News industry CEOs, editors to gather at INMA New York

Focus on new growth paths

By
IPP Desk
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104
INMA
The week-long INMA World Congress is set for 22-26 May in New York and features a conference, five workshops, two Manhattan media study tours, and the unveiling of the Global Media Awards.

How news media companies can re-establish growth paths to bolster journalism amid economic uncertainty is the focus of the 93rd Annual World Congress of News Media by the International News Media Association (INMA).

The week-long World Congress is set for 22-26 May in New York and features a conference, five workshops, two Manhattan media study tours, and the unveiling of the Global Media Awards.

More than 300 delegates from nearly 50 countries have already pre-registered for the World Congress, while 100+ speakers have been booked across the week.

The INMA World Congress theme is “The Midnight Moment,” an ode to Times Square and a spotlight of how to maintain focus on a digital embrace amid short-term distractions.

INMA New York highlights include:

The state of the news industry: Fireside chats with News Corp CEO Robert Thomson on what journalism needs from generative AI, and New York Times chairman and publisher AG Sulzberger on the state of the news industry.

What’s next in news media: What will happen next with news media is the focus of an international panel featuring the chief executives: Sinead Boucher of Stuff of New Zealand), Julia Becker of Funke Media of Germany), Frederic Kachar of Infoglobo, Brazil, Catherine So of South China Morning Post of Hong Kong, Praveen Someshwar of HT Media, India, and Gert Ysebaert of Mediahuis in Belgium.

Generative AI’s impact on media: The impact of generative AI and tech trends will be addressed by Karen Silverman of the Cantellus Group and World Economic Forums’ AI Global Council and Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson, punctuated by case studies from Schibsted and KsTA Media.

New and old power: How winning organizations understand how to deploy new and old power – and the impact on legacy news media companies – is the focus of author Jeremy Heimans’ keynote.

Newsrooms and the business of news: How newsrooms are being brought into the business of news will be spotlighted in a panel featuring chief editors: Nicole Carole of Gannett | USA Today Network, Alexandra Beverfjord of Dagbladet, Lotta Edling of Bonnier News, and Martha Ramos Sosa of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM).

Trust and media: Trust as a cornerstone of news media strategy will be addressed by Sally Lehrman of The Trust Project plus case studies from Jennie Baird of the BBC and Claudia Mann of Styria.

Reaching Gen Z: How news media can reach Gen Z will be addressed by Lucy Blakiston, founder of Shit You Should Care About, and Rachel Richardson, former head of editorial for Snapchat.

Growth and subscriptions: INMA Researcher-in-Residence Greg Piechota will update members on the latest in digital subscription, punctuated with an interview with New York Times Chief Growth Officer Hannah Yang.

The INMA New York World Congress will address the talent equation at media companies, organizational culture, and interactive formats, among other subjects.

“The INMA World Congress in New York is an agenda-setting event for the news industry,” said Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director and CEO of INMA. “We aim to develop across five days a playbook for revenue and engagement that will better sustain journalism. It is an amazing mix of New York and international players on a single stage.”

Practical half-day workshops on digital subscriptions, products, smart data, newsroom innovation, and digital advertising will offer opportunities to engage with the hottest communities in media today.

Two study tours will take INMA New York delegates to companies throughout Manhattan: Advance Local, The Arena Group, Arizent, Bloomberg, Chartbeat, Gannett | USA Today Network, Google, Hearst, LinkedIn, the NBA, The New York Times, News Corp, Optimera, Piano, Reuters, Semafor, and U.S. News & World Report. A third study tour is being created based on high demand.

INMA New York delegates will have several opportunities to re-connect after 3+ years of the pandemic with an opening reception at Tavern On the Green in Central Park and the Global Media Awards dinner at the Harvard Club.

The International News Media Association (INMA) is a global community of market-leading news media companies reinventing how they engage audiences and grow revenue. The INMA community consists of nearly 21,000 members at 900+ news media companies in 89 countries.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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