That message has particular importance for the newspaper industry and is the basis of a new report, "Scenario Planning for Newspaper Companies," from the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project of the World Association of Newspapers.

Scenario planning - the practice of imagining a variety of possible futures and planning strategies to cope with them -- allows businesses to take a pro-active approach and prepare for many contingencies.

The SFN report is based on interviews with eight of the world’s most prominent publishers, a two-day scenario planning seminar involving executives from 15 countries, and research developed for the SFN project, which identifies, analyses and publicises all important breakthroughs and opportunities that can benefit newspapers all over the world.

An executive summary of the report can be found here.

"Scenario planning allows us to explore many of the uncertainties in our future, and imagine how we can address these issues before they become crises," says the report, available exclusively to WAN members. "By making the future come alive, we can understand what society and our industry might be like in the future."

The process described in the report began with interviews about the future of newspapers with eight leading publishers: Janet Robinson, President of The New York Times: Francis Tiong, CEO of Ming Pao in Hong Kong and Malaysia; Nelson Sirotsky, CEO of RBS in Brazil; Tomas Brunegard, CEO of Stampen Group in Sweden; Olav Mugaas, CEO of Aftenposten in Norway; David Kirk, CEO of Fairfax Media in Australia; Eugen Russ, CEO of Vorarlberger Medienhaus in Austria, and Jim Moroney, CEO of the Dallas Morning News in the United States.

The publishers produced 66 concepts which were then examined and ranked in importance during the two-day seminar held in Paris in January. Through a process of elimination, participants developed four possible future scenarios and how to cope with them - but the process can be used to develop far more scenarios.

The report details some of the strategies than can be used to cope with the four chosen scenarios, which built around whether traditional or "disruptive" media dominate in the future, and whether targeted media or mass media will be prevalent.

The report says that the scenario planning process not only provides a look at possible future for the industry, it can also help newspaper companies respond faster and more effectively in a media landscape that is prone to rapid change.

WAN is a leading provider of industry research and analysis through its Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project, which provides WAN members with Strategy Reports on these developments, a library of case studies and business ideas, and a wealth of other vital information for all those who need to follow press industry trends. To learn more about WAN membership and its benefits, click here.

WAN conducts the SFN project with support from five international partners -- PubliGroupe, the Swiss-based international advertising and promotion group; MAN Roland, a leading company for newspaper production systems; UPM-Kymmene, one of the world’s leading printing paper producers; Telenor, the leading Norwegian telecommunications, IT and media group; and Atex, the leading supplier of solutions and services for advertising, content management, circulation and online applications.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 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.