International

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has been forced to call off the World Newspaper Congress and postpone the World Editors Forum, planned for Beirut from June 7 to 10, due to the failure of the Lebanese host organisation to meet its financial commitments. "It is with immense disappointment that we are forced to call off our events in Beirut, but it was simply...

Twelve countries where journalists are regularly killed and governments fail to investigate the crimes and seek out perpetrators are being highlighted in CPJ's 2010 Impunity Index. The compilation was released this week to coincide with an international summit on impunity being held in New York City where press freedom advocates and journalists are gathering to discuss strategies to end violence...

Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, an Iranian journalist and political analyst who was imprisoned following Iran’s disputed presidential election in June, has been awarded the 2010 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Zeid-Abadi is known for an open letter he wrote from prison in 2000 protesting the judiciary’s treatment of...

Asos Hardi, the Editor-in-Chief and founder of the Awene newspaper in Iraqi Kurdistan, has been awarded the 2009 Gebran Tueni Award, the annual prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) that honours an editor or publisher from the Arab region. Hardi, who has gained a reputation as a newspaperman with exceptional leadership skills and high professional standards in...

The 2009 Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) - Fnac Press Freedom Prize was awarded Tuesday to Israeli newspaper reporter Amira Hass and Chechen quarterly Dosh at a ceremony hosted by journalist Bernard de La Villardière at the Espace Fondation EDF in Paris. “In a world dominated by lies that are organised and manipulated, the RSF - Fnac Prize winners deserve our recognition and solidarity not only...

Gavin O’Reilly, the Chief Executive Officer of Ireland-based Independent News & Media PLC, has been elected the first President of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the organisation created by the July merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry. O’Reilly, 42, who had been President...

Najam Sethi, the former Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Times in Pakistan, has been awarded the 2009 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). In accepting the Golden Pen, Sethi said the award "reflects the fierce commitment and courage of South Asia’s free media to the perennial quest for reporting the truth and...

A brutal election-related massacre in the Philippine province of Maguindanao on Monday appears to be single deadliest event for the press since 1992, when the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began keeping detailed records on journalist deaths. The New York Times and the Associated Press (AP) reported Wednesday that at least 18 of the victims have been preliminarily identified...

The International Association of Sports Newspapers (IASN) has launched a new website, www.press-iasn.org, to highlight its work in the promotion of the interests and freedom of the sports press. The website, conceived for media executives, sponsors, and the sports press audience at large, highlights the role of the Association in the international sport community and illustrates, through IASN’s...

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Wednesday announced an ambitious strategic partnership to advance media development and press freedom worldwide. The agreement, which represents Sida’s first major partnership with a private sector organisation, will take advantage of WAN-IFRA’s unique position...