Appreciation

WHEREAS our Host Committee, chaired by Armando Prida Huerta Periódicos Síntesis, Puebla, Mexico, and made up of Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, El Universal, México D.F.; Gonzalo Leaño Reyes, Mexican Association of Newspaper Editors (AME), México; Carlos Alberto Salinas Valdés, El Diario de Coahuila, Coahuila, México and Óscar Tendero García, general director, Síntesis, México, worked arduously and with a spirit of collaboration and service to provide an atmosphere of hospitality and cordiality conducive to the professional, social, and artistic activities that gave such luster to our meeting WHEREAS the Mid-Year Meeting received the generous support of the following organizations, which sponsored hospitality events, offered services, and provided useful and informative material and equipment: the government of the state of Puebla, Periódico Síntesis, the honorable municipal government of Puebla, the Mexican Association of Newspaper Editors, Puebla TV, El Universal, El Diario de Coahuila, Rostros magazine, Volkswagen, Autobuses de Oriente ADO, Universidad de Las Américas Puebla UDLAP, Política magazine, Complejo Cultural Universitario BAUP and the Hotel Presidente Intercontinental; WHEREAS The Organizing Committee, coordinated by Mariano Morales, of Síntesis, and made up of Maricarmen Dattoli, Axel Arroyo Cabrera, Diana Morales, Juan Carlos Sánchez, Wendy Álvarez of Síntesis and Raymundo Perroni, of Puebla TV and hotel personnel under the coordination of Flor Pérez, also provided a magnificent work environment; WHEREAS on Friday morning at the first seminar of the meeting, titled, “The Reinvention of the Traditional Newspaper: Leaving Behind Bonds and Paradigms,” the panelists Carlos Echeverry, La Máquina de Ideas, Mexico-Bolivia; Miguel Henrique Otero, El Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela and Marco Arauz, El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador, offered really innovative perspectives that were of great use to the audience, and the panel also had the support of Fernán Saguier, La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina in the role of moderator; WHEREAS with the moderating of Eduardo Quirós, La Estrella, Panama, Republic of Panama and the executives of ClicLogix Americas, Miami, United States, Rafael Bonelly and Mariano Román, of IMS, Miami, United States, the second seminar of the meeting was held, “Trends in Digital Advertising on All its Platforms and Implications for Journalism Companies,” in which topics of great interest were presented for the news industry of Latin America; WHEREAS in the third seminar on Friday, titled “Transparency and Access to Information,” three presentations were made by persons expert on this topic for the press: César Ricaurte, Fundamendios, Quito, Ecuador; Ernesto Villanueva, Fundamex, Mexico D.F. and Eduardo Bohórquez, Transparency International, (TI), Mexico, D.F., with the valuable support of moderator Bartolomé Mitre, La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina; WHEREAS at the last seminar on Friday, Marcelo Rech, Zero Hora, Porto Alegre, Brazil and Gastón Roitberg, La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina, combined their knowledge to address the theme of “Monitization of Digital and Mobile Platforms,” before a well-served audience that expressed its great interest in the topics explored and, in addition, Silvia Miró Quesada, El Comercio, Lima, Peru, contributed her knowledge in the role of moderator; WHEREAS, also on Friday afternoon, Francisco Vásquez, of ClicLogix, Miami, Florida, made the presentation called “The State of Digital Platforms in 2013,” which included the results of a study done by the IAPA on the advance of digitization at Latin American newspapers; WHEREAS during lunch of Friday, at the Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, John Ralston Saul, of Pen International, London, England, presented an illustrated talk on the topic “Freedom of Expression in the Americas,” and the chair of the Host Committee, Armando Prida, Síntesis, Puebla, Mexico, introduced the lecturer; WHEREAS with a well-pleased audience a Great Debate was held on “Women in Communications,” with the presentation under American novelist Jennifer Clement, and with a stellar panel made up of Elvira García, an independent journalist in Mexico, Lorena Cuéllar, federal senator in Mexico, and as moderator, Elizabeth Ballantine, The Durango Herald, Durango, Colorado, U.S.A.; WHEREAS on Friday evening at the magnificent Municipal Palace of Puebla, the Host Committee offered a marvelous welcoming cocktail and a dinner, in which its chair, Armando Prida, Síntesis, Puebla, Mexico, and the municipal president, Eduardo Rivas Pérez, offered words of appreciation and welcome to those in attendance, and the president of the IAPA, Jaime Mantilla, expressed his thanks on behalf of the institution; WHEREAS on Saturday the sessions of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information began and the president of the IAPA, Jaime Mantilla, Hoy, Quito, Ecuador, offered the opening words; WHEREAS the first presentation of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Gregorio Badeni, university