MEDIA MARKET DATA - World Association of Newspapers

FranceAxel Springer said it is mulling the launch of a tabloid newspaper in France. 'The market inFrance is being sounded out', Financial Times Deutschland quoted chief executive MatthiasDoepfner as saying. Axel Springer, which owns Germany's best-selling 'Bild' tabloid, couldexpect a similar project in France to generate annual sales in the three digit mln eur range, thenewspaper added. Doepfner added that the company is also due to decide on the launch of anewspaper in Poland by next month.http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/03/09/afx2582029.html; March 9, 2006MalaysiaUtusan Melayu, the 66-year-old Jawi newspaper which was discontinued in January this yeardue to rising cost and declining revenue, will be revived with government financial support.Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who announced this Monday,said the ministry was providing a special allocation to publish the paper. He said the ministrywould work together with the ministries of Education, Higher Education and Information onthe project aimed at conserving the unique centuries-old Malay script based on the Arabicalphabet and popularising it. "The ministry will support the paper until it is again accepted bythe entire community. We want the paper to become as popular as newspapers published inChinese and Tamil," he told reporters after opening a conference and exhibition on Jawiwriting at Muzium Negara here. Utusan Melayu, published by the Utusan Melayu mediagroup, first appeared in 1939 as a daily but dwindling readership forced the paper to goweekly in 2003. Its publication was discontinued altogether on Jan 29 this year. Dr Rais saiddiscussions were being held with the Utusan Melayu group as the publisher and he expectedthe paper to make its reappearance this year. He said the Utusan Melayu group was chosen topublish the paper as it held the licence to the Jawi publication. At today's function, Dr Raisalso witnessed the signing of an agreement between the government and Kolej UniversitiTeknologi dan Pengurusan Malaysia (KUTPM) on the study and acculturisation of the Jawiscript. http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=184151; March 6, 2006MalaysiaKumpulan Karangkraf Sdn Bhd plans to publish a newspaper called Sinar Harian in earlyJune, focussing on current developments in the East Coast and various aspects of the people'slife. The 48-page compact daily would have its office in Pengkalan Chepa, said KarangkrafGroup Editor-in-Chief Abd Jalil Ali. Fifteen journalists would be stationed in Kelantan andsix in Terengganu while the operations in Pahang would begin as soon as possible, he toldBernama at his office here Sunday. He said the company's management had decided topublish the daily because many aspects of the East Coast had not been fully exploited."Our studies have shown that people in the East Coast like to read based on the sales ofpublications especially in Terengganu compared to those in areas like the Klang Valley," hesaid. Kumpulan Karangkraf Sdn Bhd was set up in 1977 and to date, it has published 31reading materials including magazines and tabloids.http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/state_news/news.php?id=191979&cat=et; April 16,2006PolandGerman media giant Axel Springer will most likely launch a new upper-market dailynewspaper in Poland soon after April 17, industry sources said. The newspaper is designed tocompete with popular Gazeta Wyborcza daily owned by Polish media group Agora and15