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Issue #454 • CHAPULTEPEC AMBASSADORS TO THREE COUNTRIES•2010 AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

1. Symposium in Florida

2. Anti-impuni-ty campaign

gets boost3. IAPA-UNAM online degree

course

The IAPA is returning to Mexico, this time to the “White City” of Mérida, to hold its 66th

General Assembly. The “friendly country” that has welcomed the organization on many occasions for its General Assemblies and Midyear Meetings, the most recent in Mexico City in September-October 2006, is once again opening its doors to invite our organization’s delegates to Mérida, in Yucatán state. The venue will be the Fiesta Americana Mérida Hotel, located at the junction of the city’s two major avenues.

Following the change of venue, due to reasons beyond the organization’s control and the

Press freedom under siegeThe murder of 13 journalists and a continuing trend of enactment of laws restricting the press in a number of countries in the hemisphere have marked the last six months since the IAPA’s General Assembly in Buenos Aires in November 2009. That was underscored in the Conclusions adopted by the Midyear Meeting held March 19-22 in Aruba, where the leadership of the IAPA at a critical time for public liberties in several countries of the region was clearly demonstrated. (See Page 5)

Mérida to host Assembly

The Fiesta Americana Mérida Hotel in Mérida, Yu-catán, the venue of the IAPA 66th General Assembly November 5-9.

earthquake that struck Chile, where this General Assembly was originally to be held, we rapidly transferred to Merida which has an infrastructure that meets all the requirements for holding our major annual membership meeting. (See Page 5)

Standing, IAPA President Alejandro Aguirre, with Aruba Prime Minister Michiel Eman and Neth-erlands Antilles Prime Minister Emily De Jongh Elhage during the Midyear Meeting opening ceremony.

Brazil’s press awards IAPAThe National Association of Newspapers of Brazil (ANJ) decided by unanimous vote to award the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) with the ANJ Press Freedom Prize, created in 2008 to honor persons or entities that have been outstanding in the defense or promotion of freedom of the press. Brazil’s leading newspaper organization announced its decision in a letter sent by its president, Judith Brito, to IAPA President Alejandro J. Aguirre. (See Page 3)

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The Ministry of Education and the Dominican Journalists Guild (CDP) awarded the 2010 National Journalism Prize to Rafael Molina Morillo , editor of the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, newspaper El Día.

The award, given for the first time to the man who founded the magazine ¡Ahora! and the afternoon paper El Nacional, carries with it a cash prize of a half million pesos (about $125,000) and a diploma that will be presented at the National Palace on a date to be announced later, a press release said.

The ceremony in which the winner ’s name was announced was chaired by Education Minister Melanio Paredes and CDP President Aurelio Henríquez .

Rafael Molina honoredHE WAS IAPA PRESIDENT IN 2006-2007 AND CHAIRED ITS COMMITTEE ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND INFORMATION FOR 5 YEARS

Threats to freedom of expression in Latin America are a reflection of the weakness of the democratic institutions, declared Human Rights Watch Director for the Americas José Miguel Vivanco on being presented with the 2010 Chapultepec Grand Prize, awarded by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) for his “outstanding work in defense of freedom of expression and the principles of the Declaration of Chapultepec.”

Vivanco, a Chilean, said in Oranjestad, Aruba, during the IAPA’s Midyear Meeting that “a key indicator for measuring democratic progress in a specified country is the level of protection that is given to freedom of expression.” “Since 2004 the legal system of Venezuela is an appendage of the Executive Branch” of President Hugo Chávez, he declared.

Paredes read a biography of Molina, who was born in La Vega on March 31, 1930. He is a lawyer and diplomat. The experienced journalist was the second Dominican Republic citizen to become president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and chairman of its Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, a post he held for five years (1999-2004). In addition, in 2004 he created the Center for Freedom of Expression in the Dominican Republic. n

Molina during his term as IAPA president.

The presentation of the Chapultepec Grand Prize was preceded by a lively debate on the IAPA report about the situation in Venezuela, with a number of media representatives stepping in to support President Chávez’ government policies.