professor emeritus, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Adrián Ventura, journalist and professor of Constitutional Law, La Nación and Canal Todo Noticias, Buenos Aires, Argentina, offered a panoramic view on the difficult situation that the press is going through in their country; WHEREAS Cuban writer and journalist, Yoani Sánches, author of the blog Generación Y and presently vice president for Cuba on the Committee for Freedom of the Press and Information of the IAPA, honored the mid-year meeting with her presence and valuable report on the Cuban reality, provoking constant applause and signs of sympathy from those present; WHEREAS at lunch on Saturday the former president of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, received the Chapultepec Grand Prize, and making use of his vast knowledge and erudition, he presented a wonderful discourse under the title of “Freedom of Expression in the Americas: Trends and Challenges,” and his presentation was introduced by Jorge Canahuati, La Prensa, San Pedro Sula, Honduras; WHEREAS in the afternoon, at the continuation of the sessions of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, panelists José Martínez, Mexican journalist; Rodolfo Dumas, La Tribuna, Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Renato Álvarez, Canal 5 TV, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, spoke on the topic, “Violence Against the Press Grows like a Cancer in Central America,” having as moderator José Roberto Dutriz, La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, El Salvador; WHEREAS on Saturday evening IAPA delegates were invited by the governor of the state of Puebla to an elegant reception and dinner where governor Rafael Moreno Valle addressed those in attendance; WHEREAS at the first panel on Sunday, Jorge Luis Sierra, investigative journalist in Mexico, Perla Gómez Gallardo, chaired professor at the College of Law at UNAM, Mexico, D.F., Roberto Gil Zuarth, chair of the Commission on Justice of the Senate of Mexico, and Laura Borbolla, special prosecutor for crimes committed against freedom of expression, conducted the first panel of the mid-year meeting titled “Shared Responsibilities for Conquering Violence and Impunity. Don’t Kill the Messenger!” and with Roberto Rock, El Universal, Mexico, DF, serving as moderator of the session; WHEREAS political changes in Latin America were the object of analysis at the second panel on Sunday on the part of a brilliant panel made up of the former president of Ecuador, Luis Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea and Mexican historian, essayist and editor Enrique Krauze, with the participation of the president of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information of the IAPA, Claudio Paolillo, Búsqueda, Montevideo, Uruguay; WHEREAS Yoani Sánchez offered a press conference at noon on Sunday attended by a large number of national and international journalists; WHEREAS Doctor of History of the College of Mexico, Rafael Rojas Gutiérre, made up a panel that generated great interest on populism and deformation of democratic processes that had Asdrúbal Aguiar, El Impulso, Barquisimeto, Venezuela, as moderator; WHEREAS as the meeting continued, the growth of audiences and the right to freedom of expression was the theme of the last panel on Sunday with the honorable participation of journalist Michael Greenspan, The New York Times, New York, NY; Clara Luz Álvarez, Institute of Judicial Research of the UNAM, Mexico, D.F. and Gustavo Mohme, La República, Lima, Peru.; WHEREAS the chair of the Host Committee, Armando Prida Huerta, offered an unforgettable gala dinner at the La Constancia factory that included an array of cultural and social activities, such as the performance of the Coro de Esperanza Azteca, made up of low income children from Puebla, which made a great impression on attendees; WHEREAS in representation of the Mexican government we were joined at the Closing Ceremony by the Secretary of Education, Emilio Chuayffet and the General Coordinator of the Social Commission of the Presidency of the Republic, His Honor David López Gutiérrez, along with the governor of Puebla, Rafael Moreno Valle; WHEREAS on Monday afternoon the chair of the Host Committee, Armando Prida Huerta, was in charge of the presentation of a very interesting cultural talk on the formation of personal values within the framework of the educational revolution with the participation of the Secretary of Public Education of Puebla, Luís Maldonado Vanegas; WHEREAS on Friday the lunch was offered by invitation of the Universidad de las Américas Puebla and on Monday another invitation by the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma of Puebla; WHEREAS IAPA staff, translators and interpreters, and technicians working in the Mid-Year Meeting fulfilled their functions with high collaborative spirit and with the desire to serve the needs of meeting attendees; THE IAPA RESOLVES IN ITS MID-YEAR MEETING to express on behalf of its president, authorities, directors, and members, its most profound feelings of appreciation and thankfulness to the persons and companies who contributed and supported this successful meeting held in Puebla.