In the quest to attract commuters and other readers who favour a compact
size, The Independent launched a tabloid-size newspaper with the same
content as its broadsheet late last year. It kept the broadsheet in many
markets because it didn’t want to lose readers who were satisfied with it.
The Times quickly followed suit. And though putting out identical content in
different formats means extra work for the newsroom and other departments,
the results have been spectacular -- both newspapers have reported
circulation gains in the tens of thousands with the new editions.
Simon Kelner, the Editor-in-Chief of The Independent, and George Brock,
Managing Editor of The Times, will take part in a session called "Tabloid
boom: no limits?" at the World Editors Forum, to be held concurrently with
the World Newspaper Congress and Info Services Expo in Istanbul, Turkey,
from 30 May to 2 June 2004. They will be joined by Niels Lunde, Chief Editor
of Berlingske Tidende in Denmark, and Raymundo Riva-Palacios, Chief Editor
of Mexico’s El Independiente.
The session is one of five at the WEF, which takes the theme, "The Newsroom
Revolution: New Technologies, New Markets, New Competitors.” More than 1,000
editors, publishers and other senior newspaper executives are expected at
the Forum, the Congress and Info Services Expo 2004, the annual meetings of
the world’s press.
For the evolving conference programme, a list of participants and other
information, consult http://www.wan-press.org/istanbul2004/ or contact
Bertrand Pecquerie, WEF Director, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, 75005
Paris, France. Telephone +33 1 47 42 85 00, Fax +33 1 47 42 49 48, e-mail:
bpecquerie@wan.asso.fr.
In addition to the five sessions on practical newsroom issues, the WEF will
feature a keynote session on the question, "do newspapers need to reinvent
journalism?" Speakers include Juan Luis Cebrian, CEO of El Pais and PRISA
Group, Spain, Dean Wright, Editor-in-Chief of MSNBC.com, USA, and Anssi
Vanjoki, Vice President of the Nokia Group, Finland.
The four other business sessions are:
Press credibility in the digital age: new attacks, new answers. The rise
of challengers to print journalism -- cable, TV, online services, mobile
phones, free newspapers, and even “bloggers” on the internet -- is raising
questions about what is news, who is a journalist, and how does the press
maintain its trust and credibility in this information explosion.
The session will feature a debate between the keynote speakers, top editors
and media CEOs, including Yeon-Ho On, Founder and CEO of Ohmynews, Korea,
and Andrew Nachison, Director of the Media Center at the American Press
Institute.
The Front Page Revolution. You have two seconds to seduce your readership.
This, every day, is the challenge of the front page editor. The exercise is
extremely difficult and is becoming even more so as more colour, more
photos, more “points of entry” and more headlines are added to the mix.
Some newspapers have found successful strategies and will be sharing them
with the WEF. Confirmed speakers include: Roger Black, Chairman of Danilo
Black, Inc., United States; David Wadmore, Associate Head of Design, The
Times, United Kingdom; and Terry Quinn, Editorial Development Manager,
Fairfax Group, Australia and New Zealand.
Photojournalism and new visual strategies. The future of photojournalism
is a major issue for print newspapers. But are they taking advantage of new
paths for photos in the storytelling process and in feature writing? At the
same time, agencies are undergoing their own revolutions: huge
concentration, sophisticated use of digital cameras, real-time constraints
that become opportunities.
Confirmed speakers include Brian Storm, Vice President of Corbis, USA, Fred
Ritchin, Professor at New York University and former Picture Editor of The
New York Times, Jean-François Le Mounier, Head of the Photo Department for
Agence France-Presse, and Angelo Rinaldi, Managing Editor and Art Director,
La Repubblica, Italy.
Arab Media: an emerging power. From CNN leadership in 1991 to Al Jazeera
(and al Arabiya) power in 2003, Arab television played a major role during
the war in Iraq and its aftermath. But what about Arab newspapers? Do they
have a major influence on public opinion? And what is the balance between
professional and ideological issues within the newsroom? What lessons can be
learned from the Baghdad bloggers?
The keynote speaker of this session will be Tariq Ramadan, Professor of
Islamology at Friburg University in Switzerland.
As in past years, the WEF will share several sessions with the World
Newspaper Congress - the gala opening ceremony, featuring Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the presentation ceremony of the WAN
Golden Pen of Freedom, a presentation on the latest world press trends, a
global report on innovations in newspapers, and much more.
Sponsors of the Congress and the Forum now include the Union of Chambers of
Commerce of Turkey, the Anadolu Efes Beverage Group, the Dünya daily
newspaper and Reuters.
The Paris-based WEF is the division of the World Association of Newspapers
that represents senior news executives. WAN, the global organisation for the
newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72
national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 100
countries, 13 news agencies and nine 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
