Mr Powers’ report on the power of print provides compelling evidence about why paper will endure. “There are cognitive, cultural and social dimensions to the human-paper dynamic that come into play every time any kind of paper, from a tiny Post-it note to a groaning Sunday newspaper, is used to convey, retrieve or store information," he writes. "Paper does these jobs in a way that pleases us, which is why, for centuries, we have liked having it around. It’s also why we will never give it up as a medium."

Mr Powers will make a keynote address on “The Eternal Power of Print” at the Readership Conference, organised by the World Association of Newspapers. The event, which will draw hundreds of publishers, editors, marketers and other senior newspaper executives from dozens of countries to Amsterdam, aims to help newspaper companies develop audiences on both print and digital channels.

The evolving programme for the conference, which runs back-to-back with the WAN World Digital Publishing Conference and Expo, can be found at www.wan-press.org.

Mr Powers is the media critic for National Journal. His weekly column, "On the Media," offers commentary on a broad range of media topics. The column is widely read in media circles and beyond, and is often cited in other national news outlets. Before joining National Journal in 1997, he was a staff writer at The Washington Post, and a senior editor of The New Republic.

He wrote “Hamlet’s Blackberry” for the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. It can be downloaded here.

The Readership Conference, formerly known as the Editor & Marketeer Conference, will showcase new ideas and initiatives that have proven successful in delivering continued audience growth on all platforms.

The topics to be covered include:

  New audience strategies. Confirmed speakers include Thomas Drensek, Managing Director of Axel Springer in Germany, Randy Bennett, Vice President for Audience Development for the Newspaper Association of America, and Mary Lou Fulton, Vice President, Audience, for the Bakersfield Californian.

  Making life easy for readers, featuring Mario Garcia, President of US-based Garcia Media and Stephen Gray, Managing Director of the Next Project of the American Press Institute.

  The new newsroom: broadcast, print and web. Valery Levchenko, of the Russian News Agency Ria Novosti will be featured in this session.

  The new newspaper opportunity, which will feature Sören Karlsson, Editor-in Chief, of hd.se in Sweden, and other speakers to be announced.

  Shaping the Future of the Newspaper, featuring Steve Auckland, Managing Director of Metro, published by Associated Newspapers in the United Kingdom, and Christian Ortner, Editor-in-Chief, of Vorarlberger Nachrichten in Austria.

The conference will also include the presentation ceremony for the 2008 World Young Reader Prize, sponsored by Norske Skog, the global paper producer, as part of its support for WAN’s Newspapers in Education Development Project.

The Readership Conference and Expo will run consecutively to the 3rd World Digital Publishing Conference & Expo, to be held on 15-16 October at the same venue. Register for both events and save 25 percent on the second registration. Full details at www.wan-press.org . Suppliers to the industry wishing to join the Expo can contact Jodie Hopperton by e-mail at jhopperton@wan.asso.fr.

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.