Newspaper & Mailroom
South Asian News Publishers Gather to Discuss Growth and Innovation
Thursday 03. September 2015 - And, World Young Reader News Publisher of the year presented to Kompas Daily, Indonesia
Nearly 600 delegates from more than 30 countries gathered in Mumbai, India, today for the opening of the WAN-IFRA India 2015 Conference & Expo, which focuses on growth and innovation for South Asian news publishers, who are emerging from two years in a difficult business climate.
In the inaugural session of the conference, the WAN-IFRA World Young Reader News Publisher of the Year award was presented to Indonesia’s Kompas Daily.
The newspaper “has had a major role in creating new citizens capable of sustaining their own freedom of expression and peaceful change of government, two basic elements for any democracy,” said Jacob Mathew, Past President of WAN-IFRA and Executive Editor of Malayala Manorama, who presented the award.
“They are also at the forefront of connecting to the young audience via social media with actions that serve the public, create some fun and teach about journalism,” he said.
While South Asia publishers continue to increase their print business, they are also undergoing a digital revolution. The importance of print and digital together was addressed in the conference’s keynote address by Patrick Daniel, Editor-in-chief of the English, Malay and Tamil Media Group of Singapore Press Holdings, who spoke about the importance of remaining relevant for a technology savvy population while keeping print alive and kicking.
Understanding the 24/7 relationship with the audience and knowing, reaching, connecting and engaging them will help transform our industry, he said.
The conference is accompanied by a biennial expo where more than 65 exhibitors from India and abroad are showcasing their production and services. Vendors offering products and services for the news media industry including printing presses, prepress equipment, editorial systems, archiving systems, digital media management and mobile app developments. Entry to the expo is free for business visitors and is expected to attract more than 1,500 visitors over three days.
The conference includes three parallel sessions – a Newsroom Summit for editors, a Crossmedia Advertising Summit for advertising, digital and business development managers, and a Printing Summit for production managers. A panel discussion on ‘Censorship of media and the way forward’, with India’s leading editors, is part of the programme.
Speakers in the conference, which continues through Friday, include:
– Marcelo Rech, Executive Director of Journalism, Zero Hora & President, World Editors Forum, Brazil, who will speak about why professional journalism is more important than ever;
– Dushyant Khare, Google’s Head of Strategic Partnerships for South East Asia & India, who will speak about the transformation of the media landscape and publisher business through mobile.
– Jonathan Halls, Principal of Jonathan Halls & Associates, who will talk about automated story telling and new formats for enhanced story telling.
– Ashwin Sridhar, Global Head, Digital Products Revenue, The Economist Group, who will speak about the challenges and opportunities of programmatic advertising.
– Benedicte Gercke, Category Director – Paper & Energy, News UK & Ireland Ltd., who presents a case study on optimizing paper and energy.
– Kumar Nadesan, Managing Director, Express Publications (Ceylon) Ltd. in Sri Lanka, who will share the group’s decision to invest in compact web press for newspaper production.
– Peter Zollman, Founding Principal of AIM Group LLC, who will speak about increasing revenue in major verticals.