Appreciation

Aa

Resolution of the Midyear Meeting

Bridgetown, Barbados

April, 4 - 7, 2014

$.-

WHEREAS the Host Committee of the Midyear Meeting held on the hospitable island of Barbados, headed by Vivian-Anne Gittens, The Nation Publishing Company, and made up of Harold Hoyte, also of The Nation Publishing Company; Anthony Bryan of The Barbados Advocate, as well as Jewel Forde of the Barbados Association of Journalists, and Roy Morris of The Nation Publishing Company; Dawn Thomas of the company One Caribbean Media Limited of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; Bernard Phillips and Andrea Cadogan of the Barbados Tourism Authority; Dominic Beaubrun of Starcom Network Inc., Barbados, and Christopher Barnes, The Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica, worked with skill, dedication and generosity to provide a magnificent atmosphere that highlighted the special importance of our organization

WHEREAS the Midyear Meeting in Barbados received the generous support of the following persons and organizations: One Caribbean Media; The Nation Publishing Company; Starcom Network Inc.; Schurz Communications Inc.; The Barbados Advocate; The Gleaner Company; The Durango Herald / Ballantine Communications Inc., and the Barbados Tourism Authority

WHEREAS on Friday, in the first seminar, titled "Sources of New Revenue: Expanding the Monetization Power of Videos," panelists Juan Luis Alonso, Grupo Prisa, Madrid, Spain, and Adrián Segovia, AS, Madrid Spain, spoke before a room full of our delegates about innovative concepts of great use for modern news companies and which in addition had the distinguished contribution of Fernán Molinos, La Prensa, Panama City, Panama, in the role of moderator

WHEREAS also on Friday Professor Karl Watson, a historian of great prestige for his research in the Caribbean area, led a tour by our delegates of relevant sites in the city of Bridgetown

WHEREAS in the morning, in the second seminar, Diego Cobelo Rodríguez, Classora, Madrid, Spain, and Rosario Henríquez, El Nuevo Día, San Juan, Puerto Rico, conducted an enlightening session on the evolution of information on digital platforms and highlighted successful editorial strategies in that area of constant changes, having in addition the pertinent comments of moderator Francisco Vásquez, Audience Circles, Atlanta, USA;

WHEREAS the third seminar of the program, held on Friday afternoon under the title "Strategies for the Recovery of Classified Advertising," panelists Marco Enríquez, Advenet, Madrid, Spain, and Julio Bazán of the Mexican Association of Editors and Publishers, Mexico City, Mexico, demonstrated a high degree of knowledge and experience on speaking about how news companies are attempting to recover on the new content platforms, control of classified ad business and other advertising formats and in addition this session was well moderated by Ernesto Kraiselburd, El Día, La Plata, Argentina

WHEREAS in the Friday's final seminar there was in-depth discussion of the need to take full advantage of the advertising possibilities in the new platforms of interaction with the reader, having as presenters Matthew Sanders of the Deseret Media Digital company, a media conglomerate at the front of digitalization in the United States, and Xavier Rius of the Netsonic firm in San José, Costa Rica, with the valuable action as moderator of Armando Castilla, Vanguardia, Saltillo, Mexico

WHEREAS on the Friday evening the Host Committee offered a pleasant dinner for the members of the IAPA Executive Committee and Advisory Council at The Champers Restaurant, with the sponsorship of Dawn Thomas, CEO of One Caribbean Media

WHEREAS during Saturday the sessions of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information were enriched by three panel discussions of great content and significance for freedom of expression and which in the first of these sessions the renowned British legal consultant Lord Anthony Lester, The Odyseuss Trust, London, United Kingdom, gave a keynote speech on the legal basis for supporting the claim by world press organizations against the veiled imposition of censorship through England's Royal Charter, a similar situation to the one being faced in some Latin American countries, which was also focused on in the panel discussion also made up of Christopher Barnes, executive editor of The Gleaner of Jamaica, one of the English-speaking Caribbean's most prestigious newspapers, and Diego Cornejo, executive director of the Ecuadorean Association of Newspaper Editors and Publishers (AEDEP)

