Venue: Roseate House, Aerocity
Address: Asset 10, Northern Access Rd, Aerocity, Hospitality District, Indira Gandhi International Airport
Day 1 explores how South Asian publishers can strengthen trust, sharpen brand distinctiveness, and build deeper audience habit. From print premium and AI in the newsroom to creators, CTV, and generational renewal, the focus is on staying relevant in a disrupted market. The day looks at how legacy strengths can be modernised for new platforms, formats, and expectations. At its heart is one key question: how can publishers matter more, not just reach more?
Get your credentials from the Conference Registration Desk and settle into the networking lounge for breakfast, tea, and coffee. Meet peers and connect with INMA speakers and news and tech industry solution providers. Schedule meetings with INMA initiative leads.
As the news industry stands at a critical inflection point, this conference explores how news media companies can move from recognition to decisive action surfacing best practices and case studies exemplifying agility, sustainability, and growth amidst the new norm of disruption. Join us as we bring together stakeholders of the news media ecosystem to delve into the key issues facing the news media industry. Participate in putting forward tangible remedies for industry influencers, redefining strategies to ensure relevance, growth, and resilience in a rapidly evolving landscape.
| CEO, The Hindu Group |
| Head, INMA South Asia Division, and Lead Strategy & Special Projects for APAC |
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
As South Asian news media companies navigate platform dependence, AI acceleration, fragmented attention, and growing pressure on business models, one advantage is becoming more important than ever: a strong and distinctive brand. In this opening keynote, Earl Wilkinson explores why identity, clarity, and trust are emerging as critical strategic assets for publishers in a fast-changing media environment. Drawing on global reporting and conversations with media leaders across markets, he looks at what strong news brands are doing differently from sharpening editorial distinctiveness and product consistency to building deeper audience connection, greater trust, and a clearer sense of purpose. For publishers in South Asia, where legacy strength and digital disruption now coexist in powerful ways, this session sets the tone for the conference by asking what it will take not just to compete, but to matter.
| Executive Director and CEO, INMA, United States |
In this opening perspective, Vivek Gupta, President of the Indian Newspaper Society, will reflect on the priorities shaping Indian news media at a time of rapid change across technology, audiences, advertising, regulation, and platforms. The session will look at the continuing importance of trusted news institutions, the need to strengthen the value of credible journalism across print and digital, and the opportunities around AI, product, data, video, and new revenue models.
| President INS & Chairman and Managing Director, Sanmarg |
Sports offers one of the clearest playbooks for turning big moments into daily audience habit. This session looks at what news publishers can borrow from that model, from appointment viewing, highlights, and explainers to community, alerts, and return-driven packaging. It will also explore how personalisation works when content is live and time-sensitive: which signals matter, how real-time recommendations should be handled, and where editorial guardrails need to stay firm. The session will offer practical lessons on building frequency, relevance, and loyalty around live content without compromising trust.
| Contributing Editor, Business Standard |
| Head of Content & Production, JioStar - Sports |
In South Asia, print still carries a depth of trust, local authority, language connection, and reader attention that few other media environments can match. As advertisers look for safer contexts, stronger recall, and clearer outcomes, publishers have an opportunity not just to defend print, but to reposition it as a high-trust, high-attention, high-influence platform. This session explores how publishers are moving beyond page rates to build a stronger print value story through credibility, context, design, regional and language strength, deeper community connection, and better proof of advertiser effectiveness.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| COO (Publishing) and Board Member, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. |
| General Manager, Marketing MyTrident |
Meet the exhibitors, connect, and share with the speakers or the INMA initiative leads over tea and coffee in the pre-function area.
