Speaking to about 400 publishers and digital newspaper executives from 75 countries, Steve said there was a need in the newspaper and advertising industries to adopt a new measure that combines print and online to provide advertisers with a more complete picture of newspaper audiences than print circulation alone.

"Media is in a state of flux. The internet is changing the way we recreate, socialise, get information and entertain," he said. "It is changing all media, not just newspapers. The good news for newspapers is, their websites are among the leading websites in the local markets, so we have something to build on."

Newspapers in the United States will begin integrating newspaper readership and online audience estimates into audited circulation reports beginning next month with the help of Scarborough Research, which has been measuring "Integrated Newspaper Audiences".

The website audience is helping offset the slow but steady decline in print readership in the United States, Steve said, presenting research which shows that, based on the 50 top US markets, newspaper online sites are actually increasing the total publisher's audience by 6.5 percent. Among 18- to 34-year olds, the lift was more than 10 percent.

The integrated newspaper audience and similar measures are likely to spread elsewhere in future, as newspaper companies grow audience beyond the daily printed paper -- and beyond the web site. The development of niche products and a portfolio of a wide variety of products, both print and online, to extend a newspaper company's reach need such measures to better reflect the audience being delivered by newspapers, he said.

"Let's present what we have in a positive way, because we have a lot of good things to talk about," he said.

More from the conference, including summaries of presentations, can be found here.