Punta Cana will host the meeting from October 16 to 19
Miami (September 12, 2025) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) will hold its 81st General Assembly from October 16 to 19 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The gathering will bring together editors, journalists, and media executives from across the continent to discuss the challenges facing journalism, with a special focus on press freedom, media sustainability, and the impact of artificial intelligence.
The opening ceremony will feature the participation of the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, alongside IAPA President José Roberto Dutriz, CEO of La Prensa Gráfica of El Salvador. The program will open with a special presentation by renowned journalist Jon Lee Anderson of The New Yorker, in conversation with IAPA Executive Committee Chair Gabriela Vivanco, director of La Hora in Ecuador.
The preliminary program can be found at this link.
Over four days, delegates will present and debate reports on the state of press freedom in 24 countries in the region, in addition to panels and workshops on innovation, digital transformation, business models, and the role of the press in democracy.
A central highlight will be a dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence in newsrooms, led by Rosental Calmon Alves, director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, in conversation with IAPA Second Vice President Carlos Jornet of La Voz del Interior, Argentina.
IAPA and Google News Initiative will also present the results of revenue and monetization labs, along with practical workshops on AI applied to journalism.
The agenda will feature training opportunities, such as an opinion journalism workshop and a collaborative investigative journalism panel led by Boris Muñoz, founder of the opinion section of The New York Times en Español. Other discussions will address the resilience of journalists in exile, the democratic value of local journalism in the United States, and the need to advance more inclusive gender perspectives in media.
A standout presentation will be the panel on sustainability and the future of the industry, featuring insights from Paul Deegan, CEO of News Media Canada, and Martín Etchevers, IAPA board member from Grupo Clarín, Argentina.
As is tradition, the 81st General Assembly in Punta Cana will host the IAPA Awards for Excellence in Journalism 2025 and the institution’s major recognitions: the Grand Prize Chapultepec (Thomson Reuters Foundation), the Grand Press Freedom Award (Daniel Coronell, president of Univision News), the Grand Friend of the Press Award (Redacciones5G), and the Executive of the Year Award (René Picado Cozza, president of Televisora de Costa Rica–Teletica).
Registration and lodging. Early registration ensures participation in the most important press event in the Americas and provides access to preferential rates at the host hotel, The Westin Puntacana. Reservations are already available, and participants are encouraged to book early to secure availability.
The 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.