Bangladesh’s news media is navigating a complex moment of political change, digital disruption, economic pressure, and renewed debate around press freedom and public trust. This session will explore the challenges and shifts shaping journalism in Bangladesh today, and the road ahead for building credible, independent, and sustainable news institutions in a fast-changing society.
| Editor, Prothom Alo, Bangladesh |
AI is beginning to reshape the modern print newsroom, from how journalism is planned and produced to how it is packaged and refined for audiences. In this panel, editors will explore where AI is proving genuinely useful, whether in workflow efficiency, production support, story presentation, or smarter deployment of newsroom resources, and where human editorial judgment must remain absolute. The discussion will centre on practical applications, hard editorial lessons, and how print organisations can evolve without diluting the trust and credibility at the core of their value.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| Chief Resident Editor & Director, Malayala Manorama |
| Managing Editor, The Times of India |
| Editor -in-chief, Hindustan Times |
In this conversation, learn about how a regional media brand like Vikatan moved beyond scale and became part of audiences’ daily habits. The conversation explores how trust, language, relevance, frequency, and format innovation help build stronger audience connection across platforms and how Vikatan is using AI-powered audio, multilingual shifts, and a more audience-led approach to deepen engagement rather than simply chase reach.
| Contributing Editor, Business Standard |
| Managing Director, Vikatan Group |
Meet the exhibitors, connect, and share with the speakers or the INMA initiative leads, or just enjoy lunch in pre pre-function area
Analytics alone no longer give publishers the competitive edge they need. Learn how leading media organizations are replacing fragmented workflows with a unified platform that connects audience insights, editorial planning, AI, content distribution, and personalization. See how a holistic approach enables faster decisions, greater efficiency, and stronger business outcomes.
| Sales Director, APAC, Marfeel |
As traffic becomes harder to sustain and audience attention more fragmented, newsrooms need to think beyond reach and focus on habit, loyalty, and retention. This session explores how publishers are building newsroom strategies that drive repeat use, deepen audience relationships, and create stronger long-term value — through smarter editorial planning, sharper product thinking, more relevant formats, and more adaptable content strategies that allow journalism to flow across platforms, formats, and audience touchpoints.
| Founder, Newsworthy Studio |
| Managing Editor & Deputy Director of Journalism, Collective Newsroom |
| Managing Editor of Moneycontrol and Chief AI Officer, Network18 |
| CEO, Indian Express Digital |
As AI-generated content, creator-led media, and platform distribution reshape the information ecosystem, trust is becoming harder to build and easier to lose. This session explores what it will take to rebuild credibility across the value chain, from creation and verification to monetisation, governance, brand safety, and audience trust, with a focus on how different stakeholders can help create a more accountable media environment.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| Head, Digital Investigations, APAC, AFP |
| Founder ToBe Online & Former CEO, Jagran New Media |
| Content Creator |
CTV in India is moving into the measurement and regulatory mainstream, creating both opportunity and risk for news publishers. As audiences shift to connected TV, the opportunity lies in premium video, trusted context, and incremental reach. The risk is building another platform-dependent business without sufficient control over data, monetisation, or the user relationship. This session will examine what it takes to build a viable CTV operation, from content strategy and audience development to platform partnerships, revenue models, measurement, and strategic control, and where the biggest challenges and opportunities lie for publishers.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| Chief Digital Officer, ABP Network |
| Group CMO & COO Strategy, India Today Group |
Meet the exhibitors, connect, share, and learn while interacting with the speakers, colleagues, the INMA initiative leads, or just enjoy a tea break.
Explore how digital publishers create more value from content and capture it
| Head BD - Media & Entertainment, India at Amazon Web Services (AWS) |
In today's fragmented media landscape, advertisers face a critical question: which channels truly drive business outcomes — not just reach? In this session, Prasun Basu will explore media effectiveness through the lenses of attention, credibility, context, recall, and advertiser impact. Drawing on evidence across the marketing funnel, he will examine why news media continues to provide a uniquely trusted environment for meaningful engagement, and how publishers can build a stronger, evidence-based effectiveness narrative for advertisers and agencies.
| Co-founder & CEO, Inteliphyle |
For established news media companies, the challenge is no longer just digital transition; it is generational renewal. This session brings together a rising cohort of leaders from major news organisations to discuss how they are making established brands more relevant to younger audiences through new formats, product thinking, platform strategy, and cultural fluency, while preserving the trust, scale, and institutional strengths that still matter. The conversation will explore how this cohort of leaders within media companies is reshaping content, distribution, brand identity, and audience engagement for a new era, while also offering insight into their approaches to management, organisational change, and transformation from within.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| Managing Director, Nepal Republic Media, Nepal |
| Director, Printers Mysore |
| Director - Digital Business, Mathrubhumi |
| Director, Sakal Media |
As legacy revenue comes under pressure and digital growth remains uneven, South Asia’s news media CEOs face a more urgent set of strategic choices around trust, monetisation, diversification, and long-term resilience. This panel will explore how leaders are balancing print strength with the need for sharper digital execution, stronger revenue models, disciplined investment, and new growth engines in shifting markets.
