The hope came from Ukraine, where journalists working together for the common good succeeded in lifting censorship and winning reforms.

The warning came from Belarus, which suffers from domination by state-controlled media and where harassment of independent journalists is a regular occurrence. Some fear that Russia is following in its footsteps.

"I can’t say we have some ready medicine or pill that we can prescribe to our Russian colleagues, but we have some experiences that can be shared," said Olena Prytula, Editor-in-Chief of Ukrayinska Pravda, an on-line newspaper based in Kiev.

Ms Prytula, speaking at the World Association of Newspaper’s annual press freedom round table, said that increasing repression in Ukraine brought journalists together and gave them a strong community to fight censorship successfully -- something that Russian panellists agreed had not happened yet in Russia.

Ms Prytula said journalistic solidarity was essential for creating independent media. Getting support from management is also essential. And working in media where censorship is difficult -- like the internet -- is also important.

The lessons from Belarus, Europe’s only totalitarian regime, are quite different. "They are really taking the media into their own hands," said Andrej Dynko, editor of Nasha Niva, speaking of the government, "and there are fears this can happen in Russia at well."

The WAN press freedom roundtable was held Sunday, on the eve of the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2006, the global meetings of the world’s press. More than 1,700 newspaper publishers, editors, other senior newspaper executives and their guests are in Moscow for the events, which open Monday. President Vladimir Putin is schedule to address the opening session.

Participants in the press freedom roundtable were asked to examine the main issues holding back development of the independent press in Russia. For Petr Godlevsky, Director General of Izvestia, the "first and foremost" issue is the lack of media business training for journalists and editors.

"In order to have a newspaper, you need to have managers -- not just journalists -- and it took people awhile to figure this out," he said.

Another problem is "the desire of state and civil servants to hold back the press. This is something that exists in all countries since the first newspaper was published." A third problem, he said, was apathy among the general public.

Nikolai Svanidze, a presenter for RTR TV, also focused on the problem of an apathetic audience, contending that Russian society had become "tired of all the different choices it had in the media."

"Our guests from the United States and European countries may not understand what I’m talking about, but the classic Russian reader is not used to having a variety of opinion, he’s used to having one opinion handed to him on a platter. It is fatiguing to have a choice because you have to think."

Mr Svanidze also argued that Russia’s regional press did not really want freedom because it was more interested in the economic support it received from its masters. Both of these contentions led to much opposition from both audience and panellists.

But Mr Svanidze did agree with the majority on the need for journalistic solidarity. "We need to try and somehow create a journalists community which does not exist yet," he says.

Also on the panel were Yury Purgin, CEO of Altapress publishing house, and William Dunkerley, a media consultant from the United States. The panel was chaired by George Brock, Editor of the Times (UK) Saturday edition and President of the World Editors Forum.

WAN also organised two other round tables Saturday -- one on "The Digital Explosion: Exploiting the Potential of Our Media", and one on initiatives to attract young readers.

Details about the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2006 at www.moscow2006.com.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 73 national newspaper associations, newspapers and newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.