DUBAI, 5 March 2006 — Influential figures in world publishing are participating in the second Middle East publishing conference, which begins at the Fairmont Hotel here today. More than 300 delegates attending the conference will hear from some of the top newspaper executives from the region and around the world.
The event is the most significant specialized publishing conferences held in the Middle East, bringing together the world’s two largest associations for newspapers and magazines - the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the International Federation of Periodical Publishers (FIPP).
WAN and FIPP are organizing the conference in conjunction with the Dubai Consultancy, Research and Media Center. It is being attended by leading newspaper and magazine executives from the region and around the world.
The theme of this year’s event is “Reinventing the Middle East publishing market,” and speakers and delegates will address the opportunities and challenges of the regional publishing environment as seen through the eyes of the global publishing community.
“I can assure you that the 2006 edition will be as memorable as last year’s inaugural conference, which made such an impact that it has since been rated as one of the world’s top five events in the publishing industry,” Ahmed Obaid Al-Mansoori, president of the Dubai Consultancy, Research & Media Center, told a media conference yesterday.
“The conference will focus on the transformation taking place in the Middle East publishing — from the emergency of free distribution papers to the greater transparency that is now evident in the region’s media along with an unprecedented willingness to address threats and opportunity posed by digital media,” he added.
Keynote speakers include WAN’s Chief Executive Timothy Balding and Chris Llewellyn, chairman of FIPP and managing director of Emap International.
Topics to be discussed at various workshops include “Will online destroy the printed world,” “Newspaper wars in the Gulf: Free of aid,” “Circulation audit comes of age,” “Editorial integrity — dealing with pressure from advertisers” and “Digital media — how to make money online.”
“Wan is convinced that this will be another landmark conference in the continuing development of a strong, independent press in the Middle East,” Balding said.
“The Middle East publishing conference reflects the growing recognition among both local and foreign publishers that they need to come together to learn and share experience in dealing successfully with the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the robust growth of magazines in the region,” FIPP Chief Executive Donald D. Kummerfeld said.
Speakers from outside the region include John Cabell, CEO of US-headquartered Cue Ball Media; Fabriziio D’Angelo of Italy’s Mondadori publishing house Marc Sands of the UK’s Guardian newspaper; Eamonn Byrne, strategy director of WAN; and Didier Guerin, president of Media Convergence Asia Pacific, Australia.
More than 60 media and publishing organizations from 52 countries will be represented including the BBC, National Geographic and Bloomberg News. The conference will also present lifetime achievement awards to media leaders.
