THE 62nd World Association of Newspapers (WAN) congress and the 16th World Editors Forum closed on Thursday with calls for more innovation in news packaging to attract and increase readership.

The congress addressed issues ranging from multimedia, growth business, the power of print, achieving newspaper business efficiency and creating a sustainable future.

The Forum looked at the future of journalism versus the future of newspapers, content monetisation, entrepreneurial journalism - the growing influence of online-only news. They addressed issues of the digital media divide - focusing on the experience of emerging countries and why it would impact mature markets, editorial outsourcing, more women editors-in-chief increasing readership, investigative journalism giving up on newspapers and ethics.

The Forum, which drew panelists globally, emphasised the need for monetising web sites by increasing business on web sites.

They said newspaper web sites needed to be transformed into business platforms by offering and focusing on what consumers wanted.

"We need to be creative enough to attract users... putting journalism first in your presentation for your readers to get value. Once you look at them as customers your content will be packaged well and people will not use your site as a search engine," observed Matt Kelly associate editor of the UK's Daily Mirror.

Delegates wondered how journalists would promote their ethics and maintain the distinction between advertising and editorial as they became entrepreneurial but the facilitators insisted that it was possible to strike a balance.

However, founder and chief executive officer of USA's paidcontentorg Rafat Ali wondered whether the media was ready to let companies that bring advertisements determine their destiny when those companies were not sure of their future in view of the economic turbulences globally.

India's Jagran Prakashan editor-in-chief Sanjay Gupta said his country was still grappling with low access of Internet by the majority of the people.

Gupta acknowledged that editors turned entrepreneur was at the heart of journalism but developing countries and emerging markets still faced challenges as many people did not have access to the Internet and in areas where they could illiteracy was a barrier to usage of such a medium.

However, Gupta said India, in its quest for further technological advancement, was looking at ways of availing Internet services in the local languages.

There were calls for newspapers to find ways of outsourcing some services in editing and designing as a cost effective measure.
However, delegates expressed concern over the uniqueness of the product if they engaged people who did not understand the mission of the publication.

The notion of more female editor-in-chief increasing readership was dismissed, as female editors drawn from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Russia called on the delegates, especially the men folk, not to look at matters in terms of gender all the time.

The panellists said women were as good as men and should be encouraged to take up key positions in the media which was still driven by many men globally, save for Russia where most men were not interested in journalism.

UK's Guardian senior reporter Nick Davies said investigative journalism was still alive and it was possible for journalists to pursue it.

Davies said journalism would not change but the need for good journalistic skill would continue. Others on the panel thought that most countries had lost their mission in news gathering as they focused more on profits as opposed to serving the people.

They said there was too much focus on the business side of things and investigative journalism had been abandoned.

UK's City University head of journalism George Brock said there were exploring ways of improving the curricula of journalism to ensure that they produced graduates that could work effective in this dynamic world.

There was emphasis on the need to promote ethics but participants from developing countries noted that issues affecting developing countries of repressive media laws had not been put into context as the issue of ethics was being discussed.

The 2009 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers was also released by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group, which highlighted the weaknesses in the global media as far as content packaging was concerned.

Group vice-president Juan Senor said people wanted the media to package good content and present it in an interesting manner because they had the capacity to do so.
Senor said much as there was emphasis on technology; the key was to tell stories in a unique manner.

He reviewed headlines carried in the media the day pop star Michael Jackson died when most newspapers carried screaming headlines that the pop star had died save for one newspaper which stated that Michael Jackson died 20 years ago - he was just a walking human shell. This, senor said, was what innovative journalism was as opposed to just making an announcement that somebody had died because people were around aware of the development through the 24 hours news wires.
The 63rd newspapers congress and 17th editors forum has been slated for June 7 to 10, 2010 in Beirut, Lebanon.