HELSINKI – The financial crisis has thrown a new challenge at a newspaper industry still struggling to thrive in the age of the Internet, editors said Monday at an international industry meeting in Helsinki.

The crisis and the Web had hit the industry like twin storms, but they were also an opportunity for newspapers to "renew our organizations," Mikael Pentikainen, president of Finnish group Sanoma News, told the International Press Institute's general assembly.

However, the economic downturn had raised a "lot of questions but few answers," said Pentikainen, who heads the biggest media group in northern Europe.

The "key" questions facing the industry include which articles should appear in print and Internet editions, and what should be available for free.

New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson said that around 40 newspapers had gone bankrupt in the United States in the last two years.

It was "vital" for newspapers to remain committed to providing a good product despite the crisis, as "the appetite for quality information is still there," she argued.

The economic turmoil has led some newspapers to turn into Web-only publications, but many often fail because they rely too much on a print model, said Jacob Weisberg, editor in chief of Slate.