Media needs to look at global linkages, says President

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The President, Ms Prathibha Patil, has said globalisation has created a situation where issues such as financial integration, terrorism, climate change and rapid communication could not be seen in isolation.

"This characterises the dynamic environment forcing media to look at global linkages for such issues we are confronted with," the President said addressing the joint session of 62 {+n} {+d} World Newspaper Congress and 16 {+t} {+h} World Editor's Forum here today.

Referring to the World Editors' Forum, Ms Patil emphasised the importance of role of editors as opinion makers, who help the public to understand developments through in-depth analysis. Apart from intellectual capabilities, this role demands objectivity, fairness and a deep sense of responsibility.

The President of WAN-IFRA, Mr Gavin O' Reilly, in his address said that India has emerged as a new economic power accounting for nearly 20 per cent of the newspapers sold in the world.

Falling revenues

The newspaper industry across the world continues to face the major concern of falling advertising revenues, which have declined for nearly six-seven consecutive quarters, according to data collated by WAN-IFRA.

Mr Timothy Balding, Co-CEO of World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, said forecasts of death of newspapers are far from reality. In fact, in absolute numbers, newspaper industry has grown in the developing markets.

However, the Internet and the new media are unlikely to compensate for the lower revenues from advertisements accelerated due to economic slowdown.

Only Google as a medium has posted growth in the first half during 2009. In spite of the slowdown, the industry has grown 9 per cent in last five years, mainly in the developing nations.

India, China and Japan account for 60 per cent of world's daily newspaper sales where newspaper continues to be a mass medium.

The year 2009 has been terrible for the advertisers in North America. Of the $182-billion global newspaper industry, the contribution from digital media revenues is barely $6 billion. Of this, the search industry of Google and Yahoo account for 75 per cent revenue, he mentioned.

Mobile tsunami

"There are clear signs that mobile phones, with new form factors and features such as iPhones, will play a major role just as Internet has begun to complement the newspaper industry. In fact, we see mobile phones creating a media Tsunami, breaking more barriers," he said.

However, Mr Balding quoting Deloitte said "few technologies can compete with our attachment to print." This only reiterates the point of co-existence of other media.

Mr. Najam Sethi, Editor-in-Chief of Daily Times, was awarded Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the WAN-IFRA.

In accepting the award, Mr. Sethi, who was jailed several times for his writings, said "the award reflects the fierce commitment and courage of South Asia's free media to the perennial quest for reporting the truth and analysing without fear or favour."