Miami (May 8, 2023) - The transformative power of great journalism is the vision that must guide the digital evolution of the media, said IAPA President Michael Greenspon, global director of Licensing and Print Innovation at The New York Times, in a conversation with Andrés Mompotes, editor of the Colombian daily El Tiempo.
The interview took place in an auditorium of the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (UOA) in Cali, Colombia, before an audience of academics from 24 universities and journalism students, as part of the XI International Meeting of the Latin American Council for the Accreditation of Education in Journalism and Communication (CLAEP).
At the beginning of the meeting, Greenspon presided over a ceremony in which academic authorities and directors of Colombia's main press associations signed the Chapultepec and Salta declarations, which commit the hemisphere's authorities to respect and guarantee freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Following this, journalists and students from universities across the country also signed the documents.
"Our mission is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. This is based on the belief that great journalism has the power to make every reader's life richer and more fulfilling, and to make all of society stronger and more just," Greenspon said.
The U.S. newspaper executive said that vision has driven The New York Times to "build a business that prioritizes digital and subscriptions, focused on journalism worth paying for."
When questioned by Mompotes about the relationship between the success achieved by the Times' digital subscriptions and the fact that it still publishes a large print edition, Greenspon responded that more than 40 percent of the company's revenue comes from print and publishing and that, therefore, the paper's transformation is not complete.
In addition to navigating a complex and rapidly changing media landscape, he noted that other challenges persist, from the dominance of technology giants to historic changes in the way people "find news and relate to it."
Andrés Mompotes' full interview with Michael Greenspon, in which they discuss key issues for the news industry, such as the new skills of news professionals, Artificial Intelligence, disinformation and obstacles to press freedom, can be viewed here.
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the Western Hemisphere; and is based in Miami, Florida.