| Contributing Editor, Business Standard |
| CEO, ABP Pvt Ltd |
| CEO, The Hindu Group |
| CEO & MD, HT Media |
Our moderator will distill the conference’s first day into takeaways.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
Join us for an evening of high-powered networking over drinks and hors d’oeuvres as you reflect on the day with colleagues, decision-makers, and industry partners.
Day 2 focuses on the commercial and operational playbook publishers need for the next phase of growth. Sessions explore advertising value beyond traffic, first-party data, GenAI, automation, branded content, video, and SME revenue. The emphasis is on building stronger products, smarter workflows, and more durable business models. At its core, the day is about turning change into practical advantage.
Exchange notes from the previous day over breakfast, tea, and coffee. Meet the exhibitors, connect, share, and learn while interacting with the speakers, colleagues, INMA initiative leads, or just enjoy a tea break in the pre-function area.
Maximise your time at the conference as you meet face-to-face with colleagues and solution providers and make the most of being in-person.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
As advertising markets shift and platform dynamics continue to evolve, publishers need a sharper, more practical revenue playbook for 2026. This opening session on Day 2 will map the most important levers news media companies need to focus on now - from growing known audiences and strengthening first-party data to building buyer ready segments, improving pricing and yield, and making advertising propositions more relevant in a privacy-first market. The session will also examine how publishers should respond to weakening search traffic, changing discovery patterns, and the growing need to build direct audience habit and smarter distribution. The aim is to set the tone for the day by connecting the latest thinking on formats, measurement, monetisation, and platform change to the practical realities facing South Asian news publishers.
| Advertising Initiative Lead, INMA |
As traffic-led growth becomes harder to sustain, publishers are being pushed to redefine their value to advertisers. The next chapter is not about scale alone, but about the quality of audience relationships, the strength of first-party signals, privacy-safe addressability, and the ability to deliver measurable outcomes. Through case studies spanning retail media, identity infrastructure, and advertiser expectations, this session explores how the industry is moving from a traffic story to a value story.
Retail media has reset advertiser expectations by linking first-party consumer relationships to clear purchase intent and measurable outcomes. In this session explore how retail media has emerged as one of the strongest models for monetising addressable audiences and what news publishers can learn from its approach to audience signals, commercial value, and outcome-led advertising.
| Country Head, India, Criteo |
As advertising shifts from reach-led buying to models built around intent, accountability, and measurable outcomes, publishers need a stronger value story than audience scale alone. In this session, Karthik Shankar will examine how buyer expectations are changing, how commerce and marketplace thinking are influencing media investment, and where publishers need to adapt their packaging, audience strategy, and monetisation models to compete more effectively.
| Senior Vice President - Digital Investments & Partnerships, WPP Media |
For publishers, the shift from traffic to value is moving from theory to execution. This fireside chat will explore what that shift looks like inside a publisher business: how audience relationships, first-party data, product strategy, and commercial packaging are being reworked to build stronger advertiser propositions beyond raw reach. The conversation will also examine the key enablers and barriers in creating a more durable, data-led advertising model.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| COO, Times Internet |
| CEO, HT Digital |
Meet the exhibitors, connect, share, and learn while interacting with the speakers, colleagues, the INMA initiative leads, or just enjoy a tea break.
