From 2 to 6 June the 14th annual World Editors Forum (WEF) will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, marking a first time for any African country to host the event. And while it runs concurrently with the 60th World Newspaper Congress and Info Services Expo 2007, the event is sure to interest and engage editors-in-chief from around the continent.

“This will be the first time the World Editors Forum takes place in Africa, and there are numerous events focusing especially on Africa,” WEF director Bertrand Pecquerie said in an interview with RAP 21.

WEF is planned to address newsroom issues and will focus on exchanging knowledge and best practices. The event, alongside the World Newspaper Congress, will also rely heavily on case studies of newspapers and how they perform under challenging conditions. Hosted by the Newspaper Association of South Africa, the events and the global meetings of the world’s press are expected to draw 1,500 chief editors, publishers, managing directors and other senior newspaper executives.

The theme of this year’s Editors Forum is "Quality Journalism in the Digital Age." The conference will focus on what newspapers are doing to leverage one of their greatest advantages, valuable, credible journalism, into success on all platforms, print and digital. The conference will look at such topics as newsroom integration, social networking and younger readers, trends in free newspapers, shrinking newsrooms, among others.

While the theme of the Forum is "Quality Journalism in the Digital Age," the Forum will not be limited to this topic. Other sessions include "Reporting Africa for Africans and the World," a session that will discuss the contradictions that Africa is big and diverse yet, some say, it remains confronted with the same problems. It will discuss the idea that fair and accurate journalism cannot neglect 900 million people in more than 50 countries, and will help shaping a better coverage of Africa, now and in the future.

The session will include a video address from Desmond Tutu as well as various speakers. Speakers include: Moeletsi Mbeki, Executive Chairman, Endemol South Africa, South Africa; Azu Ishiekwene, Editor in Chief, Punch, Nigeria; Finbarr O’Reilly, Photographer West and Central Africa, Reuters, based in Senegal; Cheriff Moumina Sy, Director of Publication, Bendre, Burkina Faso; and Guy Berger, Head of the School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa. The session will be chaired by Mathatha Tsedu, Editor-in-Chief, City Press, South Africa and TAEF chairman (more info on http://www.capetown2007.co.za/artic...).

“In the past, international news agencies would have two or three correspondents covering the whole of the African continent,” Pecquerie said. “That has slowly been changing with large international broadcast media like CNN, and coverage is increasing. We have also seen a rise in bloggers and citizen journalism throughout the continent that have been doing a great deal to improve coverage.”

Another session will include, "The Newsroom Barometer: How to Define Editorial Quality in the Digital Age," in which John Zogby, President of Zogby International, will present the Newsroom Barometer, a joint international survey by WEF, Zogby, and Reuters focused on editorial strategies, integrated newsroom and the future of journalism. This will also mark the first release of the international survey

“In the Newsroom Barometer, 85 percent of editors around the world saw a positive future for newspapers, and Africa was no different (see www.editorsweblog.org),” Pecquerie said.

“The only difference in the trend around the world was what exactly was the perceived threat. For the US and Europe, economic power was cited, but in Africa, it was political pressure. But nonetheless, Africa editors were just as optimistic as the rest of the world.”

In addition to the sessions, the Editors Forum will gather highly influential individuals. It will also bring special opportunities for meeting the leaders of South Africa including President Thabo M’Beki, according to Pecquerie.

“Out of the 26 speakers, seven will be from Africa. Over 25 percent of attendees will be from Africa, and it will be an exellent opportunity for networking,” Pecquerie added. “This World Editors Forum definitely has a lot to offer Africans.”

Full details on the 14th World Editors Forum can be found at www.editorsweblog.org or at www.wan-press.org/capetown2007

The Paris-based WEF is the organisation of the World Association of Newspapers that represents senior news executives. WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 76 national newspaper associations, newspapers and newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.

For further information on the World Editors Forum, send inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr