The newspaper business, drained of readers and revenue and hounded by new online media in much of north America and Europe, is thriving in Latin America.
That's the view of Christoph Riess, chief executive of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), and he produced figures to point his point.
Overall circulation in Latin America increased 5.1%, from 13m to 14.1m readers between 2005 and 2009, while Europe registered a 7.9% drop, he told a conference in the Colombian capital of Bogota.
Newspaper revenue in Latin America also leaped 65% during that period, compared to falls of 33.1% in north America and 13.9% in Europe.
"Forget these prophets who say that all newspapers are doomed," said Riess, arguing that the region was ripe for further growth, given its overall positive economic outlook, stable circulation revenues and the growth of the mobile market.
Source: AFP/Mail&Guardian
