No crisis in newspaper industry

CHENNAI: Noting that the newspaper industry has resilience of 400 years in its genes, Jacob Mathew, president, WAN-IFRA India, dismissed reports that the industry was in a crisis. In the past few years, the industry had demonstrated growth across the country, he said at the inauguration of the 19th annual WAN-IFRA India conference here on Tuesday. The event is organised by WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers), South Asia, and is co-sponsored by The Indian Newspaper Society.In the past two years, advertisements for Indian newspapers had increased by 15 per cent while the circulation had risen by 5 per cent. The newspaper industry in the country reached out to fifty percent of the country’s adult population and is regarded as a highly credible source of information, Mathew said. He called for more unity among newspaper houses to protect their content from being accessed freely. Noting that other media industries like Television journalism did not come under the wage board like print journalism, he asked the government to be considerate with both the employees and employers, and also ensure that press freedom was not stifled.Christoph Riess, CEO, WAN-IFRA, referred to Asia as the powerhouse of the world’s newspaper industry and India as the country recording a high 40 per cent rise in its circulation levels in the past five years. “Two in every three newspaper copies sold the world over were in Asia. Yet, the continent accounted for only one-fourth of the newspaper revenues generated globally,” he stated, calling for greater ad revenues for newspapers. “This could be achieved with the newspaper becoming local and hyperlocal,” he suggested.As part of the three-day conference, an exhibition of products and services related to the newspaper printing and publishing industry is being held at the Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam.