The following is an IPI press release: IPI SELECTS 50 WORLD PRESS FREEDOM HEROES The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, has named 50 World Press Freedom Heroes from the past 50 years to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its founding in New York by a small group of […]
The following is an IPI press release:
IPI SELECTS 50 WORLD PRESS FREEDOM HEROES
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, has named 50 World Press Freedom Heroes from the past 50 years to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its founding in New York by a small group of editors from 15 countries who recognised the need for a truly international press freedom organisation.
The 50 Press Freedom Heroes were chosen by an IPI selection committee from a long list of journalists who have made a significant contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom in their country or on a global basis over a period of time in the last 50 years, especially – but not only – if this involved acts of resistance or bravery under harsh conditions (e.g., physical attacks, threats, harassment, censorship, imprisonment, kidnapping, exile, administrative, legal and economic pressure).
The 50 Heroes fall into three broad categories:
Press Freedom Fighters:
Persons who have made a significant contribution to press freedom in their country by providing independent news coverage, opinions and views under difficult and often dangerous conditions. To defend press freedom, they have risked arrest, imprisonment, violence against themselves and their families, and even death.
Press Freedom Martyrs:
Persons who were deliberately targeted and killed because of their work or opinions. This does not include journalists who – while working in dangerous places – died because they were caught in the cross fire while exercising their profession.
Press Freedom Defenders/Promoters/Protectors:
Persons who have (a) made critical contributions to press freedom on a global basis or (b) profoundly strengthened the free press in their own country, often risking their careers and/or professional reputations in the process.
Of the 50 Heroes, five were brutally murdered (Guillermo Cano of Colombia, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro of Nicaragua, Veronica Guerin of Ireland, Tara Singh Hayer of Canada, and Abdi Ipekci of Turkey) and one is currently imprisoned under deplorable conditions and near death after years of torture (Nizar Nayyouf of Syria). Gao Yu of China has been under house arrest since her release from prison in 1999, while Raul Rivero of Cuba is consistently refused permission to travel abroad.
IPI will honour the courage and dedication all 50 World Press Freedom Heroes have shown to the principles of free expression on May 3, 2000, “World Press Freedom Day,” during its World Congress in Boston, USA (April 29 – May 3, 2000). A commemorative issue of IPI’s quarterly publication, IPI Report, will be dedicated exclusively to the 50 Press Freedom Heroes and presented in Boston.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS INSTITUTE (IPI)
“50 WORLD PRESS FREEDOM HEROES”
AFRICA
Algeria:
OMAR BELHOUCHET (b. 1954)
Director of the daily newspaper El Watan
Cameroon:
PIUS NJAWE (b. 1957)
Editor and Publisher of the independent newspaper Le Messager
Ivory Coast:
FREEDOM NERUDA (b. 1956)
Deputy Chief Editor of the independent newspaper Notre Voie (formerly La Voie)
Liberia:
KENNETH BEST (b. 1938)
Former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the independent daily newspaper The Daily Observer
Namibia:
GWEN LISTER (b. 1953)
Founder and Editor of the independent daily newspaper The Namibian
Niger:
GRÉMAH BOUCAR (b. 1959)
Director of the privately-owned Radio Anfani
Rwanda:
ANDRÉ SIBOMANA (1954-1998)
Former Editor of the fortnightly newspaper Kinyamateka
South Africa:
PERCY QOBOZA (1938-1988)
Former Editor of the daily newspaper The World and the weekly City Press
Zambia:
FRED M’MEMBE (b. 1959)
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the independent daily newspaper The Post
THE AMERICAS
Argentina:
JACOBO TIMERMAN (1923-1999)
Former Editor and Publisher of the daily La Opinion
Brazil:
JÚLIO DE MESQUITA NETO (1922-1996)
Former Publisher of the daily newspaper O Estado De S. Paulo
Canada:
TARA SINGH HAYER (1936-1998)
Former Editor and Publisher of the weekly newspaper Indo-Canadian Times
