The Norway-based Norske Skog announced today (Tuesday), that it would commit 22.5 million Norwegian Kronor (3.5 million US dollars) to a further five-year collaboration with WAN when the current five-year agreement expires in 2007. The amount represents a significant increase in Norske Skog’s commitment to the project, which the company says "makes social and business sense."

The WAN project has developed a wide range of new programmes for using newspapers and magazines in education all over the world. Full information on the project, which has activities in more than 60 countries, can be found by clicking here.

Timothy Balding, Director General of WAN, said that the partnership with Norske Skog has put the association’s work with young readers into a completely different league.

"We’re very pleased that Norske Skog wants to continue this collaboration beyond the agreed period," he said. "The work of winning new generations of readers for printed newspapers is the most important -- and challenging -- job facing the industry in coming years.

"Norske Skog’s sponsorship differs clearly from other forms of backing. The company has obviously taken the Young Readers programme to its heart. The way it supports us shows that this isn’t just business."

Jan Oksum, President and CEO of Norske Skog, said: "We see that purposeful work with young readers is yielding results. This involves a long-term commitment, where results take years rather than days to emerge."

Norske Skog’s collaboration with the WAN Newspapers in Education Development project began in 2003, when it committed 12.7 million Norwegian Kroners to develop NIE projects with WAN, particularly in the developing world.

The aim has been to establish newspapers in the classrooms in new democracies where the press has gradually achieved improved working conditions.

Under the new commitment, NIE programmes retain a key place in the project, but work will also be intensified on developing young journalists.

"It is important to us as the world’s largest newsprint manufacturer, and for our customers, that new generations improve their reading skills and discover the value of daily newspaper reading," said Mr Oksum. "No other information channel can beat a newspaper for the breadth and depth of the information it conveys, or for its ability to surprise, please and entertain.

"You need neither broadband nor electricity to read a newspaper. You can enjoy it wherever and whenever you want," he said.

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, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.

Norkse Skog is a world leading supplier of publication paper with mills and sales offices on five continents. The company is based in Norway and is quoted on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

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.