Top speakers for World Newspaper Congress

The events, being held for the first time in Africa, are expected to draw at least 1500 publishers, chief editors and other senior newspaper executives.

"The 2007 summit meetings of the world's press will be very special in many ways," says Timothy Balding, CEO of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), organisers of the events.

"Most importantly, perhaps, the events will be held for the first time ever in Africa. While newspapers throughout the world confront the exciting challenge of creating multi-platform news and advertising enterprises, the media in dozens of African countries still remain engaged in the struggle to finally win freedom and independence."

Speakers

First announced Congress speakers include:

• Birger Magnus, Deputy CEO of Schibsted, the Norway-based international company which has the stated objective of being "Europe's most innovative media group ... understanding changing media usage and implementing this knowledge in the development of both traditional and new media".

• Antonio Fernandez-Galiano, CEO of Unidad Editorial (El Mundo) in Spain and Tomas Brunegard, CEO of the Swedish Stampen Group, who will speak in a session entitled "We are Digital" which will present the strategies of press groups which see print and digital activities as integral to the future of newspapers and not oppositional.

• Strategy guru Michael E Raynor, co-author of the bestselling The Innovator's Solution and who is just about to publish The Strategy Paradox, which presents a concrete framework for strategic action that makes it possible to seize today's opportunities while simultaneously preparing for tomorrow's promise. He will speak in a session entitled "Transformation for the Future", concerning the need to develop new management techniques and visions to respond to market changes.

• Stephen T Gray, MD of "Newspaper Next" at the American Press Institute, who will report on how US newspapers are working to reverse the course of declining revenues and shrinking readership and are inventing new and profitable business models. He will speak in a session devoted to what research institutes and thinkers world-wide see as the place and role of newspapers in the future media landscape.

Other speakers include Mark Dodson, CEO of GMG Regional Media in the UK and Ed Greenspon, editor-in-chief of the Globe & Mail in Canada.

More speakers will be announced over the next few months.

The Congress, which addresses the business concerns of media companies, and the Editors Forum, which addresses newsroom issues, focus on exchanging knowledge and best practices. The events rely heavily on case studies of newspapers and how they perform under challenging conditions.

Other landmarks

The Congress, which runs concurrently with the World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo, will also represent a number of other landmarks:

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• It will be the 60th time that WAN has annually brought together the world's publishers and editors to examine and discuss trends and leading-edge strategies and solutions for the news business.
  
• Host country South Africa, where media regained their freedom in only recent history, will celebrate 150 years of newspaper journalism at the Congress.
  
• Shaping the Future of the Newspaper, the leading WAN research project, will celebrate its 10th year of bringing the best ideas, innovations, solutions and analysis of media strategies to the world's newspapers.

To mark this last anniversary, the Congress in 2007 will take 'Shaping the Future of the Newspaper ' as its overall theme, reflecting the extraordinary changes underway as the press positions itself to remain the most influential and important media in the information landscape.

The events will kick off on Sunday 3 June with the annual WAN round tables on digital media, young readers and press freedom. These conferences will, respectively, look at 'Maximising the Digital Potential of the Newspaper', 'Winning Strategies for Engaging a New Generation' and 'Press Freedom in Africa: the Key to Good Governance and Development'.

The opening ceremony will take place on the morning of Monday 4 June and will be addressed (subject to confirmation) by Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.

Fun

In addition to learning about trends, innovations and best practice in the newspaper industry internationally, WAN participants know that they can also expect to have a lot of fun.

Apart from a great programme of social events being planned by the hosts, the Newspaper Association of South Africa, there will be the 2nd World Press Golf Tournament, sponsored by MAN Roland, and a wide range of pre- and post-Congress programmes of remarkable variety.

Information on all aspects of the events can be accessed at www.wan-press.org/capetown2007, as well as regular business programme updates and the evolving participation list.

Sponsors of the events include Remgro, Richemont & VenFin, Mondi Shanduka Newsprint & Mondi International and the Sunday Times.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18000 newspapers; its membership includes 76 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 10 regional and world-wide press groups.