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The printed newspaper will 'weather the storm of digital fragmentation', the president of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) said today.

Gavin O' Reilly, who is also chief operating officer of Independent News & Media, criticised media commentators who predict the decline of newspapers because of digital media's growth.

"I find it rather remarkable how unsophisticated the commentary is on our industry today. They [media commentators] seem to support the conventional wisdom that newspapers are soon to become a relic of the past and that opportunities only exist in a digital sense. These commentators are making a profound mistake," O'Reilly told delegates at the WAN conference in Sweden.

The print product can benefit from a proliferation of digital news sources in the marketplace, because it remains relevant to advertisers, he said, as he delivered a typically robust defence of the printed page.

"Our industry is extremely well positioned to weather the storm of media fragmentation. We still generate sustainable, reliable and relatively stable demographics for advertisers.

"Fragmentation is a win-win for newspapers. The mass market is still a relevant avenue for advertisers out there."

Successful newspaper publishers, he added, will capitalise on the position of the print product in 'the multimedia matrix' as a 'trustworthy' guide through alternative sources of information.

"The net is a wonderful place if you know what you are looking for, but the problem I have is how do you stimulate people's interest online?

"Trustworthy journalists will become more relevant in this digital age where people are bombarded with information overload. I see newspapers as the ultimate browser."

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events | newspapers | gavin oreilly | wan 2008 | world association of newspapers | world newspaper congress |

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