The report showed that press freedom and free speech in Venezuela are continuing to deteriorate and that “Venezuela’s independent press is facing the imminent danger of collapsing and disappearing in the face of the government’s economic sabotage.” Following the reading of the report several representatives of the self-styled organization “Journalists for the Truth,” of Venezolana de Televisión T V network and of Avila T V rebutted the IAPA criticism and defended “the revolution of the Venezuelan people.” IAPA President Alejandro J. Aguirre declared that the debate had demonstrated the importance of the exercise of freedom of expression in allowing the participation of people who are not members of the IAPA and had not even registered to attend the meeting. n

VIVANCO PRESENTED WITH 2010 CHAPULTEPEC PRIZE‘VENEZUELA’S LEGAL SYSTEM IS AN APPENDAGE OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH’

José Miguel Vivanco.

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Brazil’s press acknowledgesIAPA’s ‘tireless efforts’The letter from the ANJ president received by Aguirre said the following:

“ The ANJ Press Freedom Prize was awarded in 2008 to Federal Supreme Court Justice Carlos Ayres Brito , the rapporteur of the process that resulted in the Press Law of Brazil. In 2009 the award went to Rep. Miro Teixeria , author of the

legal proceedings that produced action on the Press Law.

“ The 2010 ANJ Press Freedom Prize, awarded to the IAPA, is to be presented at the 8th Brazilian Meeting of Newspapers to be held August 19-20 in Rio de Janeiro.” n

Ambassadors to Bolivia, Peru and BrazilThe IAPA Chapultepec Project’s Ambassadors Program is to stage an unprecedented round of three forums at universities in Bolivia, Peru and Brazil with the objective of raising awareness among youths in those countries of the principles of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, while enabling them to develop critical thinking in order to recognize positive examples of those freedoms or identify violations that could occur in their communities.

The first forum, “Seminar on Press Freedom: Reality, Obstacles and Solutions,” was held April 21 at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences in Lima, Peru.

One of the members of the Chapultepec Ambassadors project, Venezuelan jurist and law lecturer Asdrúbal Aguiar, spoke at the opening of the forum, which also featured welcoming remarks by the university’s rector, Luis Bustamante Belaunde, the president of the Peruvian Press

Council (CPP), Luis Agois Banchero, and IAPA Executive Director Julio E. Muñoz.

Other presentations will be made by Diego García Sayán, chief justice of the Inter-American Human Rights Court, the editor of the magazine Cosas Internacional, Alejandro Miró Quesada, and the editor of the Lima, Peru, newspaper La República, Gustavo Mohme Seminario.

A similar forum was scheduled for April 23 on the Santa Cruz de la Sierra campus of Bolivia’s Santo Tomás de Aquino University. In addition to Aguiar IAPA Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti is to speak.

The editor of Santa Cruz newspaper El Deber, Pedro Rivero Jordán, gave an address titled “Main Threats Against Freedom of the Press in Bolivia” and the welcoming remarks were made by the university’s vice rector, Erick Sanjinés Chávez, and the president of the Bolivian National Press Association (ANP), Marco Dipp.

The third Chapultepec Ambassadors program forum will be held on May 19 at the Catholic Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This will be in collaboration with the Brazilian Investigative Reporting Association (ABRAJI). n

Former IAPA President Diana Daniels (2005-2006) and the organization’s Executive Director Julio E. Muñoz took part as panelists in the Annual Symposium of the Governmental Responsibility Center held on April 16 at the School of Law of the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville.

The two-hour-long symposium was devoted to the theme “ Threats to Freedom of Expression, Freedom of the Press and Access to Information Laws in the Americas” and featured presentations by leading United States constitutional jurists and lawyers. The program’s

moderator was the Law School’s emeritus dean and Governmental Responsibility Center director Jon Mills . Another panelist was Sandra Chance , lecturer at the UF School of Journalism and Communications. Ms. Daniels is currently a member of the Goldman Sachs Fiduciary Board. n

Address to jurists and academics in Florida

Diana Daniels and Julio E. Muñoz

In briefAppointment–Philanthropist and promoter of the arts Dennis Scholl has been named Vice President for the Arts of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with the mission of collaborating with community leaders in cities where the Knight Ridder chain publishes newspapers. Since 2009 Scholl has headed in Miami, Florida, the Knight Art Challenge program, an initiative that operates with funding of $40 million to bring together the various ethnic communities in South Florida through artistic activities.

