalists were temporarily relaxed during the Olympic Games in Beijing and have recently been extended by authorities.

In a letter dated October 21, WAN wrote to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in an attempt to change the laws permanently:

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to welcome the extension of the relaxation in media regulations, but also to call on you to take further steps to uphold international standards of press freedom.

In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, your government introduced new rules that allowed foreign journalists greater freedom to travel in the country without prior government permission and to talk to anyone who was willing to be interviewed. Those regulations were set to expire on 17 October, however, shortly before they expired new regulations were introduced that recognise these rights.

While welcoming the extension of the more relaxed regulations for foreign journalists, we are concerned that they do not extend to domestic journalists and that many fundamental rights necessary for the proper functioning of a free press are not observed. For example, there is no protection of news sources, it is not possible to report freely on Tibet and hotels are obliged to report the arrival of a foreign journalist to police. Furthermore, with more than 30 journalists and at least 50 cyber reporters imprisoned, China jails more journalists than any other.

We respectfully call on you to extend the relaxed regulations to domestic journalists, to introduce further reforms so that your country might fully respect international standards of press freedom, and to ensure that all
those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression are immediately released from prison.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

Xavier Vidal-Folch
President
World Editors Forum

WAN Amsterdam: Digital will account for 43 per cent of newspaper advertising growth by 2012 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers

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The global leader for the entertainment and media practice, at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Hong Kong, Marcel Fenez, argued that ‘traditional media isn’t dead’ on the last day of the WAN/World Editors Forum 11th Readership Conference (information courtesy of WAN conference updates).

The latest media and entertainment industry forecast from PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that global newspaper advertising will grow 2.9 per cent to 136.8 billion dollars in 2012, with digital advertising accounting for 43 per cent of the growth.

  • Print advertising will grow 1.8 per cent to 123.3 billion dollars worldwide in 2012
  • Digital advertising will grow 19.3 per cent to 13.4 billion dollars:
  • While the growth rate for digital advertising will continue its impressive rise over the next five years, the total in 2012 will represent only 10 per cent of total print and digital newspaper advertising.

“Some people say that traditional media is dead. Well, it isn’t. For the next five years, it ain’t gonna be,” he said. “The death of traditional media is exaggerated, at least in a 5-year context.”

Fenez said the forecasts, based on consumer and industry sources, does not take into account the recent economic meltdown, which could have a negative impact on the figures.

Fenez reported:

  • The generation that comes of age in 2012 will be the first that doesn’t know the pre-internet world. “We hear a lot about user generated content from the ‘net generation’. It’s very, very, very important. But premium content is still really valuable. Even the net generation values premium content. They’re tired of watching videos of a dog running up a tree.”
  • Advertisers will take a ‘wait and see’ attitude and be cautious about spending in the first half of 2009. “They won’t do anything until mid-year. If they have the revenue, they’ll release their budgets.”
  • Video games advertising is set to grow 17 per cent to 2012, though the revenue is still negligible. Most of the money being spent on game advertising is coming from television.
  • “We’re on a journey of transition from traditional to digital: the first to probably go totally digital is the music industry. In 2011, the majority of revenues will be digital.”