I had to smile on reading an email from Cherilyn Ireton, executive director of the World Editors Forum, in the run-up to its annual get-together. She writes:

"It can sometimes be hard to spot inspirational newspaper success stories amid reports of decline. But there are many... (wait for it)...

From The Star in Kenya, to the publishing house of Komsomolskaya Pravda in Russia and The Star of Malaysia there are examples of sustained growth and expansion led by exciting journalism."

Well, I have no wish to rain on Ms Ireton's parade, and I'm naturally delighted with the the success of those newspapers, but they cannot be seen as a template for the dramatic decline of newsprint in advanced economies.

She continues: "In a session on Lessons from emerging markets we will tap the editors-in-chief and publishers from these newspaper groups for their insights into how they have been able to defy general market trends."

Again, I'm happy to hear about success. But this is the wrong way of casting matters. These papers have not defied market trends within their own countries. Just the opposite, they have simply gone with the flow of the market trends that exist in their developing economies.

Back to Ms Ireton: "The good news case studies are not limited to developing countries. We will highlight examples of newspapers with tiny circulations doing amazing things and the audience will hear from global brands like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the London Sunday Times about the innovative ways they are growing audiences."

That means websites, of course, though I'm not certain their existence is entirely innovative. Then again, perhaps we will learn about the benefits of paywalls, since all three have erected them - in different ways, and with different levels of success.

For the record, the forum is taking place in Kiev from 2-5 September.

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