Count correctly or count the cost

And experts say that titles resisting the demand for verified figures appear to have a stark choice: either their sales are numbered or their days are.

Backing for an independent circulation audit body is gathering inexorable momentum as the Middle East publishing industry enters a new phase of maturity, and the fact that the contentious issue is even on the agenda for the inaugural Middle East Publishing Conference, taking place in Dubai on January 17-18, is a signpost to the future.

Stuart Wilkinson, London-based for Europe and Middle East marketing manager for BPA - the leading international audit body, will tell delegates that advertisers and agencies now demand circulation and media audits as proof of value for their investment.

And threats from multi-nationals such as the food-to-detergent Unilever conglomerate to slash print media advertising unless publishers provide reliable metrics on reach and readership have helped concentrate the industry's thinking on the issue.

Wilkinson says that with so many options and outlets for advertising exposure, there is an increased need for accountability and security, making independent circulation audits the advertiser's best friend in a crowded marketplace of competing claims.

'Independent, third-party verification of a media owner's circulation and audience claims is an indication of good faith on the part of the publisher, a sign of welcome and an invitation to do business,' he explains.

'It brings integrity and reliability to the buying process and provides the safest, surest environment for buying media space. This is the media industry's insurance policy against fraud, waste, and inefficiency. Without circulation and media audits, the advertising community surrenders one of its most basic rights: accountability for their ad dollars.'

Wilkinson is one of many prominent global media experts who will address the conference, being staged under the patronage of HH General Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Minister of Defence and Crown Prince of Dubai, by the Dubai Consultancy, Research & Media Centre, in conjunction with the International Media Production Zone in Dubai (iMPZ) and Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), through its Al-Bayan daily.

Global partners are the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), and the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP).

More than 300 delegates are expected for event where international experts will share their vision and experience with regional counterparts. Under the banner 'Discuss, Educate, Interact' they will present global best practices to help the development of Middle East publishing.

They will conduct in-depth analyses of newspaper and magazine markets, and present global best practices to help the development of Middle East publishing.

Prominent media experts on the speakers' panel include Mike Gillam, media buyer for Unilever - one of the world's biggest advertisers - which has adopted a policy of buying space only in publications that can provide independent proof of circulation figures; John Alexander, chief executive of PBL Media, the top Australian publishing house; Alan Marshall, chief operations executive of the UK's Associated Newspapers group; and Joseph Ghossoub, incoming president of IAA, the global body for the advertising industry.