The report, presented by the Innovations International Consulting Group, is an annual highlight of the Congress and the Forum. In addition to newsroom conversions to multimedia "information centres," this year’s presentation will highlight innovations in newspaper redesign, websites, citizen journalism, infographics, magazines and supplements, workflow and more.

More than 1,500 newspaper publishers, chief executives, managing directors, editors and other newspaper professionals are expected to attend the 60th World Newspaper Congress, 14th World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2007, the global meetings of the world’s press organised by the World Association of Newspapers.

There is still time to register. Full details of the events, hosted by the Newspaper Association of South Africa, can be found at www.wan-press.org/capetown2007.

The Innovations presentation, in a joint session of the Congress and Forum, includes case studies but, more importantly, discussions about the impact of these innovations with the publishers and editors who have introduced them. Delegates will also receive a copy of the full report.

The Innovation group, in conjunction with Harris Interactive, will also be releasing the results of a special Harris Poll during the session that looks at reader and non-reader perceptions about news-media in general and newspapers specifically. The poll is being conducted in 6 countries: The US, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and will poll nearly 10,000 respondents.

Other Congress highlights include:

  A presentation entitled "We DO read, and here is how!" by renowned newspaper designer Mario Garcia, who will review the results of the Poynter Institute’s EyeTrack07 research findings and offer tips on how they can be applied to everyday work for both print and online.

  A case study of a new Austrian daily, Osterreich, which blurs the lines between newspapers and magazines, presented by the paper’s Managing Director, Gert Edlinger. Osterreich mixes magazine and newspaper styles in one package, with several sections printed on glossy paper and stapled on the spine. These are not typical magazine inserts: they are daily sections, with daily deadlines that are paginated and printed along with the other daily sections.

  A session on the development of audience and revenues through print and online synergies featuring Kenneth W. Lowe, President & CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company in the United States, Birger Magnus, Deputy CEO of Schibsted in Norway, Klaus Lutz, CEO of Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany, and Luis Fernando Santos, President of Casa Editorial El Tiempo in Colombia.

  A presentation by strategy guru Michael E. Raynor, co-author of the bestselling ’The Innovator’s Solution’ and, now in bookstores, ’The Strategy Paradox’, which presents a concrete framework for strategic action that makes it possible to seize today’s opportunities while simultaneously preparing for tomorrow’s promise. He will speak in a session dedicated to the prognoses of think tanks, pundits and research institutes about the role of newspapers in the future media landscape.

  A session entitled "We are Digital," which will examine the strategies of press groups which see print and digital activities as integral to the future of newspapers. The session will feature Antonio Fernandez-Galiano, CEO of Unidad Editorial (El Mundo) in Spain and Tomas Brunegard, CEO of the Swedish Stampen Group.

  A presentation on the "Newspaper Next" project of the American Press Institute, by Managing Director Stephen T. Gray, who will report on how US newspapers are working to reverse the course of declining revenues and shrinking readership and are inventing new and profitable business models. He will speak in a session devoted to what research institutes and thinkers world-wide see as the place and role of newspapers in the future media landscape.

For more information, including full programme details, list of participants and registration information, consult www.wan-press.org/capetown2007.

In addition to a top line-up of newspaper executives, the Congress, Forum and Expo offer other "value added" presentations as well, including World Press Trends in the Newspaper Industry and the six latest reports from the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project.

The Congress also offers its tradition of networking opportunities and spectacular social events, which this year will include: a welcome reception at a "Cape Town street party" at the Castle of Good Hope, the oldest colonial building in South Africa; an African cultural evening at South Africa’s world class wine estate, Spier, in the beautiful city of Stellenbosch; and a gala dinner at the Nederburg wine estate, with dramatic views of the Drakenstein Mountains, gardens and vineyards.

Delegates can also join the 2nd World Press Golf Tournament, sponsored by MAN Roland, at the Golf Estates course in Steenberg, which has been declared a national monument.

Sponsors of the Congress and the Forum now include Remgro, Richemont & VenFin, Mondi Shanduka Newsprint & Mondi International, the Sunday Times and Mont Blanc.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 76 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 10 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.