WHEREAS our Host Committee, made up of the Dominican Society of Newspapers and chaired by El Nuevo Diario (Persio Maldonado), Listín Diario (Miguel Franjul and Rosanna Rivera); La Información (Enmanuel Castillo); El Caribe (Rafael Osvaldo Santana); El Nacional (Bolívar Díaz); El Nuevo Diario (Persio Maldonado Sánchez); Hoy (Bienvenido Álvarez Vega); Diario Libre (Adriano Miguel Tejada) and El Día (Rafael Molina Morillo) and also the newspapers Bávaro News and El Tiempo (Frank Elías Rainieri y Rosanna Figueroa)
WHEREAS the Midyear Meeting in Punta Cana also received the generous support of the following organizations and companies that sponsored hospitality events, offered services and provided useful and informative material and equipment: National Reserves Bank (BanReservas), Tele Sistemas, Indotel, Barrick, Dominican Republic Foreign Relations Ministry, Dominican Republic Central Bank, Seguros Universal and Claro
WHEREAS prior to the meeting on Friday evening at the home of Frank Rainieri in Los Corales de Punta Cana the members of the IAPA Executive Committee and Advisory Council were received with a great show of hospitality by Frank Elías, Paola and Francesca Rainieri, sons and daughters of Frank and Haydée Rainieri
WHEREAS the President of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina, distinguished the IAPA Midyear Meeting with his presence, giving an important institutional support for freedom of the press and of expression during the official opening ceremony on Sunday morning, joining the list of hemisphere heads of state who have committed to the Declaration of Chapultepec, and the words of welcome by the Host Committee were given by Persio Maldonado, El Nuevo Diario, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
WHEREAS subsequently Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro, special invitee to the Midyear Meeting, signed the Declaration of Chapultepec and spoke of matters of great interest concerning the present and the challenges to diversity of opinion and pluralism that face the nations of the hemisphere, and the chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, Búsqueda, Montevideo, Uruguay, was the moderator of the session
WHEREAS during the first day of the Midyear Meeting, on Saturday morning, Rafael Bonnelly, ClicLogix, Miami, Florida, and Fernando Gómez Carpintero, Protecmedia, Madrid, Spain, were the speakers in a seminar on the preponderance that audiences have gained and their study by the media in the digital transformation, and the moderator of the session was Fernán Molinos, Metro Libre, Panama City, Panama
WHEREAS in the second seminar on Friday Antonio Peña, Overboost, Argentina; Ben Shaw of WAN-Ifra, France; Gedeón Santos Ramos, Indotel, Dominican Republic, gave those attending an illustrative insight into technological and non-news business developments that have as their basis making audiences loyal, and Ernesto Kraiselburd, El Día, La Plata, Argentina, added to the discussion in his role as moderator
WHEREAS on Friday afternoon Augusto Romano, Digo Network, Dominican Republic, and Matthew Sanders, Deseret Digital Media, Salt Lake City, Utah, were the speakers in an interesting and well received seminar on programmatic advertising and native advertising, two topics of great interest for the media, and Roberto Rock, La Silla Rota, Mexico City, Mexico, contributed toenriching the panel discussion as moderator
WHEREAS in the final seminar of the day, under the title Social Media and Millenials, Arturo López Valerio, Tabuga, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Saúl Leal, Deseret Digital Media, illustrated and pleased the audience with two marvelous presentations and Fabricio Altamirano, Diario de Hoy, San Salvador, El Salvador, prompted an in-depth discussion of the topics and enabled the audience to have a fluid participation
WHEREAS on Saturday evening the Host Committee offered a lively welcoming reception beside the Westin Puntacana Resort & Club's pool
WHEREAS the editor of El Universal of Mexico, Juan Francisco Ealy Lanz-Duret, gave a video presentation calling on IAPA members to participate in the 72nd General Assembly in Mexico City, an occasion that will coincide with celebration of El Universal's 100th anniversary
WHEREAS during the meeting of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information on Saturday morning there was held a panel discussion on Media Concentration featuring Luis Pardo, Association of Broadcast Stations of Chile, and Carlos Winograd, professor and researcher with the Economy School of the University of Paris-Evry in France, with Committee Chairman Carlos Paolillo acting as moderator
WHEREAS during the Saturday lunch, held in a tent on the sand on the Westin hotel's beautiful beach, Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Andrés Navarro gave a special presentation and was introduced by Adriano Tejada, Diario Libre, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
WHEREAS on Saturday evening, on the Playa Blanca beach, the Host Committee offered a dinner and party that was enlivened by singer Sergio Vargas and his orchestra
WHEREAS on Sunday morning IAPA President Pierre Manigault and the chairman of the IAPA Executive Committee, Jorge Canahuati, Grupo Opsa, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, headed the ceremony presenting the 2016 Chapultepec Grand Prize to the president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Alberto Ibargüen, who in turn offered those present a very knowledgeable reflection on the work carried out in defense of freedom of expression and the practice of journalism
WHEREAS at midday on Sunday in the panel discussion Alliances Between Digital Companies and News Media the representatives of Google, Newton Neto of Brazil, and of Facebook, Luis Renato Olivalves of Brazil, together with Ben Shaw, director of Global Advisory of WAN-Ifra, Germany, stressed the fundamental role of technology in the development of news content of quality and in its profitable distribution for the media
WHEREAS also on Sunday morning a deserved and heartfelt homage was paid to former IAPA president and prestigious journalist and lawyer of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Rafael Molina Morillo for his entire professional life in defense and promotion of freedom of the press in that nation
WHEREAS José Luis Corripio of Grupo Corripio, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,; Enrique Ramírez of Banreservas, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and V. Manuel Rocha of Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation, had in their charge a panel discussion titled "Economy, Growth and the Future" in which they reviewed the financial situation in the Latin American region and its possible repercussion in the news industry, with the participation of Miguel Henrique Otero, El Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela, who served as moderator
WHEREAS during the Sunday lunch businessman Frank Rainieri, Punta Cana Group, Dominican Republic, told those present of the vision that led to the construction and spectacular development of the Punta Cana tourism center, while serving as moderator was Emmanuel Castillo, La Información, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
WHEREAS the Dominican Republic Culture Ministry offered on Sunday a dinner accompanied by a spectacular dance show in the Casa Club
WHEREAS on Monday morning Italo Pizzolante Negrón offered a panel discussion on Social Responsibility of the News Company which was skillfully moderated by Miguel Franjul, Listín Diario, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
WHEREAS the Dominican Republic presidential candidates were present on Monday and, in the final event of the IAPA Midyear Meeting, signed the Declaration of Chapultepec, the key document on Freedom of Expression in the Western Hemisphere that the IAPA promotes, and their introduction was made by Rafael Molina Morillo, El Día, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
THE IAPA MIDYEAR MEETING RESOLVES
to express on behalf of the IAPA president, officers, directors and members its deepest feelings of gratitude and appreciation to those persons and companies that contributed to and supported this successful meeting held in Punta Cana.
