The 3rd Arab Free Press Forum will provide a comprehensive overview of the latest press developments in the Arab world, from obstructive government policies to the changing face of blogging, and from editorial policies, trends and innovations in newsrooms to the business of newspaper publishing the Arab World.

The first panel will address new tactics used by governments and the judiciary to impede and sanction the independent press in Arab countries. Subjected to domestic and foreign pressures to implement democratic reforms, certain governments replaced outright attacks on the press by behind-the-scene manoeuvres, but hasn't the price paid by critical news media remained as high?

The second panel will look into the increasing political relevance and influence of blogs in Arab countries, as they reach out and engage in a broader public sphere. Are blogs becoming a fifth estate, challenging governments that hold a monopoly on news and evading mechanisms of censorship?   

The third panel will address editorial policies, trends and innovations in Arab newsrooms. The emergence of new media, new technologies, changing readership and squeezed budgets will also be discussed.

The final panel will focus on challenges and opportunities facing newspaper publishers in Arab countries. What are the specificities of local media markets and the potential for circulation and advertising revenue growth? What are the strategies to transform newspapers into genuine, successful multi-media businesses?

Around 120 leading publishers, journalists and press freedom advocates from across the Middle East and North Africa are expected to meet in Beirut to discuss these issues at the joint initiative of the World Association of Newspapers and the Lebanese An-Nahar daily newspaper.

The closing ceremony will pay special tribute to Gebran Tueni, a long-standing WAN Board Member and press freedom advocate who was murdered in December 2005, with the presentation of the third Gebran Tueni Award to an Arab newspaper executive who embodies the qualities that he represented.