"It is somewhat ironic that in a year in which the newspaper is 400 years old -- or perhaps more fittingly, 400 years young -- so many media commentators are still suggesting that the game is up for newspapers," said Gavin O’Reilly, Acting President of the World Association of Newspapers, at the opening of the 58th World Newspaper Congress and 12th World Editors Forum in Seoul, Korea, the global meetings of the world’s press.

"After 400 years of newspapers rightly dominating the media landscape -- and successfully weathering the onslaught of radio, TV and latterly the new digital age, it’s hard to see the full-time whistle blowing quite yet."

Mr O’Reilly said the latest conventional wisdom -- that the newspaper industry is in terminal decline -- does not reflect reality and should be vigorously challenged by the industry.

"Publishers today have become acutely commercial, responsive and inventive," said Mr O’Reilly, addressing more than 1,300 senior newspaper executives from 82 countries.

"Simply put, we’ve upped our game," he said. "We’ve invested millions and millions in new state-of-the-art colour production facilities; we’ve become leaders in merchandising; we’ve invested millions behind our brands; we’ve aggressively targeted consumers -- both young and old; we present a medium that is relatively fragmentation-proof; and the internet -- supposedly the nemesis of our industry -- has in fact become a critical and vibrant part of our product and brand mix.

"And it is that which will form the basis of our success -- recognising the unrivalled strength of our medium and its place and relevance in its society," he said. "Newspapers represent an integral part of over a billion people’s life every day -- showcasing and celebrating the serendipity of life."

Mr O’Reilly also addressed the problems of press freedom worldwide. He likened the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea as "a frontier that stands between freedom here, and bondage in the North."

"North Korea remains a living laboratory of what happens when society is totally deprived of the freedom of information; of what happens when it is starved of the right to free expression or the right to join in free debate," he said. "In the North, there are no media worth the name, only propaganda organs; North Koreans have neither the right nor the means to access the internet; listening to foreign broadcasts is ’a crime against the State’ punishable by death.

"As we have seen all too frequently across modern history, the results of this shackling of a people are poverty, stagnation, misery and ruin. That sadly is the North Korea today."

Mr O’Reilly also criticised recent legislative moves in the South which are seen as restricting press freedom, including one which aims to set limits on market share of newspapers. "Restricting a reader’s right to subscribe to the newspapers of their choice is unusual, to say the least, and is not something that is prevalent anywhere else in the democratic world."

Read the full presentation here.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 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 in Korea (until 2 June): +82 11 9679 9721. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.