By: E&P Staff U.S. newspapers can reverse the dramatic decline in their stock prices, and papers across the globe can avoid the American valuation contagion, research released Tuesday by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) argues.
Newspaper stock prices in many markets don't reflect the true value of the companies, the paper, "Investing in Newspapers," says.
"In properly assessing the performance of newspapers, one needs to calmly analyze the underlying audience trends for our industry -- the quantum of our
readership and the quality demographic we deliver, coupled with the incremental and growing audience that we garner online," WAN President Gavin O'Reilly, COO of Independent News & Media PLC in Ireland, wrote the paper's introduction. "The conclusion is that our industry is extremely well- positioned at weathering the storm that is media fragmentation, guaranteeing as we do sizeable, reliable and relatively stable audiences."
The paper, part of Paris-based WAN's ongoing Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project, contends that the industry's cost-cutting, increasingly local focus, and investment in digital media is beginning to pay off.
It warns, however, that "analysts say the downturn in the U.S. newspaper industry is not an anomaly, and will likely be exported to some newspaper markets around the world, much like other positive and negative trends have been transported in the past." There are steps newspapers can take to avoid getting caught up in a down market, WAN says its report suggests.
An executive summary of the report is available for free downloading
here.
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