Online Journalism News

When in Rome, money talks

Editors and web publishers from more than 30 countries are to meet in Rome at the end of the month to discuss successful, profitable business models for online news.

The conference, 'Beyond the Printed Word', has been organised by the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers (WAN), in collaboration with the International Federation of the Periodical Press and IFRA, the Germany-based news association.

The conference will discuss profitability for both large multi-platform news providers and smaller web-only publishers, including sessions on attracting younger audiences, encouraging readers to pay for web content and converting traffic into revenue.

"Publishers cannot invest in web operations indefinitely without seeing a return, but for many operations profitability is proving elusive," said Larry Kilman, director of communications at WAN.

"Yet there are a growing number of news operations that are finding a way to make a profit through both advertising initiatives and content initiatives."

The event aims to promote these successful business models and share strategies with other web publishers.

Around 150 delegates will attend, each paying between 850 and 1050 Euros for the two-day event.

Coverage of the conference will also be available online, with summaries posted during sessions.

WAN was established in 1948 to represent the interests of newspaper publishers around the globe through events, training and research.

In the next few months, the association will also hold conferences on a number of issues including readership, advertising and newspaper strategy - and culminating in the annual World Newspaper Congress and World Editors’ Forum in May 2004.

See also:
http://www.wan-press.org
http://www.ifra.com
http://www.fipp.com

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
wan | ifra | world association of newspapers | germany | web content | eur | paris | online news | congress | advertising initiatives | web operations | web publishers | larry kilman | rome | international federation of the periodical press |

Sign up here for our free, daily email newsletter to get all the latest stories, jobs, tips and more.

Got a story? Email our news team: Laura Oliver; Judith Townend or telephone +44 (0)1273 384290. You can also follow us on Twitter: @journalismnews / @LauraOliver / @JTownend.