WHEREAS in Saturday's second panel discussion, under the title "Venezuela in Crisis: Journalists Speak," made up of Claudia Gurisatti of NTN24, Bogotá, Colombia; investigative journalist Jorge Luis Sierra, Knight International Journalism Fellow, and the Honorable Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma there was a detailed examination from diverse perspectives of the seriousness of the situation being faced by the press and society in Venezuela

WHEREAS during the Saturday luncheon Lord Anthony Lester displayed his knowledge as an important European constitutionalist lawyer on reading his speech "National Security: Press Freedom and Privacy: Achieving a Balance" and Gustavo Mohme, IAPA First Vice President and editor of La República, Lima, Peru, very skillfully carried out his role as moderator

WHEREAS in the final panel discussion on the Saturday afternoon two American press executives, Anders Gyllenhaal, McClatchy Newspapers, Washington, D.C., and Bill Roberts, The Durango Herald, Durango, Colorado, focused on the difficult problems American journalism is facing concerning national security policies, one of the issues that dominated the 69th IAPA General Assembly in Denver, Colorado, and whose consequences continue to surprise the press in general;

WHEREAS Saturday's activities wound up with an excellent Welcoming Dinner with a musical band and beautiful presentations of Caribbean dances at the Hilton Resort Barbados, courtesy of the Host Committee

WHEREAS at the start of the presentation of panel discussions on the Sunday under the title "Media Concentration and the Role of the Government" there was a very clear definition of the challenges for the independent press of the incursion of populist governments in the creation and control of news monopolies in the hemisphere, with the distinguished participation of Asdrúbal Aguiar, El Impulso, Barquisimeto, Venezuela; Edward Seaton, Seaton Newspapers, Manhattan, Kansas; Santiago Cantón of the Robert F. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., and, as moderator, former Chicago Tribune editor and former IAPA president Jack Fuller

WHEREAS in the following panel discussion on the Sunday highlighted were the relevance and achievements of the Declaration of Chapultepec on the 20th anniversary of its promulgation on March 11, 1994 in Mexico, beginning with an introduction by Chapultepec Committee Chairman José Roberto Dutriz, La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, El Salvador, followed by presentations by two specialists in legislation on press freedom Adrián Ventura, La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Eduardo Ulibarri, United Nations ambassador, New York, N.Y. The moderator of the session was Alejo Miró Quesada, Cosas, Lima, Peru, former IAPA president and former chairman of the Chapultepec Committee

WHEREAS the Honorable Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel J. Stuart, expressed words of support and sympathy for the cause of freedom of expression and press freedom during the IAPA Midyear Meeting's Official Opening Ceremony

WHEREAS the President and Editor Emeritus of The Nation Publishing Company, Harold Hoyte, was the special speaker during the Sunday luncheon and his introduction was made by another great figure of Caribbean journalism, Oliver F. Clarke, The Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica

WHEREAS in the panel discussion "Economic Development and News Media in the Caribbean" prominent jurists, financiers and journalists of that region expressed to those attending a precise and clear view of how the essential role of the press has been one of the motors that drives democracy and development in this region of the hemisphere; the presentations were by Sir Dennis Byron of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Port of Spain, Trinidad; Damien King of the Caribbean Policy Research Institute, Kingston, Jamaica; and Ian Durant of the Caribbean Development Bank, St. Michael, Barbados; in the role of moderator was Oliver Clarke, The Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica

WHEREAS in Sunday's final panel discussion Roberto Pombo, editor of El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia; José María Moreno of the News Media Development International Institute, Madrid, Spain, and Carlos Muller of the National Association of Journalists (ANJ), Brasília, Brazil, reviewed with due knowledge and experience how media that produce content can bring about alliances to protect against wrongful use on the Internet and how the choice to create content paywalls can be considered depending on the conditions appropriate for each media company, with the role of moderator being exercised by Fernando Gómez of the firm Protecmedia, Madrid, Spain

WHEREAS on the Sunday evening delegates were special guests at the official residence of Barbados Prime Minister Freundel J. Stuart and this reception was held in an atmosphere of great cordiality and fraternity

WHEREAS IAPA staff, translators and interpreters and technicians deployed at the IAPA Midyear Meeting carry out their duties in a spirit of great collaboration and service to those attending

THE IAPA RESOLVES

to express on the part of the president, officers, directors and members their deepest gratitude and appreciation to the persons and companies that contributed to and supported this successful 2014 Midyear Meeting in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Share

0