The IAPA's mission

IAPA's mission is to work tirelessly to promote press freedom and freedom of expression.

IAPA's conviction -as outlined by the Declaration of Chapultepec- states that without press freedom and freedom of expression, individual and social life is stunted, group interaction is curtailed, material progress is distorted, the possibility of change is halted, justice is demeaned, and human advancement becomes mere fiction.

IAPA is committed to defending and promoting press freedom and freedom of expression by investigating and reporting on acts of repression and threats against journalists and media outlets. Additionally, the IAPA protects against laws that undermine privacy, limit access to public information, control the internet and punish journalists through insult laws.

The digital era has changed how consumers discover, communicate, and connect with the world around them. To embrace the new digital Age, in addition to the creation of the Declaration of Salta of Principles on Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age, the IAPA is committed to partnering with organizations to help media navigate the future through transformative ideas, sustainable business models and revenue-generating strategies of the future.

IAPA is convinced that freedom of expression and the press cannot exist without independent media outlets. Ultimately stability and justice cannot be achieved without these rights.

What is the IAPA?

It comprises more than 1,300 print media, television, radio, digital natives, press associations, service providers, and individuals. It receives contributions from its members and donations from third parties and generates funds through its events.

• Has undertaken more than 700 missions to 22 countries in which more than 2,200 of its members have participated, to support freedom of expression and the press and stand up to totalitarian governments or groups of whichever political orientation: from Perón to Maduro, from Castro to Pinochet.

• Has contributed to decriminalizing libel laws, eliminating contempt laws, mandatory licensing and other regulations restricting a free press.

• Has contributed to legislation regarding open access to public information, the confidentiality of news sources and the equitable distribution of state advertising, mechanisms to protect journalism's free practice and judicial decisions to curtail the impunity of crimes against reporters.

• Since 1950, has trained thousands of executives, journalists, and other media personnel through seminars, conferences, and face-to-face and virtual workshops, in addition to delivering university scholarships to more than 400 professionals.

•  It has promoted numerous campaigns to raise public awareness of the importance of press freedom and the value of independent journalism in democratic life.

Actions

• Organizes three annual conferences: General Assembly in October, Mid-Year's Meeting in March, and SIPConnect in July, the latter event focused on digital technology and new business models.

• Sends international delegations to countries to investigate in situ attacks on journalists and challenges governments regardless of their political leaning about press freedom violations.

• Monitors the situation of press freedom in countries across the Americas through regional delegates, evaluates twice yearly by issuing reports and resolutions, and monitors in real-time through the IAPA Bot, an Artificial Intelligence tool.

• Interacts with the Inter-American System on Human Rights and governments about violence and crimes against journalists. Present Amicus briefs to international and national courts.

• Ranks countries according to their level of press freedom in legal and judicial matters through the Chapultepec Index.

• Promotes press freedom through public education campaigns and public events, such as signing the Chapultepec Declaration, already endorsed by more than 80 heads of state and political leaders.

• Organizes national and international conferences with legislators, magistrates, judges, students, and journalists about laws and decisions that affect press freedom.

• Participates in activities, events, conferences, and discussions before intergovernmental organizations. Empowers and works with national and regional colleagues' institutions.

• Trains professionals through face-to-face workshops, webinars, seminars, and online courses.

• Encourages journalism through annual excellence awards and highlights people and institutions that promote the principles of the Chapultepec Declaration.

• Administers CLAEP, an accreditation system that promotes and encourages excellence in university journalism teaching.

• Publishes books, documents, and essays on freedom of the press; an app and a website in three languages; a digital magazine, Hora de Cierre; and a daily online bulletin with information on press freedom and the newspaper industry.

Fundamental Documents:

• 1950: Journalism Ethics Creed, adopted in New York.

• 1950: Letter on Freedom of the Press, adopted in New York.

• 1994: Declaration of Chapultepec on Principles of Press Freedom, adopted in Mexico.

• 2008: Letter of Aspirations on journalism responsibilities, adopted in Madrid, Spain.

• 2018: Declaration of Salta on Principles of Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age, about the rights and duties of citizens, governments, media, and intermediaries, adopted in Salta, Argentina.

History and struggles

• 1923 - The Fifth Inter-American Conference in Santiago, Chile, schedules the inaugural Pan-American Congress of Journalists.

• 1926 - The first Pan American Congress of Journalists is held under the auspices of the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C.

• 1942 - First National and Pan American Congress of Journalists, Mexico City. Considered IAPA's first general assembly.

• 1949 - Fifth National and Pan American Congress, Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. A president is chosen for the first time: Carlos Mantilla Ortega.

• 1950 - Sixth General Assembly of the renamed Inter American Press Association, in New York, its first headquarters. Bylaws are adopted, become independent from government funds, and only media, not individuals, are accepted as members.

• 1951 - Perón in Argentina confiscates La Prensa, and its publisher takes asylum in Montevideo, the site of that year's General Assembly. After the fall of Perón in 1955, the newspaper was returned to its owners.

• 1954 - The Scholarship Fund is created. In 1957, the Technical Center was built. Headquarters moves to Miami at Diario Las Américas newspaper.

• 1963 - President John F. Kennedy addresses the 19th General Assembly in Miami Beach, three days before his assassination in Dallas.

• 1968 - The first official missions are undertaken with Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Panama, and Paraguay.

• 1973 - Sponsors the creation of the World Commission on Press Freedom (WPFC).

• 1976 - Helps neutralize the UN New World Information Order.

• 1977 - The first female president is elected, Argentina Hills.

• 1981 - The first Mid-Year Meeting is held in Barbados.

• 1985 - At IAPA's initiative, the IACHR issues its Consultative Opinion 85, rejecting the mandatory licensing of journalists.

• 1992 - The first General Assembly outside the Americas is held in Madrid.

• 1997 - Promotes the creation of the OAS's Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression since its Hemispheric Conference on Unpunished Crimes Against Journalists in Guatemala. 

• 2000 - Purchase a new headquarters with a contribution from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Creates the Latin American Council for Accreditation of Education in Journalism and Communication.

• 2001 - Holds a conference on access to public information in Mexico. The Chapultepec inspires the IACHR to formulate its own Principles on Freedom of Expression.

• 2001 - Agreement to accept Internet members and subsequently, in 2012, radio and television stations as active members.

• 2002 - Hold conferences with judges, legislators, and journalists in Washington, D.C., Santo Domingo, and San Jose in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007.

• 2018 - The IACHR rules favor Nelson Carvajal, the Colombian journalist murdered in 1998. IAPA's Impunity Project presented the case.

• 2019 - Celebrates its 75th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the Chapultepec Declaration.

• 2020 - The first report of the Chapultepec Index, an annual press freedom ranking in the Americas, is released.

• 2021 – Leads a group of regional and global press associations to claim the intellectual property of news content.

• 2021 - IAPA Bot, an Artificial Intelligence tool that monitors press freedom in the Americas, begins operations.