All will be making presentations at the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, early next month. And while participants are anticipating the strategic advice to be shared by the large, well-known newspapers, the Border Morning Mail proves that big strategies come from small markets too.

"Every market is different and although there are common goals amongst newspaper publishers, generally based around increasing circulation and advertising revenue and reducing production cost, strategies have to respond to specific local conditions," says Tony Whiting, the CEO of the daily, which has grown circulation and profit for five straight years.

Presentations at the Congress, Forum and Info Services Expo 2004, to be held from 30 May to 2 June, will cover the full range of newspaper issues, both big and small, from many cultures and every continent, from press freedom to business development. More than 1,000 publishers, senior managers, chief editors, other executives and their guests are expected at the events, the global meetings of the world’s press. There is still time to register; the full programme, a participants list and more information can be found by clicking here.

Mr Whiting says that Australia is "one of the most oversupplied media markets in the world." Competition is fierce, and the Morning Mail -- winner of the Pacific area’s newspaper of the year award in the 20,000-50,000 sales category -- must compete with two national dailies, four state dailies, five television channels, one satellite service and five radio stations.

"Unlike many other regional newspapers, our major publishing objective is to provide a full cover of daily news, from international, national, business and of course local news. We aim to have readers only buy The Border Mail for their daily hit of news," says Mr Whiting.

Here are highlights of some of the other presentations:

  Karen House, Senior Vice President of Dow Jones & Co. Inc. and Global Publisher of The Wall Street Journal, will examine the current definition of "news" and how this has changed in the face of rapid, transformational global economic change. There are now, she says, 63,000 multinational companies against only 7,000 in 1970, an evolution that has altered news definitions and created new reader needs. At the same time, Ms House will give her views on how subscriptions and advertising should be priced to reflect the value offered by newspapers.

  The Daily Mail and General Trust is one of the world’s largest media companies, with national and regional newspaper titles and trade publications, together with broadcast interests, new media and events organization in 30 countries. The company has enjoyed extraordinary growth in recent years, both through aggressive diversification and the rise of its national newspapers, in particular. Every day, DMGT titles are read by half the United Kingdom’s adult population. Lord Rothermere, the young Chairman of the group, will tell the Congress why newspapers can continue to grow, provided they are focused, well-managed and well-funded.

  The Times of India Group is India’s largest media conglomerate. Its flagship newspaper, The English-language Times of India, sells 2.4 million copies daily. Pradeep Guha, President of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, publishers of The Times of India. will explain the group’s strategy and how its approach has relevance in both developed and developing markets. "To remain undisputed market leaders, the strategies we have employed have been innovative, decisive, and efficient, but yes, often crippling for our competitors," says Mr Guha. "The belief that ’playing hardball’ is the only way to stay on top, is built into our corporate DNA."

  Brendan Hopkins, Chief Executive Officer of APN News & Media Ltd, Australasia’s largest regional newspaper, radio and outdoor advertising group, says that newspapers are the most exciting sector of the global media market and he pinpoints product and promotional innovations and editorial content as the areas most worthy of current attention. "Increasingly it is product and promotional innovation where we must invest more to attract our time-starved audiences, " he believes. "How many newspapers are investing more than 10 % of revenues on their product and promotion? Consumer products spend as much as 25 % of net revenues!"

  The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) group is the second-largest publisher of newspapers in Germany and one of Europe’s biggest regional press groups. It has interests in newspapers and magazines in seven countries and in total around 500 titles. The group is also well established in radio, television and on the web. Lutz Glandt, Managing Director of the WAZ Media Group, will explain, through case studies, the optimization, expansion and diversification strategies of his company.

Some other speakers include: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, Donald Graham, Chairman & CEO of the Washington Post, Juan Luis Cebrián, CEO, El País & PRISA Group, Spain, Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Multimedia, Nokia Corporation, Ivan Fallon, CEO, Independent News & Media, United Kingdom, Edwy Plenel, Editor-in-Chief, Le Monde in France and many more.

Last minute additions: Salah Negm, Editor-in-Chief of the pan-Arab television network Al-Arabiya, who will participate in a Forum session on the rise of Arab media, and Saad Albazzaz, Editor in Chief of the Azzaman Daily Newspaper in Iraq, who has joined a special seminar on press freedom in the Arab world.

As in past years, The Congress and Forum offer spectacular social events, which this year will include a welcome reception at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, a gala dinner and entertainment on Sultanahmet Square, a street party in old Istanbul, dance performances and photo exhibitions, and much more.

Full programme information available by clicking here.

Sponsors of the Congress and the Forum now include the Wall Street Journal, the Freedom Forum, the Open Society Institute, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmens Association, Coca-Cola and Efes Pilsen (the Anadolu Beverage Group), the Union of Chambers of Commerce, E-Kolay, the Dünya newspaper, Reuters, Müller Martini, Knowledgeview, Bahar Korçan-Istanbul, Turkish Airlines and the Hurriyet newspaper. The main local organiser is the Milliyet newspaper.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten 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.