First Speakers Announced for Newspaper Congress

First Speakers Announced for World Newspaper Congress

The Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, has agreed to open the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2010, the global summit meetings of the world¹s press, to be held in Beirut, Lebanon, from 7-10 June next.

The events, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and hosted by the An-Nahar newspaper, are expected to draw 1,500 newspaper publishers, managing directors, CEOs, chief editors and other senior newspaper executives to Beirut. It is the first time the global events will be held in the Arab world.

The Congress takes the theme ³In Search of the New Business Model,² while the theme of the Forum is, ³The New Information Ecosystem: Link, Share, CooperateŠ or Die."

Details of the evolving programmes are available at http://www.wanlebanon2010.com

"The reputation of the Congress and Forum as the leading and most prestigious annual events for the world's publishers and news executives is long established," said Timothy Balding, Director General Global Affairs of WAN-IFRA. "These meetings provide newspaper executives with the latest trends in our business globally, insights into the most successful publishing strategies from the leaders of the world's news publishing industry, and an opportunity to network with colleagues from every culture, region and market."

"The choice of Lebanon for these historical events was self-evident for an organization like WAN-IFRA, which vigorously promotes and defends media freedom and opposes the tyrants and autocratic regimes which seek to crush its emergence," he said.

"Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the free press is in various degrees controlled, oppressed, suspended, banned and censored, as publishers, editors and journalists are harassed, attacked, persecuted and imprisoned.

"Lebanon is a shining exception in an otherwise dark regional tableau: its newspapers and electronic media are fully free and diverse and have achieved an impact and influence far beyond the borders of this small country."

First confirmed speakers for the Congress include:

- Mohamed Alayyan, the Chairman of Al Ghad newspaper, the leading independent daily newspaper in Jordan, which has been at the forefront of multimedia development built around the core value of providing relevant, local content, no matter what the platform.

- Oliver Fleurot, the CEO for Public Relations, Corporate and Financial Communications and Events Management for Publicis Groupe. Mr Fleurot, a former Chief Executive of the Financial Times, believes not enough is known about advertising effectiveness on the web and more research is needed. "You have to consider the traditional media as a sort of place where you understand what's going on, which is safe, and you must think of the web as a place where you are an explorer," he says.

- Roman Gallo, the CEO of PPF Media, whose "Nase Adresa" (Our Address) in the Czech Republic is one of the most talked about hyper-local news projects in the world. PPF Media is in the process of blanketing the country with 200 different hyper-local weeklies, whose reporting teams are based in company "news cafes". The combination of newsrooms and Internet bistros is designed to facilitate contacts with readers and potential sources (and also bring in revenue).

The events will, as always, be accompanied by a rich social programme, tours, meetings with local and international political, business and cultural leaders, and much more.

Other highlights of the Congress, which focuses on business issues of the press, include:

- ³World Trends in the Newspaper Industry: An Update², the annual state of the industry address by Timothy Balding, Director General of WAN-IFRA Global Affairs.

- Presentation of the best from the 2010 strategy reports of WAN-IFRA's major Shaping the Future of the Newspaper research project, analyzing developments and opportunities in the press industry.

- The 2010 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group.

- Annual round table seminars on press freedom ("What's Ahead for the Independent Arab Press"), digital media ("Digital Futures 2010"), and young readership development ("Winning Strategies for Engaging the Young ¬ Latest Strategies").

- A gala opening ceremony that includes presentation of the prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize from WAN-IFRA. The 2010 Golden Pen will be presented to Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeid-Abadi.

- A session on new content platforms, which will examine the surge in sales of electronic readers for books, notably 'tablets', and the multiplication of mobile devices with easy and comfortable access to news sites. These developments have given a new lease of life to the idea that wireless platforms may yet take a central role in news publishing. The session will examine current newspaper experiments in publishing on such devices and takes a whirlwind tour of what's now on the market.

For the evolving programmes, registration information and other details, visit http://www.wanlebanon2010.com

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world¹s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.

Learn more about WAN-IFRA at http://www.wan-ifra.org or through the WAN-IFRA Magazine at http://www.wan-ifra.org/magazine

ENDS

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