Opening of Sessions
of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information
IAPA President Pierre Manigault, Evening Post Publishing Co.,
Charleston, South Carolina
Saturday, October 15, 2016, 9:00 a.m.
Good morning. I again would like to thank Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, Juan Francisco Ealy Lanza Duret and the Host Committee for organizing this General Assembly. Also I give my thanks to the country-by-country vice-chairmen of the Committee, who today are in charge of one of the most important sessions of this meeting in which we review the state of press freedom in our countries.
In these sessions we are accustomed to the good leadership of the Chairman of the Committee, our colleague and friend Claudio Paolillo, who for health reasons was not able to join us here. From this his domain, he who enthusiastically, passionately and strongly has defended each attack upon press freedom, I wish to send warm greetings to Claudio and tell him that we his colleagues wait for his recovery and his return to the job he does so well. Our best wishes to you, Claudio, and your family, and to all those who love you.
Given Claudio's absence we have asked the Committee vice chairs, Lourdes de Obaldía of La Prensa of Panama and Roberto Rock of La Silla Rota of Mexico, to head today's activities and all the discussions on press freedom during the rest of this General Assembly.
We know that it is going to be a long day of detailing their countries' problems, along with highlighting all the work that the Freedom of Press and Information Committee has been carrying out in the region.
In addition to the presentation of reports, we will have several panel discussions dealing with current issues, such as the State of Press Freedom in Mexico, conducted by Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz and Ricardo Salinas, of TV Azteca, and that of the "Right to Forget" with panelists Eleonora Rabinovich of Google, Luis Fernando García of Mexico's Defense of Digital Rights Network, and Carlos Jornet who is with La Voz del Interior of Argentina and a member of the IAPA sub-committee on the right to oblivion.
These panel discussions along with the presentation and inevitable debate over the Freedom of Press reports ensure us that we will have an interesting day and, through the process, we will even more deeply commit ourselves to IAPA's core mission of protecting freedom of expression throughout the Americas.
Thank you very much.
