Paris, 19 April 2001
For immediate release

New strategies for developing newspaper advertising revenues and market
share will be featured in a major session of the World Newspaper Congress in
Hong Kong (3-6 June 2001).

As the growth in global advertising slows, the session will focus on how
newspaper companies can exploit their unique strengths to win more
advertiser budgets.

The three-hour programme will examine:

--Innovative advertising pricing strategies;

--Strategies for meeting the new, sophisticated needs of agencies and
clients;

--New research from the World Association of Newspapers on the effectiveness
of newspapers as an advertising medium and how this could change perceptions
in the ad industry;

--The regionalisation and centralisation of media buying and planning and
how newspapers can respond;

--The concentration and consolidation of advertising agencies and its
consequences for newspapers.

Speakers in the session will include Roy Jeans, Chief Operating Officer, UK
and Eire, of Initiative Media, one of the world's leading media buying
agencies, and Yoichi Inose, Senior Manager in the Media Lab Division of the
giant Japan-based global agency Dentsu Inc.

The advertising session is part of the 54th World Newspaper Congress, to be
held along with the 8th World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2001 at
the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. More than 1,000 newspaper
owners, publishers, chief executives, senior editors and other managers are
expected to attend the WAN-organised events, the global meetings of the
world's press.

Further information on the Hong Kong events, together with the full
programmes, the participation list and the registration options, can be
found on the WAN web-site at www.wan-press.org or by contacting
[email protected].

Other Congress highlights include:

-- A presentation by McKinsey and Co, the international management
consultants, on how newspaper companies can maintain their profits despite
negative economic trends by increasing efficiency, focusing on core
activities and building on their strengths.

--A presentation on how newspaper companies must 'reinvent' themselves in
the multimedia age by Mathias Döpfner, who at 37 was recently designated
Chairman of the Board of the giant Axel Springer Group from 1 January 2002.

--An insight into the strategies of the giant Knight Ridder newspaper group
by its Chairman and CEO, Tony Ridder, who move Knight Ridder's corporate
headquarters from Miami to Silicon Valley three years ago to take advantage
of the technological revolution.

--The annual WAN survey of world trends in the newspaper industry, including
the latest information on global developments in newspaper circulation and
advertising sales.

--A presentation on newspaper management in the IT revolution by Takuhiko
Tsuruta, President & CEO of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the giant Japanese
financial daily. He will discuss how the company has constructed a
complementary relationship with internet and television, with the newspaper
as the core business.

Members of the Host Committee for the Congress and Forum are: Joy-Shan Lam,
Managing Director, Hong Kong Economic Journal; Kin-ming Liu, General
Manager, Apple Daily; Andrew Lynch, Editor, Hong Kong iMail; Nigel Oakins,
Publisher and Executive Director, Hong Kong iMail; Ray Bashford, Deputy
Editor, South China Morning Post; Philip Revzin, Publisher, Asian Wall
Street Journal; Francis K.C. Tiong, Executive Director, Ming Pao Enterprise
Corporation; and Randy Weddle, Managing Director, Asia/Pacific,
International Herald Tribune.

The Congress and Forum will enjoy the sponsorship of: Apple Daily, The
Freedom Forum, The Hong Kong SAR Government, The Hong Kong Tourist
Association, The Hong Kong Economic Journal, The Hong Kong iMail,
International Herald Tribune, Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation, Sing Tao
Holdings, the South China Morning Post and Swire & Sons. The events are
supported by The Society of Publishers in Asia and the partners of the WAN
READY Project: PubliGoupe, WRH Marketing, TELIA, MAN Roland, UPM-Kymmene and
Unisys.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry,
represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 67 national newspaper
associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news
agencies and eight regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 25 rue
d'Astorg, 75008 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: [email protected]
---
Larry Kilman
Director of Communications
World Association of Newspapers
25, rue d'Astorg
75008 Paris France
Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00
Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48
E-mail: [email protected]
Visit our web site at www.wan-press.org