If among peers, heads of the region's top news media businesses had been too frank in the first hours of Publish Asia about the rate of change they were experiencing, the panic attack had been replaced by positivity by the end of the day.

After an official opening by Philippines president Benigno Aquino III, the conference programme began with a panel view of southeast Asia and ended with presentations from Australasia and India where print had an important part to play, despite reorganization to better exploit the opportunities of digital.

News Corp Australia - with a mailroom upgrade designed to secure production - and the Times of India were investing in print, and in Auckland, the New Zealand Herald was better able to control content for print following the launch of an integrated newsroom to combine digital, radio, video and print production... as well as "huge wins" in digital audience.

The opening review of regional trends emphasized market differences from country to country, and if talk of "survival problems" and a "tragic story" (David Lü of Guangzhou Daily) overstated the situation, others were able to share the steps they were taking to get on top of the digital challenge.

Jawa Pos boss Azrul Ananda was glad to be in Surabaya, Indonesia, rather than in Jakarta, where the country's economic issues were blamed for revenue falls of almost 40 per cent. "You can still grow if you fight for it," he urged, comparing his newspapers' penetration of 52 per cent in the east Java to the 36 per cent of the internet.

Utusan Melayu was getting the picture as well... literally with benefits from increased use of photojournalism, more concise writing, and extensive infographics and video.

When problem's with Miss Universe's dress prompted the same kind of user spike as the PNP Special Action Force tragedy, Inquirer.net editor-in-chief John Nery says he had to think about the kind of readers they were attracting. The result has been a renewed focus on core audience and a determination of grow that "knowledge audience".

Park Chang Hee of Korea's JoongAng Ilbo had also been stirred by a fall in print subscription from52 per cent ton 16.5 per cent in 15 years: "The fastest internet penetration rate in the world could have driven the fastest-falling newspaper subscription rate," he says. Again the issue created by a giant online competitor is being addressed with a consumer-first policy which delivers members' discounts and a readers committee.

In Thailand, the issue had been the issue of digital TV licences, a re-sharing of the revenue cake in which Post Publishing was not a participant: "The cake didn't get larger as a result, and instead there were more players," says group editor in chief Pichai Chuensuksawadi. He reckons the two years the country will take to reach 100 per cent internet penetration is a limited opportunity, currently being addressed with a closer relationship with telcos.

And even though it had lost almost half its revenue, Guangzhou Daily was still number one in its giant market, and embarking on a range of diversification projects including a giant property development.

From Ananda came a pragmatic, "Sure, there is pressure, but there is always pressure.

"The upside is that year we've seen a lot of advertising from internet and e-commerce companies... it's how you position yourself that is going to count."

Later there was some encouragement from the fact that News Corp Australia has spent an eight-figure sum on replacing 25-year-old mailroom systems in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne... the first time it had invested without the promise of a traditional return. In effect it was securing the production of weekend editions which carried valuable preprint, supplement and commercial insert content, but productivity benefits are expected from decoupling the press in the buffered Ferag systems. "We needed to buy enough time for the digital guys to find out how to make money from their side," says national production and logistics director Geoff Booth.

Sanat Hazra was happy to be investing in print - in quality, efficiency and productivity - at the world's largest English language daily, the four-million-plus daily Times of India. But also in innovation and cost management, with moves such as the introduction of 40 gsm newsprint said to be worth $50 million a year.

Nic Dawes, updating on HT Media's centralized newsroom, and the New Zealand Herald's Shane Currie might have had digital publishing uppermost in their minds, but expected to create better print editions from their integration projects. "Print is not dead, and we have to manage the decline," says Currie. "It's a great solution for advertisers and long may it continue so."

Peter Coleman

More reports to follow

Panel members (from left): Azrul Ananda (Jawa Pos Group), Noordin Abbas (Utusan Melayu), Park Chang Hee (JoongAng Ilbo), David Lu (Guangzhou Daily Press Group), John Nery (Inquirer.net), Barbie Antienza (UPMG), Pichai Chuensuksawadi (Post Publishing)

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