Local newspapers are in a great position for future media success, already achieving key things which national titles are striving for, industry figures have heard.

Rhidian Wynn Davies, consulting editor of The Telegraph, said localisation was key as he took part in a panel discussion on the future of news delivery at the Newstec conference in Brighton this week.

He said: "I think the regional press is in potentially a fantastic place at the moment… we're jealous.

"Localisation, personalisation – it's one of the key three or four things we're trying to achieve at the Telegraph.

"If you're a local paper, you’re already in a great position."

Johnston Press chief executive Tim Bowdler said the industry was in a fascinating transitional stage, with regional newspaper businesses evolving into community media companies.

He said: "We have to follow our audience, providing content through the delivery channel of their choosing."

However, he said the printed newspaper would still be "absolutely central".

He said: "It is fundamentally still the leading means of conveying news and delivering audiences for advertisers."

The panel also discussed how the boundary lines between print and broadcast were blurring, taking newspapers into competition with organisations like the BBC.

But Johnston Press boss Tim said the BBC's ultra local plans were "ultra-nonsense", adding: "It is a travesty to be spending public money on something that commercial operators are already doing."

The panel discussion was chaired by Gary Cullum, editor of Production Journal, and also included John Cary of the Chicago Sun-Times and Simon Fairclough from the Scottish Newspaper Publishers Association.