Paris, 13 April 2000 For immediate release WAN To Meet South African President Representatives of the World Association of Newspapers will meet President Thabo Mbeki, of South Africa, in Pretoria on Tuesday (April 18) to discuss the struggle for freedom of the press and democracy, particularly in Africa. The interview will be offered to newspapers […]
Paris, 13 April 2000
For immediate release
WAN To Meet South African President
Representatives of the World Association of Newspapers will meet President Thabo Mbeki, of South Africa, in Pretoria on Tuesday (April 18) to discuss the struggle for freedom of the press and democracy, particularly in Africa. The interview will be offered to newspapers for publication on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day.
“Only four out of 54 nations in Africa can be considered to have a fully free press,” said WAN Director General Timothy Balding. “This is a huge obstacle in efforts to help this continent overcome the violence, poverty, disease and illiteracy which affects tens of millions of
Africa’s citizens.”
“As the leader of the most powerful African nation, and one of the few democracies, we will ask President Mbeki to assess the role of a free press in the fight for human rights and development and discuss with him how he intends to contribute to the attainment of these rights in Africa.”
Also likely to be on the agenda are questions about recent South Africa Human Rights Commission hearings into racism in the media, and WAN concerns that the Commission’s methods are a threat to press freedom.
WAN is being supported in this mission by the World Editors Forum.
The full text of the interview with President Mbeki will be included in a package of editorial and advertising materials that WAN and the WEF are providing to thousands of newspapers world-wide for publication on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May.
The materials, which include essays, statistics and advertisements advocating press freedom and publicising the murder and detention of journalists and the censorship of newspapers, are available on the WAN web site at www.wan-press.org/3may. The interview will be posted there on Wednesday, 19 April, and will also be made available by e-mail on request to pcarsten@wan.asso.fr.
The WAN and WEF delegation will also meet with other government officials and leading editors and publishers to discuss the HRC media enquiry.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 63 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and
seven regional and world-wide press groups.
The WEF is the branch of WAN that represents senior newsroom personnel.
