Formula for success: content & interactivity Deepti Mehra, NIE Director, The Times of India Want to win the World Young Reader Prize? Just follow the formula provided by Ms Mehra, whose program won both the World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year award and the Young Reader prize in the education category. But be warned: it is a complicated formula because reaching young readers is not an easy task. Ms Mehra provided details on 14 separate editorial and content categories and 15 events and interactive initiatives to encourage young people to get involved in the newspaper that is tailored expressly for them. "I must admit that success doesn’t come easy, in fact, the only thing that keeps us going is our belief that we needed to create true value for our children," she says. The student edition of The Times of India, which reaches more than 2,000 schools, uses extensive market research to determine what students want. And they want everything -- local and international news, school news, career pages, debates on controversial issues, health and fitness, technology, sports, entertainment and more. "In short, a newspaper that is reflective of the attitudes, mindset and worldview of young Indians," says Ms Mehra. Teens want more than entertainment Toni Guagenti, Teen Editor, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, USA Teen-age newspaper readers want more than just entertainment, says Ms Guagenti, editor of "757", the young reader section of The Virginian-Pilot that won the World Young Reader prize in the editorial category this year. "The content isn’t just fashion, or stars, or homework," she says. "We ran the gamut, from teens of the same sex attending prom together amidst leers and jeers, to teens that cut themselves to physically deal with their psychological pain." Initiatives to attract young readers don’t have to be complicated, but they must be innovative, she says. For example, try to get young people involved in all aspects of the newspaper, not just editorial. "You need to find people who are willing to try new things, who believe in raising the bar and changing a section for the good, not just the content but who it reaches and how." No Clowning Matter Wendy Tribaldos, NIE Manager, La Prensa, Panama Newspapers should introduce themselves to children early, but reaching the very young -- those under eight years old -- is a difficult task, says Ms Tribaldos, who explained the program that won her newspaper the World Young Reader Prize in the brand category. La Prensa created a multimedia circus at its headquarters, complete with clowns, to introduce its brand and content to first and second graders in a fun and joyful atmosphere. "Reading must be thought of as an enjoyable activity from the youngest ages, and must be introduced early on to build a lifetime habit," says Ms Tribaldos. "It is vital to ensure not only brand recognition, but also capture newspaper readers as early as possible to eventually promote adult readership." Her presentation explained how Aprendo, La Prensa’s Newspapers in Education program, developed a 45-minute show that includes newspaper elements within activities appropriate to the age group: puppetry, magic, music and circus acts. Here are some of the initiative’s important elements:  The show doesn’t travel but takes place in La Prensa’s building, to help cement the trademark while building closer community relations.  It shows that reading is fun, and that the newspaper is a great medium for fun reading. A souvenir book is provided to help children practice key reading concepts with La Prensa and Aprendo editorial content. 25 best young reader ideas from around the world Tommaso Prennushi, President, TP&A Associates, Spain, and George Kelly, Senior Project Director, CMC International, United Kingdom As judges for the World Association of Newspaper’s World Young Reader Prize, Mr Prennushi and Mr Kelly see a lot of good young readership ideas. They shared 25 of them with the conference participants. "Young reader programs are becoming much more sophisticated, it’s not only content and advertising, it’s organizing events and creating strong and powerful programs to attract and keep young readers," says Mr Prennushi. Here are a few of the ideas presented on their global young reader tour:  Popcorn, the Newspapers in Education supplement of Singapore’s Lianhe Zabao, created a pop song based on the supplement’s name and then launched a contest asking young people to sing and record the theme and perform it in concerts at more than 20 schools. Circulation of the supplement increased from 30,000 to 46,000 in two years.  24 Sata in Croatia, which created a hip-hop World Cup soccer anthem and gave it away with the newspaper. The song was so popular, it was adopted as the official anthem of Croatia’s national team. Readership by 15- to 24-year old increased from 15 percent to 25 percent of the paper’s total in one year.  Vanguardia, Mexico, whose "I Like Books" program invited 4- to 7-year olds to the newspaper, for story reading sessions. For 8- to 12-year olds, it offered prizes for reading suggested books. 2,000 children participated -- spectacular results for a newspaper with a daily circulation of 24,000.  Gazeti Bolnisi, Georgia, which published the first chapter of a novel and invited readers to write the next chapter, publishing a new chapter each week. Eighty percent of the participants were under 25 years old.  VG, Norway, which decided to let readers participate by offering them blogs and forums. Readers responded by opening 13,000 blogs and 11,000 daily posts on the forums.  Vedomosti, Russia, a business newspaper that created a free "light" paper for university students to introduce them to the main newspaper. 20,000 copies were distributed to schools monthly and it became a prime advertising vehicle, with 30 percent of its content taken by ads. For information on how to enter the 2007 World Young Reader Prize competition, go to www.wan-press.org/nie/wyrp.php.