That’s about the change. The World Editors Forum, the organisation within the World Association of Newspapers for senior news executives, has asked editors from Asian vernacular newspapers to present their strategies at its next annual conference, to be held concurrently with the World Newspaper Congress from 29 May to 1 June in Seoul, Korea.

Hundreds of editors and senior news executives are expected to participate in the World Editors Forum, the annual global event focusing on editorial issues and strategies. It is aimed at chief and deputy editors and other senior news executives as well as experts, academics and publishers strongly involved in editorial matters.

In a session entitled "What makes Asian newspapers different?", Asian success stories will be presented by Vir Sanghvi, Editorial Director of The Hindustan Times in India; Keiko Chino, Senior Editorial Writer for the Sankei Shimbun in Japan; and Sang-Seok Lee, Executive Director of The Korea Times. The session will be chaired by Andrew Lynch, Editorial Director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project for the World Association of Newspapers and founder of the pan-Asian newspaper trade magazine, Asian Newspaper Focus.

The session is just one of several opportunities for editors to meet colleagues from a wide variety of regions and markets. For example, the WEF is organising a "WEF meets the Chinese Press" breakfast, where participants can meet editors, columnists and journalists from China; an exclusive meeting with Roh Moo-Hyun, the President of Korea; a "WEF meets the Korean Press" breakfast; and an informal cocktail where editors will have an opportunity to meet and exchange views with their colleagues from around the world.

The 12th World Editors Forum, 58th World Newspaper Congress and Info Services Expo 2005 are the global meetings of the world’s press, drawing more than 1,000 newspaper executives to a unique annual gathering organised by the World Association of Newspapers.

For the evolving conference programme, a participants list and other information, consult the WAN web site at www.wan-press.org/seoul2005/.

Other highlights of the WEF conference include:

  A session on infographics and visual journalism featuring Alberto Cairo, the Infographics editor at El Mundo in Spain, Jeff Goertzen, the Infographics Editor at the St. Petersburg Times in the United States, Peter Espina, the Infographics Editor of the China Daily, and Katie Ratcliffe, the Asia Pacific Manager for Graphics for Agence France-Presse.

  An examination of "Tabloid Fever: Is the temperature going down?" with Jan-Eric Peters, Editor of Germany’s Die Welt, Welt Kompakt and Berliner Morgenpost, newspaper designer Mario Garcia, Didier Pillet, the Editor of Ouest France, Robb Montgomery, Visual Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, and George Brock, Saturday Editor of The Times of London.

  A session on using editorial networks to expand news coverage efficiently, with Miguel Angel Basteiner, International Affairs Director of El Pais, Spain, and Director of the Le Monde/El Pais/La Repubblica network, Risto Uimonen, Editor of Kaleva in Finland, and Imtiaz Alam, General Secretary of the South Asian Free Media Association.

  A discussion of the "citizen journalist" movement, with panelists Barry Sussman, Director of the Nieman Watchdog Project, Joichi Ito, CEO of Japan’s Neoteny, and Andrew Nachison, Director of the US-based Media Center. The session will also include a keynote address by Dan Gillmor, author of "We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People."

  A look at "new legal dangers: privacy issues and sports rights" with Kai Diekmann, Editor of Bild in Germany, Ko Yamaguchi, Advisor for International Affairs for Japan’s Kyodo News Service, Monique Villa, Senior Vice President for Reuters, and Ari Valjakka, Editor of Finland’s Turun Sanomat.

  And much more.

For the full conference programme, consult www.wan-press.org/seoul2005/.

The Paris-based WEF is the organisation 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 101 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.