Scottish publishers are backing WAN-Ifra to take its World News Media Congress to Glasgow next year.

The event - which includes the 71st Congress, 26th World Editors Forum and what is now the third Women in News Summit - is a partnership with the Scottish Newspaper Society, and will be held at the Scottish Event Campus on the north bank of the River Clyde.

WAN-Ifra chief executive Vincent Peyrègne says Glasgow has become a significant centre for journalism and the country's most important location for broadcasting, media, digital and creative industries. It is also home to the headquarters of BBC Scotland, STV and a range of major newsmedia titles including The Herald, the Daily Record, the Scottish Sun and Scottish Daily Mail.

"Scotland is a market with a remarkable diversity of national, regional and local media," he says, " and we are privileged to be hosted in Glasgow by the SNS and their affiliate members.

"The Congress, incorporating the one-of-a-kind Women in News Summit, and the World Editors Forum, is a milestone on our annual programme of professional events. It is of value to every news professional seeking to better understand and address the unprecedented forces at work at this time.

"The Congress is a vital forum for discussions - on the future of news, press freedom and issues facing our society and its citizens."

Scottish Newspaper Society director and former Scotsman Publications editor-in-chief John McLellan said the society was thrilled to be able to stage the event and was confident delegates would find Glasgow and Scotland "an appropriately stunning and stimulating host".

"Scotland is steeped in the finest traditions of freedom of expression but also of media innovation - after all, television and the telephone were both invented by Scots - and is home to one of the most competitive and vibrant news markets anywhere in the world."

Three of its daily newspapers, The Herald, The Scotsman and The Courier, are more than 200 years old.

This year's World News Media Congress in Portugal attracted about 1000 people from more than 60 countries for three days of conferences, executive meetings, networking, and social events.

The event incorporates:

The World Editors Forum, which organises the editorial stream and is built on a commitment to defend press freedom and promote editorial excellence, as well as being at the forefront of newsroom change; and

The Women in News Summit continues momentum for positive change initiated at the inaugural 2017 event in Durban.

For registration and additional information, visit www.wan-ifra.org/scotland2019.