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Interview with Ranjit Wijewardene, Chairman, Wijeya Newspapers, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka keeps print profitable, with a focus on digital

Wijeya Newspapers (WNL) was established in 1979 and is Sri Lanka's leading newspaper group. With a vision to be the most independent and socially responsible media group in the country, it has the highest annual turnover.

In an expository interview with WAN-IFRA, Wijewardene throws light on WNL's revenue sources, advertising solutions and the struggle of transitioning from print to digital.

WAN-IFRA: What is the state of news media in Sri Lanka, in terms of independence of press and revenue and reach, in print and in other media?

Ranjit Wijewardene: We are freer than ever before, though governmental dissatisfaction is felt from time to time. The oblique mention of an advertising tax and government advertising is mostly channeled to state-owned publications. Advertising revenues have dipped slightly as compared to 2016; 2017 showed modest to negative growth. The first two quarters of 2018 have provided revenue growth compared to 2017.

Newspaper sustainability and evolving technological threats

Several consumers believe that buying newspapers and magazines leads to wide-spread deforestation and unsubscribing the newspaper will help. But, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says, more than 80% deforestation between 2010 and 2030 is likely to be because of agriculture, logging, mining, infrastructure and increased fire incidents in forests.

Skip the obvious, be original: 10 things to know about social videos

If an organization is trying to include more video in its content, what are some useful things to keep in mind?

Dogramaci, who has worked with BBC, looked at statistics from two years' worth of data on a quarterly basis in collaboration with the YouTube team. Between Q4 2014 -2015, they saw a 315% increase in watch time and a 485% increase in subscriber growth. A 2017 CISCO report says that by 2021 video will be 82% of all internet traffic; up from 73% in 2016.

Manroland-Goss merger aims for broad product range, technological excellence 

Manroland Web Systems and Goss International officially merged on August 17 and will operate under the name 'Manroland Goss Web Systems.'

The forward-looking merger will enable global market presence, a broad product range, technological excellence, long-term comprehensive customer support, and e-business in the web-feed printing market.

World Editors Forum - South Asia Summit Conference Programme

After a successful silver jubilee conference in 2017 in Chennai, WAN-IFRA India conference now moves to Hyderabad, the city of pearls, in Telangana.

As the wave of digital disruption settles down, publishers across the world have studied the industry scenario to survive in the business. For newspapers, digital is no longer a threat and the challenges are within.

The challenges of fake news and ‘promiscuous behavior’ of the audience are being addressed using big data analysis and artificial intelligence in newsrooms. This conference will debate and discuss the latest trends in news publishing worldwide, and bring ideas followed by leading market players to counter the challenges. Here is the conference programme.