Celebration–The Cali, Colombia, newspaper El País announced it planned to celebrate its 60th anniversary with a ceremony on April 20 to which Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe Velez has been invited. The paper, founded in 1950, is headed by María Elvira Domínguez Lloreda, its editor and general manager.

Award–The correspondent in Chile of the Argentine newspaper Clarín, Mónica González, has been awarded the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize for her battle against the dictatorship in Chile, the organization announced on April 13. González, arrested on numerous occasions for her investigative reports, was imprisoned from 1984 to 1985 and following the restoration of democracy in the Andean country in 1990 she worked as an editor and reporter. Since 2007 she has been heading the Journalistic Investigation and Information Center (CIPER) in Chile. The UNESCO award is made in honor of slain Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano.

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The Board of Governors of the Inter American Press Association’s Scholarship Fund chose the winners of the 2010 awards during the Association’s Midyear Meeting in Aruba March 19-22.

The winners are: Taylor Katelyn Barnes of Providence, R.I.; César Vangelis Noriega Ramos of Caracas, Venezuela, and Mónica María Quesada Cordero of Heredia, Costa Rica.

The names were announced in the Aruban capital, Oranjestad, by Board of Governors Chairman Jayme Sirotsky, of RBS, Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Treasurer Silvia Miró Quesada, of El Comercio, Lima, Peru.

The IAPA each year offers scholarships to journalists from Latin America and the Caribbean to study in the United States or Canada and to those from the United States and Canada to do so in Latin America. The scholarship includes a financial stipend and travel expenses. The funds to provide the scholarships come from special contributions by IAPA member newspapers. n

2010 AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The results have been very effective of the revitalization of the campaign to end Impunity Surrounding Crimes Against Journalists carried out in recent months on IAPA member newspapers’ Web sites, without abandoning the one conducted for seven years now in the papers’ printed versions.

Some 110 newspapers throughout the Americas are taking an active and voluntary part in this goodwill initiative. A banner supplied by the IAPA is constantly flashed on the main pages of the online editions, which has led to a considerable number of readers signing a letter that each month is sent to the president of the country concerned in which a call is made for those guilty of murdering journalists be brought to justice. n

ANTI-IMPUNITY CAMPAIGN GETS NEW THRUST

Jayme Sirotsky.

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Mexico to again host IAPA General AssemblyPREPARATIONS UNDER WAY FOR THE NOVEMBER 5-9 EVENT

A formidable Host Committee headed by Gerardo García Gamboa, together with his brother Andrés and sister Alice, is all set to begin planning a General Assembly that is sure to be another milestone in the history of the IAPA.

The program will be a combination of leading personalities, panel discussions that will focus on the most complex and important issues facing the press of the hemisphere, a series of seminars on current topics, and cultural and social activities at exciting places. Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón is to be invited, along with other leaders, experts in global economy, those from international political bodies, and opinion makers.

The program will include seminars, panel discussions, key speeches and internationally renowned personalities. It can be announced that the panel discussions will focus on issues of great relevance in Mexico, such as the violence and impunity existing mainly in the northern parts of Mexico and border states, and what the government has been doing so

far. There will also be roundtables on the illicit drug trade and challenges in inter-American relations, and others on the IAPA Aspirations document concerning media credibility, on inter-American integration, and on the world financial crisis.

The seminars will include discussion of Internet news fees, of where the advertising industry now stands after the international crisis, plus talks on financial journalism, copyright on the Internet, and a discussion of the future of newspaper management. n

Residences on Mérida’s Paseo de Montejo boulevard.

In the last six months there were seven murders of journalists in Mexico, three in Honduras, two in Colombia and one in Brazil. The organization also lamented the death of 31 news men and women and dozens of others injured in the earthquake that reduced Haiti to rubble, and the losses suffered by news facilities in that country, as well as the earthquake that later hit Chile.

The IAPA drew attention to the case in Cuba of journalist Guillermo Fariñas, on hunger strike in demand for the release of 27 independent fellow journalists, among other prisoners of conscience, who remain behind bars in Castro’s prisons. Fariñas is seriously ill and could lose his life, as did prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died after a prolonged hunger strike.

