"There are two possibilities for finding audiences to expand our businesses," he says. "The first is to shift from being an exclusive provider to promoting multiple products and multiple platforms. The second is the local nature of our activities and finding ways to expand our business by going outside our geographical borders."

Mr de Bedout's presentation focused on how El Colombiano pursues strategic alliances to do exactly that.

One such alliance was the creation by regional newspapers of a central news agency in Bogota to cover news of the political and economic capital for newspapers for all of them. Another was the establishment of a national media company that seeks similar companies to create a nationwide brand to operate in different cities. This project includes the adoption of a standardized content model, "so when a person travels from one town to another, he'll find a newspaper familiar to him, with different content tailored to a specific city."

"The fact of being information and journalism companies at a smaller scale makes it important to establish these alliances to enter new markets," Mr de Bedout says.