he new age gurus may be busy writing the obituaries for newspapers, but it's not all over yet - according to the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). In a recent presentation to financial professionals in London, President of WAN, Gavin O'Reilly, presented a brighter picture of the global newspaper industry as against popular perception.

Figures from WAN indicate that over a billion people around the world read a newspaper everyday. A forecast by Zenith Optimedia indicates that the global advertising market, based on client spend in traditional media, will be more than $370 billion in 2006. It also indicates that spending on newspaper ads was up five per cent in 2005. In 2004, combined newspaper and magazine advertising represented almost 44 per cent of total advertising.... more