Miami (March 29, 2011)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) is putting the finishing touches on preparations for its biannual review of the state of press freedom in the Western Hemisphere to be held next week in San Diego, CA.
The IAPA’s April 6-9 Midyear Meeting will be preceded by the Hemisphere Conference on Freedom of Expression which the organization is holding in conjunction with the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) and the Institute of the Americas, based in La Jolla, California.
The IAPA’s Midyear Meeting is being held simultaneously with ASNE’s annual convention. The seminars and panel discussions will be open to some 500 delegates and guests of the two organizations who have already confirmed their attendance.
The joint IAPA-ASNE meeting will feature renowned figures from the political world, news media and technology. Among them, United States Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela, former Mexican president Vicente Fox and Sheryl Sandberg, executive director of Facebook.
The Hemisphere Conference, planned for April 4-5 at the headquarters of the Institute of the Americas, forms part of the activities scheduled by the IAPA during 2011, which it has designated as “Freedom of Expression Year,” and which has won the support of numerous international press organizations.
The IAPA will be paying homage to the Declaration of Chapultepec, a 10-point list of principles on free speech and press freedom, and the McCormick Foundation, which has funded the Chapultepec Project since 1994. The IAPA will in turn receive the Defense of Freedom of Expression in the Americas Award, given in special recognition by the Institute of the Americas.
The program for Wednesday, April 6 through Saturday, April 9 at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina will consist of intense sessions of debate and review of freedom of expression issues and business models and strategies for the future of the news industry, as well as IAPA committee meetings.
For more information about the IAPA Midyear Meeting and the Hemisphere Conference on Freedom of Expression go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
