The Russian news agency RIA Novosti and two newspaper associations — the Catalan Newspaper Association in Spain and the European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages — have joined the World Association of Newspapers, which groups 77 publishers associations and 18,000 newspapers world-wide.
The three organisations were formally admitted at a meeting of the WAN Board in Vienna, Austria, today.
"Our organisation is enriched with the addition of these organisations, whose members will have access to the global newspaper community through their membership in WAN," said Timothy Balding, the CEO of the Paris-based organisation.
The Russian News & Information Agency, or RIA Novosti, publishes social, political, scientific and financial information in Russian, the main European languages and Arabic. It is Russia’s largest photo agency and its clients include Russian government and business as well as the press.
The Catalan Newspaper Association, the Associacio Catalana de la Premsa Comarcal, is the organisation for publishers of Catalan language newspapers in Spain. ACPC, which is based in Barcelona, groups 130 daily, weekly and other publications.
The European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages, based in Italy, represents 31 daily newspapers in 14 languages that reach more than 3 million readers daily.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.
