Developments
New WEF President, International Media Center in France; The Daily, version 1; Prisa’s plans after cuts

Finding Facebook’s niche
Facebook is the social network of the moment for news organisations, having taken over from Twitter as top of the list of concerns for many. Although boasting more than 175 million users, Twitter does not rival Facebook’s estimated more than 600 million members and remains a slightly more niche service.

Young at heart – Agora’s secret recipe
News that last year’s top Young Reader winner was Metro of Poland was undoubtedly greeted with more than a few shrugs and comments along the lines of “but of course – it’s Metro,” since the format of that paper is a ready contender in the youth market. The secret behind Metro’s success, however, is not a story of opportunistic launches into market niches, but rather a working attitude that underpins the entire stable it comes from.

Q&A with Serge Taborin, Archant, UK
Group buying companies, such as Groupon or LivingSocial that offer daily deals, expanded spectacularly in 2010. The concept is taking off dramatically in European cities. By supporting the development of the British Tickles website, the U.K. regional publishing group Archant is demonstrating a possible reaction to this new phenomenon.

Focus: Hyperlocal – Battle for local markets

An increasingly popular route for publishers wanting to become more relevant to their audiences and advertisers is to intensify their efforts on the home front and become the “go-to” resource for their communities. In just the past several months, there has been a huge surge of activity and development in this area, especially in the United States and Germany. However, traditional news publishers aren’t the only ones moving in this direction.

Q&A with Chris Baker, New York Daily News
The New York Daily News has shown its strong commitment to print by renewing its production equipment. As Vice President for manufacturing, Chris Baker, who will be speaking at the upcoming Printing Summit in April, was heavily involved in the selection process for the new printing facility, which has now been running for more than a year.

The fast track to correct colour
A high standard of colour quality printing in the newspaper is a precondition for its acceptance by readers and advertisers. For this reason, reaching correct colour as quickly as possible and retaining it within narrow tolerances throughout the print run is a fundamental requirement. Automatic control systems can be of assistance here.

Small steps towards colour optimisation
In news publishing, the focus of attention is on offering the news on a multiplicity of different media platforms, product development, alternative business plans and green printing. This is so much the case that in recent years many developments in the way we manage and control process colour printing have largely gone unnoticed.

Industry updates
Latest iPad news; Belgian, U.S. groups on
Méthode; Rossel goes with CCI; 17th KBA Commander for Giessen

Yemen on the brink
A thousand kilometres separate Yemen’s capital Sana’a from the oil-rich modern Saudi metropolis Riyadh, but in economic terms the two states are worlds apart. While the petrodollar has made the Saudi Kingdom one of the world’s richest countries, its poor southern relation has seen its resources frittered away through internal conflict, corruption and political deceit. Perhaps no other country better illustrates why the region is exploding.

Tunisia: No going back
The International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) has been working since 2004 to draw attention to the state of freedom of expression in Tunisia. In light of the momentous recent events that ousted President Zine Abedine Ben Ali and brought his repressive 23-year regime to an end, WAN-IFRA travelled to Tunis as part of a delegation of IFEX-TMG representatives to take stock of the immense challenges that lie ahead for the media.

WAN-IFRA Bulletin
Middle East Conference; Sports News Conference; WAN-IFRA Executive Committee; Media Development project in Georgia; Publish Asia preview; Leadership Development in India.