AI is moving from experimentation to execution, with AI-native products now being built, deployed, and monetised at scale across content, creative, distribution, and advertising. From AI influencers and UGC creatives to 24×7 multilingual AI anchors, hyper-personalised video experiences, and conversational ad formats, this session will show what it looks like when AI becomes an operating layer for a media business. It will share practical lessons from real deployments, examine where agentic thinking is beginning to shape publisher workflows, and offer a framework for moving from AI pilots to measurable business advantage.
| Head of Growth and AI Strategy, Times Internet |
As AI reshapes how information is discovered, distributed, and reused, publishers need to think beyond the article as the only unit of journalism. This session explores how newsrooms can structure reporting into richer, more flexible “news atoms” that can travel across formats, products, and AI systems without losing context or credibility. Sannuta Raghu will examine how metadata, verification, modular storytelling, and editorial design can make journalism more discoverable, interoperable, and trustworthy. The focus is on what it takes to make content truly AI-ready while preserving the integrity and meaning of the original journalism.
| Head of AI Product, Scroll |
As AI moves from experimentation to real world deployment, publishers are using GenAI, automation, and data to reshape how their businesses operate. From newsroom workflows and product innovation to audience growth, personalisation, first party data, and advertising innovation, this session explores how news media companies are building smarter workflows, stronger products, and more scalable operations across the enterprise.
| Product Head, The Hindu |
Meet the exhibitors, connect, and share with the speakers or the INMA initiative leads, or just enjoy lunch in the pre-function area.
Younger audiences are not necessarily turning away from news; they are discovering, consuming, and judging it in very different ways. This session explores how video-first, platform-native storytelling is reshaping what younger users see as relevant, credible, and worth returning to. Mehak Kasbekar will share what publishers can learn from formats, tone, cultural fluency, social discovery, creators, and short-form video. The focus is on how news brands can build relevance and repeat habit with younger audiences without losing editorial depth or credibility.
| Country Manager & Editor-in-Chief, Brut India |
Branded content is no longer just a creative add-on; it is becoming a core commercial capability for publishers. This session explores what makes branded content studios sustainable across print and digital: the formats and operating models that work, the guardrails required to protect editorial credibility, and the commercial discipline needed to move from bespoke campaigns to repeat business. The focus is on renewal, integrated storytelling, measurable outcomes, and building a more durable revenue line.
| COO, Jagran New Media |
| Editor, Creative Solutions, The Quint |
| President – Revenue Growth & Business Development, ABP Network |
| Managing Director of Content, Entertainment, and Sports, WPP Media |
AI and digital platforms are transforming not just how media is bought, but also how narratives are created, distributed, and measured. For marketers, the media mix is no longer about channels in isolation, but about orchestrating trust, attention, and outcomes across an increasingly complex ecosystem. This session brings a marketer’s perspective on how media decisions are evolving - what role news media plays in driving both brand and performance, and how its value is being reassessed from a revenue standpoint. It will offer practical guidance for publishers on aligning with modern media planning, leveraging AI-driven opportunities, and positioning themselves as high-impact, revenue-driving partners in the marketing mix.
| Global Board Member Effie Lions Foundation & Former Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles |
For many publishers in South Asia, local and SME advertisers remain one of the most important and underdeveloped growth opportunities. But the traditional sales model, built around fragmented buying, manual execution, and print-only thinking might no longer be enough. This session explores how publishers are modernising local advertising for a more cross-platform market through simpler packaging, smarter creative support, faster turnaround, and stronger integration across print, digital, and on-ground platforms. The focus is on how to make SME advertising easier to buy, more effective to use, and more scalable to grow.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| COO, Dainik Bhaskar |
| Vice President, Media Solutions, Mathrubhumi |
| Head Revenue Strategy & Planning, Amar Ujala |
As a new generation of talent shapes the future of news media, expectations of leadership are evolving. This session explores what emerging leaders value most in the workplace today, from culture, trust, and collaboration to openness, adaptability, and opportunities for growth. Featuring INMA 30 Under 30 award winners, the conversation will offer a candid look at how younger professionals view leadership, what kind of work environment helps them do their best work, and what media companies need to rethink to attract, retain, and empower the next generation.
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
| Head of Product, ToBe Online |
| Brand Content Producer, Brut India |
| Conference Moderator, Independent Multimedia Journalist & Narrative Strategist |
Madhavi Sekhri
Head - South Asia Division
Strategy and Special Projects Lead - Asia Pacific
New Delhi, India
Hindi, English
Tel.: +91 99716 00632