Kama said they chose Hyderabad as the venue for better facilities and the world-class convention centre.

The theme of the World Newspaper Congress is 'Newspapers: a multi-media, growth business', while the forum will discuss 'Doing more with less: the new newsroom challenge'.

'In recognition of the new pressures brought about by the global economic crisis, we have added new sessions on cost-cutting and achieving greater business efficiency,' WAN CEO Timothy Balding said in his message on the association's website.

'Our events will also be a great opportunity for many participants to discover India, the world's biggest democracy, where the press is not only free and fiercely independent - but undergoing extraordinary growth,' he said.

Last year's events drew more than 1,800 participants from 113 countries to Goteborg, Sweden, a record for the 61-year-old conference.

The Paris-based WAN, formed in 1948, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers worldwide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and worldwide press groups.