Indian newspapers could be helped by more dialogue within the industry, as well as learning from outside industries, participants said at the final day of the International Newspaper Marketing Association's (INMA) first South Asian conference in New Delhi Friday, The Times of India reported.

“As an industry we do not discuss what advertisers expect from us. If we talk more and discuss such ideas at least once a year we can definitely improve,” said Ravi Dhariwal, president, INMA Asia division, and CEO (Publishing), The Times of India.

At the end of the conference, Dhariwal said everyone agreed that newspapers are valuable and have brand sustainability.

“Building the brand value of a newspaper is really important for circulation, audiences and advertising revenue,” the chief of INMA's Asia division said, according to The Times.

George Brock, Saturday editor of the Times of London, told The Times that the print medium is not threatened by new and evolving mediums, such as Web sites and blogs.

“In the UK, it's the newspapers which set the news agenda. And, I guess, it's the same everywhere. Blogs are basically diaries. And newspapers are going to stay in that position despite tremendous growth in technology and other news mediums,” said Brock, also president of the World Editors Forum.