International

The problem of global warming has emerged as an issue of concern for the world’s newspapers, with calls at the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by media industries. “It is probably the biggest challenge that mankind has ever faced,” said Tomas Brunegard, CEO of the Stampen Group in Sweden and Chairman of the Swedish Newspaper...

Gavin O’Reilly, the Chief Operating Officer of Ireland-based Independent News & Media PLC, has been re-elected President of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) for a third term of two years. O’Reilly, 41, who is Irish, was re-elected President Wednesday by the WAN Annual General Meeting, held during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Göteborg, Sweden. The events, the...

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF) have condemned the UN Human Rights Council’s repeated efforts to undermine freedom of expression in the name of protecting religious sensibilities. “WAN reminds the UN that the Council’s proper role is to defend freedom of expression and not to support the censorship of opinion at the request of autocracies,” the WAN Board...

Newspapers are well-placed to succeed in the modern media environment, and forecasters who predict the industry’s decline are making "a profound mistake,"the President of the World Association of Newspapers said today, making the case for a vibrant future for the newspaper industry. “Virtually every brokerage report from the investment banks appears to support a new conventional wisdom that...

A Chinese journalist who went to prison for reporting on a health threat before Chinese authorities announced it has been awarded the 2008 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). The award to Li Chongqing, who was released from prison in February after serving three years for reporting on an outbreak of dengue fever, marked the second...

The 61st World Newspaper Congress and 15th World Editors Forum opened in Sweden June 2 with recognition of Sweden’s superb media example for the rest of the world—top-ranked digital developments combined with a deep love of print. “In the exploitation of the new opportunities created by the Internet, the Swedish, like their Nordic neighbours, have also proved leaders, whether through their digital...

Xavier Vidal-Folch, Deputy Director of the Spanish daily El Pais, has been elected President of the World Editors Forum (WEF), the global association for senior newsroom executives within the World Association of Newspapers WAN). Vidal-Folch was elected by the Board of WEF, meeting in Göteborg, Sweden, on the eve of the annual World Editors Forum conference. He succeeds George Brock, Saturday...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) is exasperated by the UN's inability to resolve the problem of Taiwanese journalists who want to cover the annual World Health Assembly in Geneva. Their requests for accreditation were refused again this year on the sole grounds that they are Taiwanese. "It is incredible that the same week that Ma Ying-Jeou was sworn in as Taiwan's new president, the United Nations...

The International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) is changing its name to "reflect the evolution of its member newspapers and lead the newspaper industry toward its multi-media future," according to a statement. The Dallas-based organization is dropping "newspapers" from its nameplate and will be known as the International Newsmedia Marketing Association, Editor & Publisher reported. INMA's...

News and information company Thomson Reuters will cut 140 journalist jobs by the end of the year. In an internal email to staff, the editor-in-chief of Reuters News, David Schlesinger, said having looked into areas of "natural overlap and duplication in coverage" between Thomson and Reuters the newly merged company had decided more than half of the cuts would be in Europe, the Guardian reported...