Miami (October 30, 2023) - The rising tide of violence against media and journalists during elections will be one of the main concerns the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) will address at its annual meeting beginning in a few days in Mexico City.
As part of the four-day program of presentations, a panel coordinated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will explore technological tools that can improve election coverage and counter efforts by anti-democratic forces to silence or intimidate journalists.
The panel will include Unesco journalist Albertina Piterbarg, a specialist in election monitoring; Eduardo Ceccoti of the anti-disinformation portal Chequeado; and Nicolás Pérez of El Universo newspaper in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Pablo Deluca of Infobae will moderate the session.
One of the topics to be discussed is the PortalCheck project carried out by Unesco and Chequeado. This portal has just been launched and includes guides, videos, courses, and methods for verifying the statements of politicians, media, business people, and social leaders to improve citizen debate and the quality of democracy.
The 79th General Assembly of the IAPA will run from 9 to November 12. Friday, January 10, will be a day devoted to deliberations on the state of press freedom in all countries of the Americas. The issue of electoral security for journalism will be one of the most pressing.
The following day, Saturday, January 11, in a parallel activity to its annual meeting, the IAPA will offer the workshop "Redacciones + Seguras" (Secure Newsrooms) for a group of pre-selected Mexican journalists. The workshop will be given by Javier Garza and María Idalia Gómez, specialists in preventing violence against journalists.
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, United States.
