The newspaper industry is invested with the resilience of 400 years, and the belief that it is in a crisis is misleading, Jacob Mathew, president, WAN-IFRA, said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the inaugural of WAN-IFRA India 2011, 19th annual conference held here, Mr. Mathew said the print media was expanding its presence in the South Asian region, even as circulation was dropping in mature markets. This region was still able to guarantee a reliable and sizeable audience for the print stream. In India, China, Brazil and South Africa, the circulation was increasing.
There were about 170 million newspaper readers in India, roughly 20 per cent of the adult population (12 years and above). Globally, the industry connected with a 1.8-billion population, and a further 5 billion people were waiting to be tapped.
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The potential was immense, as newspapers reached only 20 per cent of the population and 75 per cent of India was said to be literate; the chances were that circulation would keep increasing. Also, in terms of revenue, it was being projected that the print industry would generate $136 billion by 2013, despite migration to online (27 per cent of the total ad revenue pie). The average annual growth of the industry in the Indian print industry had been 15 per cent in advertising and 5 per cent in circulation over the last three years alone, Mr. Mathew said.
On free content being available online, the president of WAN-IFRA, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, said it was important for print publications to get together and prevent freeloading of online content. Mr. Mathew was also insistent that newspapers must keep in mind that content was the key and that it was important to provide tailor-made content for readers.
He urged the government to be supportive of the print media and not take action that would harm the industry.
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Christoph Riess, CEO, WAN-IFRA, Germany, made a presentation that underlined the idea that in India, media consumption penetration was low, but with a significant growth potential. In fact, in the last couple of years it had increased by 50 per cent. While newspaper circulation had been stable, the TV and radio media had been growing dominant.
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When examining the media share of advertising in 2010 in Asia, he said, it became clear that in India and Malaysia, the major advertising was in print. In India, print took 50 per cent of the ad spending in media. This was in contrast to situation in Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan, where most of the money in advertising went to television.
New intermediaries that create and distribute news had entered the scene — including social media, citizen journalists, search engines, and online news aggregators. However, online readers were more ad hoc, irregular and sporadic, but with the freedom to mix and combine their own selection of news.
Analysing the impact of the Internet on circulation, Mr. Riess concluded that it was clearly not affecting the newspaper business. Two out of three copies sold worldwide came from Asia — mainly India and China.
K. Balaji, Managing Director, Kasturi and Sons, and Chairman, WAN-IFRA South Asia Committee, said over 600 delegates had registered to participate in the conference which had its printing, newsroom, and media-advertising summits. The conference would be held till September 8 at the Chennai Trade Centre.
Thomas Jacob, Deputy CEO, WAN-IFRA, Singapore, said the conference and the expo, which had over 60 exhibitors, signified the growing influence of India in the newspaper industry. The conference would also address crucial issues facing the industry in the developing and emerging markets.