In their streets and on public transport, in their cars - and now directly to their homes. Danes are being offered seven free daily newspapers, many of high quality, wherever they turn. An astonishing free news war has broken out in this Scandinavian markets.

Mr Rasmussen and Mr Madsen provided their views on the phenomenon, and the experiences of their home delivered free newspaper, one of three delivered door-to-door.

The truth is, "we’re not sure there is a business case for this, but if there is a business case, we need to win it," says Mr Rasmussen, who predicted only one or two of the free dailies would survive.

With such risk, why launch at all? "If we did nothing? We had estimates that 10 percent of our group circulation could be lost, and maybe 10 percent to 30 percent of our advertising revenue would be lost," he says. The newspaper is published by JP/Politikens Hus, one of Denmark’s leading media corporations with several paid-for dailies.

The catalyst for the free newspaper war was the announcement earlier this year by the Icelandic group Dagsbrun that it would launch a quality free daily newspaper in Denmark and deliver it directly to 500,000 households. Denmark’s newspaper companies responded by launching their own home delivered dailies, beating the newcomer to market.

24timer (24 hours), a 32- to 64-page quality tabloid of national and regional coverage, delivers 400,000 copies door-to-door, six mornings a week.

And Mr Rasmussen and Mr Madsen provided these insights:

 Drawing on existing operations and competence is an advantage.

 First to market has an advantage.

 Free newspapers must be a long-term investment.

Making Cash

Is Switzerland ready for a multimedia daily business news platform? The jury is still out, but the Ringier Group’s recently launched Cash Daily is an attempt to wins the hearts and minds of readers and advertisers alike.

The "Cash" brand has long been well-known in Switzerland -- a weekly newspaper introduced in 1989, followed by television programming in 1993 and a web site in 1996.

Cash Daily takes the concept further -- a free daily business publication in a combination of media with one strong brand. It combines print, TV, online, electronic newspaper and mobile applications.

"Cash is not just a free sheet. It is a multimedia newspaper," says Mr Bauer. The core strategy is an e-paper format. We strongly believe there will be some technology and infrastructure that will soon make publishing possible through portable reading devices."

Mr Bauer admits that "we are pretty early with these applications on the market, but the innovation part and the learning curve part are on our side."

But will the market buy it? The advertising industry is not ready for multichannel thinking but supports the approach, he says. And multichannel journalism works but remains the biggest challenge.

A Paradise for Free Newspapers

Spain is a paradise for the free press -- just don’t call it "free", says Mr Soler.

"We never say our paper is free. Because Spanish people don’t like anything that is free -- they don’t trust it. So we say, ’not for sale’."

There is another reason for not calling it a "free paper", says Mr Soler -- "The reader pays quite a lot, not with money, but with attention."

And that’s one of the secrets that has made Spain the paradise it is for free newspapers. 20 Minutos, distributed in 14 cities, is the leading title in terms of readership, and four out of the top 10 papers in Spain are also "not for sale."

Mr Soler’s wide-ranging and entertaining presentation provided some of the reasons for this success. The goal of 20 Minutos is to "make a paper that people like, read, trust. And it helps to "have fun" along the way.

"To pay or not to pay, that is not the question," says Mr Soler. "To read or not to read, that is the question. If people read the newspaper, the advertisers will come fast. We have to cultivate the attention of the reader. If we cultivate the attention of the reader, we get paid."

The Talk of the Newsrooms

What are the latest trends in newsrooms around the world? The World Editors Forum, the organization within the World Association of Newspapers for senior newsroom personal, tracks the latest developments and gathers them in its annual Trends in Newsrooms report.

Mr Pecquerie, providing an advance look at the 2007 edition of the report, said seven trends would be the focus on the book. He presented them as "advice to editors", and here are a few of them:

 Integrate print and online, but step by step.

 Continue to tell stories, but interact with your readers. "Citizen journalism is growing up," he says.

 Become a portal for your region. "Local newspapers must be indispensable to their communities."

Follow the latest newsroom trends through the WEF Editors Weblog: www.editorsweblog.org.