World newspaper forum shelved due to financial crisis

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The global economic downturn has forced the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) to postpone its annual congress, set to take place in Hyderabad.

With nine weeks to go until the March 22-25 event, the Paris-based association had signed up fewer than 400 delegates, compared to an average of 1,500, amid a wave of belt-tightening in the media industry.

"It's well below our usual crowd and it's obviously the result of the global financial crisis," said WAN spokesman Larry Killman, saying the association's members had drastically cut back on travel and conference budgets.

"We decided it's just not the right time for such a conference. Given the financial situation worldwide for many companies, this first quarter of the year is not good for that kind of thing," he said.

"Everybody's feeling the pinch," he said, adding that many WAN members were "so involved in their strategic decisions to cope with the current crisis that they don't have time to go."

Co-organised this year with the Indian Newspaper Society, the four-day WAN conference is the biggest annual gathering of newspaper editors and executives.
Killman said the WAN, which represents 18,000 newspapers, press associations and news agencies in 100 countries, still hoped to hold the congress in Hyderabad, on November 30 to December, if the economic climate improves.

"The thinking is that newspaper companies will by necessity have learned to live with the crisis by the end of the year. And they'll be more willing to invest in conferences and travel again," Killman said.

The WAN event combines the World Newspaper Congress, which tackles business issues, a World Editors' Forum focused on newsroom issues and an exhibition of suppliers to the newspaper industry.

The theme of this year's editors' forum was "Doing more with less: the new newsroom challenge."