Future of newspapers at Wan-Ifra conference in Mumbai

How does the new media ecosystem deal with these changing narratives? The tradition way of doing things is the stuff of the past, but is the future clear? Where is the newspaper market heading? More importantly, can we automate the writing process or is this something that has to be done by a seasoned journalist? And what is a story, exactly?

 

These and more will be answered during the Wan-Ifra India 2015 Conference to be held at Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, Mumbai on 2-4 September. The 23rd annual conference will be held along with fifth edition of the biennial Wan-Ifra India Expo. Also, the World Young Reader Awards will be presented during the conference.

 

The conference will feature three parallel summits, ‘Newsroom’, ‘Printing’ and ‘Crossmedia Advertising’, which will highlight some of the success stories from news publishing companies around the world, to provide insights and inspiration to take on the new challenges.

 

At the ‘Newsroom’ summit, among others, Jonathan Halls will share his insights on how journalism is evolving and newsrooms getting smarter. According to Halls, as we explore storytelling innovation, it’s as important to understand what won’t change as much as what is changing. Halls is an adjunct professor at The George Washington University in Washington, DC and was former head of training at BBC and was responsible for the delivery of the BBC’s prestigious multimillion dollar training operation in television, radio and new media.

 

In all, the ‘Newsroom’ summit will help editors keep their newsroom vibrant, effective and affordable.

 

On the other hand, the Wan-Ifra printing summit is exclusively dedicated to the delegates in newspaper production. Speakers from various countries will bring their hands-on practical experiences on the day-to-day issues in printing as well as the best use of latest newspaper printing technologies in the world.

 

The ‘Crossmedia Advertisement’ summit will offer latest trends and ideas that are being implemented by leading publishers to enhance their revenue in both digital as well as print. This summit is best for digital, marketing and advertising executives.

 

For the first time, Wan-Ifra South Asia has announced ‘Media Market’ at the conference and expo. Media Market is for newspapers to highlight their capabilities in printing for advertisers. All media managers from ad agencies in the region can attend this to discuss about the possibilities of innovative advertising.

 

There are also three pre-conference workshops, which will be held in parallel on 1 September at

​​Venue Hotel on the topics, ‘Energy audit’, ‘Increasing revenue in major verticals’ and ‘Newsroom integration.’

 

Meanwhile, the World Young Reader Prizes are awarded annually to innovative news publishers who excel in engaging the young (ages 25 and under) on one of a multitude of ways. This awards ceremony for the first time will be held in India, during the conference, followed by the details of how they did it by some of the top winners and a USB card for attendees with the full story for all of this year’s winning strategies.