On the same morning of the opening sessions

in Aruba the news arrived of another death of a journalist in Colombia. The IAPA declared that harassment and persecution tend to come from a number of sources – from the powers-that-be or the criminal element, drug traffickers and guerrilla movements. Governments on the other hand use more varied and subtle means.

In general the IAPA also stressed that there is an increasing tendency to create and impose legislation and rules restricting freedom of expression, the right to inform and to be informed, and there is ongoing harassment by governments such as those of Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador, following the example of Venezuela, with dozens of news media being closed down by the authorities. See reports on press freedom in all the countries of the Western Hemisphere and the Resolutions adopted by the IAPA in Aruba at www.sipiapa.org n

Press freedom under siege

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Knight Center event featuresjournalist protection programIAPA IMPUNITY PROJECT SHARES EXPERIENCES ON REPORTING UNDER RISK IN MEXICO

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas held on March 26 and 27 in Austin, Texas, a seminar on across-border coverage of drug trafficking in Mexico and the United States sponsored by the McCormick Foundation’s Specialist Reporting Institute.

Journalists from Mexico and the United States, as well as professors and researchers from a number of universities, provided their experiences in this kind of coverage, a review of what is happening and the alternatives for halting continued imposition of censorship by criminal groups in Mexico and also so Mexico can become a safer country to work as a journalist.

The IAPA shared some of the results of the

investigation it is carrying out throughout Mexico and which it has titled Map of Risks, in which the importance is stressed of not forgetting the attacks on journalists nor abandoning those reporters working in the firing line, as was expressed by María Idalia Gómez of the IAPA’s Rapid Response Unit.

The experience was an enriching one, with concrete proposals and ideas to develop in the mid- and long-term.

Of the points that were made the main ones were to create greater awareness among news companies of the two countries, to produce more human and in-depth coverage, and to become even more professional, among others. n

April 26 has been set as the deadline for participants to register for the online degree course titled “ The extent of organized crime: The practice of journalism in the face of violence. Investigative methods and use of new technologies,” organized the School of Political and Social Sciences of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA).

This joint effort, being made due to the serious risks being faced by journalists in Mexico and other Latin American countries, features the participation of one of the most prestigious universities in the Americas, UNAM, which is providing to participants a diploma, highly regarded in the news business,

The IAPA and UNAM, committed to training and professionalization, have stressed the fact that the course should have the largest possible student participation, for which they have set a fee that is low given the knowledge to be imparted.

The program will be of 120 hours over 11 weeks, from May 3 to August 6 this year.

The IAPA will provide partial scholarships to journalists working for print media with a circulation of under 10,000 copies.

For more information contact in Mexico IAPA Coordinator Dario Fritz by e-mail at [email protected] or in Miami Sauro González , IAPA Press Institute manager, at [email protected] n

Scholarships available for onlinedegree course with UNAM

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Earl Maucker announced his retirement as editor of the newspaper Sun-Sentinel of South Florida, where in addition to an outstanding career as a journalist he distinguished himself for his involvement in professional organizations, including the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), of which he has served as president (2007-2008).

During a presentation of awards to reporters in Fort Lauderdale Maucker said that once his retirement is effective (no date has yet been set) he hopes to continue being involved in journalism and dedicate himself to charity and community development efforts.

Maucker headed the Sun-Sentinel during a difficult period for the whole industry, successfully achieving the reorganization of the newsroom and editorial reforms that earned him the distinction of Editor & Publisher magazine’s Editor of the Year in 2008. The Sun-Sentinel’s parent company, Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel and 23 television channels. n

Maucker announces he’s stepping down

The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) has named as its new president the editor-in-chief of The Washington Post, Milton Coleman, who is also

2nd vice president of the IAPA and a member of its Board of Directors.

Coleman, 63, succeeds Martin Kaiser, editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

ASNE is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1922 to promote freedom of the press and develop ethical and professional standards in the news industry.

The editor of the Post, who joined that paper in 1976, referred dramatically to the challenges facing the traditional press during ASNE’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. “We have legal and governmental adversaries and also ideological adversaries and financial and spiritual adversaries,” he declared. “The way ahead for this side of the business looks very complicated.”

