(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 12 June 1999 WAN press release: Zürich, Switzerland, 12 June 1999 For immediate release Russian, Romanian and Mongolian Publishers Join World Press Group Newspaper associations from Russia, Romania and Mongolia have joined the World Association of Newspapers, the Paris-based global industry organisation which groups 62 national newspaper associations and […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 12 June 1999 WAN press release:
Zürich, Switzerland, 12 June 1999
For immediate release
Russian, Romanian and Mongolian Publishers Join World Press Group
Newspaper associations from Russia, Romania and Mongolia have joined the
World Association of Newspapers, the Paris-based global industry
organisation which groups 62 national newspaper associations and more than
15,000 publications world-wide.
The four new associations, which were admitted to the Paris-based WAN at a
meeting of the organisation’s Board in Zürich, Switzerland, on Saturday (12
June), are the Publishers Guild of the Periodical Press of Russia, the
National Association of Publishers of Russia, the Romanian Press Club, and
the Mongolian Association of Free and Independent Newspapers.
“These new members all come from countries where press freedom is relatively
recent and where most of the economic challenges related to an independent
press remain,” said the WAN Director General, Timothy Balding. “WAN will
work closely with these organisations and their member publications to help
them navigate the ongoing transition to a market economy and full
democracy.”
The Publishers Guild of the Periodical Press of Russia, established in 1998,
groups 150 publications, including some of Russia’s biggest newspapers and
publishing houses.
The National Association of Publishers of Russia, also founded in 1998,
groups publishing houses, newspapers and magazines from Moscow and the
Russian regions that have a combined circulation of more than nine million
copies daily. It works closely with the Publishers Guild.
A third Russian organization, the Russian Association of Editors and
Publishers, is already a WAN member.
The Romanian Press Club represents more than 20 mass-media organizations and
brings together the General Managers and Editors-in-Chief of the main
newspapers in Romania. They join another full member of WAN from their
country, the Romanian Press Editors Association.
The Mongolian Association of Free and Independent Newspapers, founded in
March 1998, groups 52 member newspapers and was formed to unify efforts in
defending press freedom.
WAN defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. In addition to the 62
member organizations, its membership includes individual newspaper
executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and seven regional press
groups.
