NEWSPAPERS 56 October 2013 - Australian Printer Newspapers fight back: Newspapers are under siege, with conflicting figures abounding, but the mood at the annual Panpa conference was defiant, reports Tiffany Hoy AS digital platforms change the way Australians keep up with the news, newspapers are jostling with smart phones, tablets and the web for advertising revenues and readership. The figures can make bleak reading but the message at this year's Panpa newspaper conference was that papers aren't giving up without a fight. The chief executives of four of Australia's paper giants – WA N, Fairfax, News and APN – say print remains a core part of the business. Chris Wharton, CEO of WAN, says, "I believe in newspapers. Iamaprintmandowntomy bootstraps. Even digital leaders love newspapers: the Wa shington Post purchase by Amazon.com boss Jeff Bezos illustrates that digital champions see the value of papers." Greg Hywood, CEO of Fairfax, adds, "A couple of years ago we decided the market was going through extreme structural change. We are on a journey where print becomes less, digital more. You don't know the timing, but you have to move in that direction, fast." However, Earl Wilkinson, CEO of the International News Media Association (INMA), warns against a premature digital shift. He says, "I don't think we know what's next. In 50, 100 years we will be digital. In 20 years, I'm not so sure." Newspapers are still figuring out how to manage their print and digital mix and turn around falling advertising revenues, but it seems print ain't dead just yet. Today's global print story AS CEO of a media network across 81 countries, Wilkinson says digital disruption is happening worldwide. While North America and Europe have led the charge, he says Australia and New Zealand are experiencing even faster change, with tough consequences for traditional newspapers. In other parts of the world, different transformations are under way. Wilkinson says, "In Spanish Latin A merica print is still their reality, but mobile w ill become the bypass medium. "In Brazil, people talk about growing print circulation but the grow ing middle class of Brazil is different from most countries, and there is a new tabloid newspaper genre emerging that is 100 per cent of the grow th net market. "Africa is about vernacular papers alongside English papers. In the Middle East print still rules, and social media – as we're seeing ever y day in places like Egypt and Syria – is rewiring the landscape. "In South Asia, print is dominant, but there is a major conversation about where digital is going and I think it will be different than what is happening in North America. East Asia is hard to generalise, as what is happening in Japan isn't happening in Indonesia, and so on." TIFFANY HOY Head honchoes (l-r) Chris Whar ton (WAN), Greg Hywood (Fairfax), Michael Miller (APN News & Media) and Julian Clarke (News Corp Australia) Relevance: how will printed newspapers capture the attention of the tech generation