However, the new ASNE president urged a more active role for that organization in helping its members adapt to the technological changes that are happening in the industry. n

Coleman takes over ASNE presidency

MauckerColeman

APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR FELLOWSHIPS FOR LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN JOURNALISTS The Washington Post and the Woodrow Wilson Center have issued a call to print media and online journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean to apply for fellowships in Washington, D.C., submitting works on an issue of importance for their country and relations with the United States.

The fellowships consist of a program of immersion in the U.S. capital’s political culture. Five journalists from the region will have the unique opportunity to develop sources of information, come into contact with public and private institutions and learn on site how Washington functions.

This new edition of the fellowships will be developed on the basis of the success achieved with the 2008 pilot program. During the last two years journalists from Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico and Venezuela carried out investigative reporting projects from the

newsroom of The Washington Post in the U.S. capital. Their articles were published in their respective national media and on the Web sites of The Washington Post and the Woodrow Wilson Center.

We are pleased to call for entries from Latin America and the Caribbean for the 2010 fellowships. These will last three weeks, from September 13 to October 1, 2010. Each fellowship includes food and accommodation, as well as a small stipend for transportation in the city.

For more information please e-mail Nikki Nichols, the fellowship program coordinator, at [email protected] n

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The IAPA Press Institute is inviting news editors, section heads and reporters with management potential to a seminar titled “The challenges of the newsroom leader: To plan, innovate and gain readers,” to be held May 6-7 at the Hilton Presidente San Salvador Hotel in El Salvador.

The seminar will focus on strategic planning and newsrooms in times of convergence, on the use of social networks to create community and boost the news, and on alternatives for coverage of urban violence issues.

The speakers will be Carlos Jornet, editor of the Cordóba, Argentina, newspaper La Voz del Interior, and Homero Hinajosa, editorial consultant with 18 years’ experience in the training of journalists, newspaper innovation and editorial marketing techniques.

For more information on the IAPA Press Institute seminars go to www.institutodeprensa.com

Hora de Cierre hasnew online version

Jornet and Hinojosa to give seminar for news editors

On Thursday, April 16 the first issue of a twice-monthly online newsletter of the magazine Hora de Cierre, an IAPA Press Institute publication that is about to celebrate 20 years’ service to Spanish-language newspapers, went into circulation.

This is the latest in a series of informational vehicles designed to disseminate Hora de Cierre content, which undoubtedly is an important point of reference for our industry. Three years ago we added to the magazine Web site www.horadecierre.net the version in e-paper which is distributed by e-mail and can now be seen through this newsletter.

The printed version of Hora de Cierre continues being circulated without interruption each quarter and is distributed by mail in 26 countries. n

Access Law in Brazil welcomedThe IAPA on April 16 welcomed the passage by Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies of a bill that seeks to guarantee citizens the right to information, as enshrined in that country’s 1988 Constitution.

The bill, passed by the Chamber on April 13, now goes to the Senate for debate.

IAPA President Alejandro J. Aguirre, editor of the Miami, Florida, Spanish-language newspaper Diario Las Américas, expressed the organization’s confidence that the measure would soon become law and so “allow Brazilians to enjoy their right to information which will enable them to make well-informed decisions.”

The bill is a compromise deriving from a debate that lasted for a year among legislators, professional organizations, NGOs and civil society. The IAPA praised the Brazilian Newspaper Association (ANJ) and its president, Judith Britto of the São Paulo newspaper Folha de S. Paulo for their efforts to make this project a reality. n

IAPA calls for support in Zuloaga caseThe IAPA has called for the support of inter-governmental organizations to safeguard freedom of the press in Venezuela and raise the matter of the public legal proceedings against journalist Guillermo Zuloaga with Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez. The senior officers of the IAPA made the request to United Nations Secretary General Bank-Ki-Moon, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director General Irina Bokova, Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Executive Secretary Santiago Cantón in notes sent in late March. On March 25 Zuloaga, president of the Venezuelan television network Globovisión, was arrested and released shortly afterwards after being charged with disseminating false information and expressing contempt of the president in statements he made on March 21 during the IAPA Midyear Meeting in Aruba. n

" 71 años informando con honestidad e imparcialidad "

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