(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 23 May 2005 WAN press release: Paris, 23 May 2005 Arab Press Network To Be Launched by World Association of Newspapers The World Association of Newspapers is to launch a new pan-Arab electronic network to support media reform and help build a stronger independent press in the Arab world. […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 23 May 2005 WAN press release:
Paris, 23 May 2005
Arab Press Network To Be Launched by World Association of Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers is to launch a new pan-Arab electronic network to support media reform and help build a stronger independent press in the Arab world.
The Arab Press Network will be aimed at publishers, editors and journalists throughout the Arab world. Its objective is to contribute to the professionalism of newspapers in the region by promoting the exchange of ideas and experiences between media executives.
“Recent discussions within the Arab media community have shown that there is a strong will to join forces and challenge the traditional media structures and the prevailing way of producing news in the region,” said Timothy Balding, Director General of the Paris-based WAN.
“Presently there exists no common platform for this new generation of media professionals who are eager to learn more about their rights, to develop professionally and to share their ideas and experiences,” he said.
The network is being supported by the leading Danish press group, JP Politiken. Jorgen Ejboel, the Chairman of the Board, said: “the network will help ensure a free and professional press in the Arab world.”
“The project is being launched at a time when the Arab world is in the middle of a lively debate about political reform and economic liberalization. Many newspapers in the region are severely limited by government controls, narrow media laws and lack of tradition for economic independence in their businesses,” he said. “Our contacts in the Arab world demonstrate that there is both a strong will to create independent and free media and a will to challenge the traditional media structures.”
The Arab Press Network will be operational in September. The core of the Network will be an electronic newsletter, distributed in Arabic and English, that publishes material on professional development, editorial issues, media law reform and press freedom. The Network will also provide a channel to distribute leading-edge knowledge, information and strategies from WAN about the creation of better and more prosperous independent newspapers.
Those wishing to join the network should contact Kajsa Törnroth, Director of Press Freedom Programmes at WAN, ktornroth@wan.asso.fr.
The Arab Press Network is modeled after a successful project launched by WAN in 2000 for African media professionals, called RAP21.
RAP 21 disseminates media management, press freedom and related practical information via e-mail newsletters and a website (http://www.rap21.org ) to thousands of members across Africa.
WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.
