Event will be inaugurated by Argentine Vice-President Julio César Cobos
Miami (October 30, 2009)–With nearly 500 news media delegates and journalists from throughout the Americas in attendance, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) will hold its 65th General Assembly November 6-10 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Three former Latin American presidents and Argentina’s current vice-president, Julio César Cobos, will take part.
The IAPA’s major annual meeting examines the status of press freedom in the Americas and will center on panel discussions, including one on ““Freedom of expression in the Hemisphere ” with presidents César Gaviria of Colombia and Carlos Mesa of Bolivia on Monday afternoon, November 9. Preceding the panel former Uruguayan President Julio María Sanguinetti will address the delegates.
The noontime official opening of the General Assembly will be conducted by Argentine Vice-President Julio César Cobos. The five-day schedule of meetings, panel discussions and seminars, whose principal focus is a review of press freedom in the hemisphere, will begin Friday, November 6, at the Hilton Hotel in Buenos Aires.
Press freedom and how it is valued by governments and the general public will be the central theme of a number of panel discussions with the participation of internationally-renowned academics, jurists and journalists. A featured roundtable on Sunday, November 8, will review application of the new and controversial Law on Audiovisual Services recently passed by the Argentine Congress.
Argentine Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti will take part in another roundtable on recent trends in Latin American case law concerning freedom of expression, while Argentine historian María Sáenz Quesada and economist Rodolfo Terragno will offer an overview of democracy in 13 Latin American nations that are celebrating their bicentennials over the next two years.
Other panel discussions will focus on frontline issues such as the ethics applicable within the new technologies, subtle methods of censorship that have to do with discrimination in placement of official advertising and in the grant of broadcast licenses for radio and television, direct attacks upon the press that are linked to violence against journalists, and the shutdown of news media outlets.
For more information on the General Assembly go to: http://www.sip-asambleas.org/home.php
