ATLANTA, June 26, 1995 -- Newspaper Association of America (NAA) Chairman Uzal Martz Jr. told newspaper representatives at the world's largest annual industry exposition and conference to adopt a four-lane "Infobahn" strategy in approaching newspaper's electronic future.

In an address at the world's largest annual newspaper exposition and conference -- NEXPO(95 -- currently underway in Atlanta, Martz said newspapers must "take the opportunity technology has offered newspapers or end up in a competitive recycling center."

"For the newspaper industry, the threat and opportunity of the digital explosion is captured in the term 'new media,' everything from audiotext to movies on demand to computer delivery of the morning paper," Martz said. "I'm happy to report that more and more newspapers are seeing less threat and more opportunity in the change at hand."

Martz said the Infobahn strategy consists of four lanes that newspapers must travel in order to be successful in the electronic future -- lane one is ink on paper, lane two is basic audio text services, lane three is enhanced audio text services and four is online services.

While PC's are selling as fast a televisions, Martz said, still less than 10 percent of the 50 million households in the U.S. have computers, and only a fraction of those have modems. "Will it overtake the newspaper business? No. But it will enrich it," he said. "Newspapers must determine the proper balance of investment to continually improve the core ink-on-paper product while exploring these new electronic opportunities."

Martz cited figures on newspapers' growing interest in new media, indicating the number of newspaper online ventures is expected to increase by over 50 percent during 1995.

According to the NAA New Media Survey of more than 650 newspapers, 12 percent of those surveyed -- or 75 newspapers -- have online services, with another 40 newspapers planning to launch such services by year's end.

He also pointed to some of the highlights of last year, saying 1994 was a growth year for the $44 billion newspaper industry, with advertising expenditures reaching a record high and the largest percentage growth in eight years; readership growing in most age groups, including youth readers; and newspapers remaining the number one advertising medium.

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing over 1,500 member newspapers in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Reston Va., with offices in Washington, D.C., New York City, Detroit and Chicago, the Association focuses on five key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry collectively: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development and newspaper operations. Most NAA members are daily newspapers that account for approximately 85 percent of U.S. daily circulation.