Chile:
JUAN PABLO CÁRDENAS (b. 1949)
Former Editor-in-Chief of the weekly newsmagazine Análisis
Colombia:
GUILLERMO CANO (1925-1986)
Former Editor and Publisher of the national daily newspaper El Espectador
Cuba:
RAÚL RIVERO (b. 1945)
Founder and Director of the independent news agency CubaPress
Dominican Republic:
GERMÁN ORNES (1919-1998)
Former Editor and Publisher of the daily El Caribe
Guatemala:
JOSÉ RUBÉN ZAMORA (b. 1956)
Founder and Editor of the daily el Periodico, Founder and Former Editor of the daily Siglo Veintiuno
Mexico:
JESÚS BLANCORNELAS (b. 1936)
Co-Founder and Editor of the news magazine Zeta
Nicaragua:
PEDRO JOAQUÍN CHAMORRO (1924-1978)
Former Editor and Publisher of the independent daily La Prensa
Peru:
RICARDO UCEDA (b. 1953)
Chief of the Investigative Unit of the daily El Comercio, Former Editor-in-Chief of the newsweekly Sí
United States:
KATHARINE GRAHAM (b. 1917)
Former Publisher of the daily newspaper The Washington Post
ASIA
Burma:
U THAUNG (b. 1926)
Chief Editor of the monthly New Era Journal, Former Chief Editor of the dailies Burma Times and The Mirror
China:
GAO YU (b. 1944)
Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Economics Weekly
India:
ARUN SHOURIE (b. 1941)
Former Executive Editor of the daily Indian Express
Indonesia:
MOCHTAR LUBIS (b. 1922)
Former Editor-in-Chief of the daily newspaper Indonesia Raya
Iran:
FARAJ SARKUHI (b. 1947)
Former Editor-in-Chief of the monthly Adineh
Israel:
AMIRA HASS (b. 1956)
Senior Reporter for the daily newspaper Ha’aretz
Japan:
SHIRO HARA (1908-1989)
Former City News Editor and Vice President of the national daily Yomiuri Shimbun
Korea:
CHOI SUK-CHAE (1917-1991)
Former Editor-in-Chief of the daily newspaper Maeil and the national daily Chosun Ilbo
Pakistan:
ASLAM ALI (1924-1978)
Former Managing Director of the privately-owned news agency Pakistan Press International (PPI)
Palestine:
DAOUD KUTTAB (b. 1955)
Co-Director of the non-profit NGO Internews Middle East, Director of the Institute of Modern Media, Al Quds University
The Philippines:
JOSÉ BURGOS, Jr. (b. 1941)
Founder, Editor and Publisher of the weeklies We Forum and Malaya
Sri Lanka:
ESMOND WICKREMESINGHE (1920-1985)
Former Editorial Managing Director of the newspaper group Associated Newspapers of Ceylon
Syria:
NIZAR NAYYOUF (b. 1962)
Former Editor-in-Chief of the monthly newsletter Sawt al-Democratiyya
Turkey:
ABDI IPEKCI (1929-1979)
Former Editor-in-Chief of the national daily Milliyet
Vietnam:
DOAN VIET HOAT (b. 1942)
Former Editor and Publisher of the pro-democracy newsletter Dien Dan Tu Do
AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA
Samoa:
SAVEA SANO MALIFA (b. 1948)
Founder and Editor of the daily newspaper Samoa Observer
EUROPE
Bosnia-Herzegovina:
KEMAL KURSPAHIC (b. 1946)
Former Editor-in-Chief of the daily newspaper Oslobodenje
Czechoslovakia:
JIRI DIENSTBIER (b. 1937)
Former Human Rights Activist and Co-founder of the national daily Lidové Noviny
France:
HUBERT BEUVE-MÉRY (1902-1989)
Founder of the national daily newspaper Le Monde
Germany:
RUDOLF AUGSTEIN (b. 1923)
Founder and Publisher of the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel
Greece:
ELENI VLACHOU (1911-1995)
Former Publisher of the daily newspaper Kathimerini
Ireland:
VERONICA GUERIN (1959-1996)
Former Investigative Reporter for the newspaper The Sunday Independent
Italy:
INDRO MONTANELLI (b. 1909)
Columnist for the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Founder and Former Editor-in-Chief of the dailies Il Giornale and La Voce
Poland:
ADAM MICHNIK (b. 1946)
Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the national daily Gazeta Wyborcza
Portugal:
NUNO ROCHA (b. 1933)
Director of the magazine Media XXI, Former Editor of the daily Diário de Lisboa and the weekly Tempo
Russia:
KRONID LYUBARSKY (1934-1996)
Former Human Rights Activist and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Novoye Vremya
Spain:
ANTONIO FONTÁN (b. 1923)
Publisher of magazine Nueva Revista de Política, Cultura y Arte, Former Editor of the daily Madrid
UK:
HAROLD EVANS (b. 1928)
Former Editor of The Sunday Times and the daily newspaper The Times
Yugoslavia:
VERAN MATIC (b. 1962)
Chairman of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM),
Co-Founder and Former Editor-in-Chief of the independent radio station Radio B92
