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62nd
General Assembly If we take a look at what we have achieved in these last few years we certainly will find reasons for satisfaction. In a number of countries in our Americas major and important steps have been taken in the legislative area. We have also obtained favorable results in the battle against impunity and we have made considerable progress in the meetings held on this issue with the governments of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. Another noteworthy triumph of the last presidency was without doubt publication of the “Risks Map for Journalists,” a compilation of the principal difficulties faced by journalists in those countries. At this time I assume, then, not only the responsibility of watching over and implementing the achievements of our Association to date but, with your help, making the utmost effort for the IAPA’s ideals of justice, democracy and freedom to finally become a reality in all of the Americas, in both those countries that already enjoy that privilege and in those where, unfortunately, fundamental rights are violated by retrograde regimes that remain among us. In order to prepare ourselves better in the battle to achieve these goals I have before me the challenge to fully implement the Strategic Plan, which on Diana’s initiative and under her leadership we have been designing and discussing in recent months and which will inject the IAPA with the dynamism and modernity that the times demand, naturally without detracting from the essence and principles that make up our Association’s reason for being. Application of the Strategic Plan is a task that I propose to begin to undertake parallel with other programs that will require my attention. We cannot fail to acknowledge that in the short time since the IAPA was created in the middle of the last century the world has changed a great deal, and with it the mass media. The dangers and threats that we face have also changed. We no longer have in the Americas as many dictators as in the past, but we journalists and newspapers continue to face other, ominous dangers that thus require different responses. When we talk about restrictions of press freedom in the Western Hemisphere the first thing that comes to mind is the Cuba of Fidel Castro or the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, both emblematic of the denial of the people’s right to express themselves or seek information freely. Or we think of Mexico or Colombia, where drug trafficking is creating victims frequently among the ranks of the independent press and where the authors of such crimes find easy refuge under the cloak of impunity. But let us not fool ourselves – the practice of journalism is no easy thing elsewhere in the Americas either. Sadly, it has not been possible to fully establish freedom of the press in this part of the world in recent times. More than 300 murders and disappearances of journalists and press workers have occurred in the last 19 years, apart from innumerable sentences handed down by politicized judges, as well as kidnappings, physical assaults, threats, bribery, verbal attacks by senior officials, anti-free press laws, imposition of unjustified taxes, and discriminatory placement of official advertising to reward or punish news media according to their editorial stances and news policies towards governments. In some cases officials intolerant of questioning or investigating by the press react with such force that it leads – it is sad to have to admit it – to situations of self-censorship by journalists out of fear for their personal safety or the economic stability of their newspapers. I would like today to express fear of another form in which freedom of the press is being seriously undermined. It is a fear that arises in me when I see certain symptoms around me, like new bacteria, a virus to which due attention has not been given. I refer to a threat that is not coming from outside, not from governments nor criminal groups but originates within the press itself. I am talking about corruption. Because just as we know about administrative corruption, business corruption and political corruption we must also admit – to our great regret – the existence of journalistic corruption. During my term in office I will give the issue of professional ethics the importance it warrants. What helps me in this regard is the fact that already organized is the Hemisphere Summit on Journalistic Values, to be held in Costa Rica, a momentous event that has been the initiative of our dear former president Jack Fuller, with the aim of stressing and giving validity to the principles of justice, freedom and honesty that should characterize our profession. Subsequently, in 2007, we will be holding another major hemisphere conference, this time with the participation of Supreme Court chief justices from throughout the Americas, in which – as we did in Washington, DC, a few years ago – we will seek to create greater awareness of how impunity or foot-dragging by the judiciary in cases of crimes against journalists goes against press freedom and above all the public’s right to know. But the most important victory we aim to achieve at that Summit is to eliminate any statute of limitations for such crimes in our countries, an effort in which we have been fully engaged for some years now. I give special importance to the Special Missions that we will be sending to various countries to the extent that they are useful or necessary, mostly when conflicts arise that put freedom of the press at risk. I know from personal experience that taking part in such missions means sacrifices in terms of time and money, taking you away from the family, especially because the missions often are put together from one day to the next and imply certain personal risks. But the positive effect produced by the presence of IAPA delegations at the scene of a problem more than makes up for the sacrifices made and strengthens the validity of our basic principles. That is why I call on everyone from now on to participate as much as possible in the special missions that possibly will have to be mobilized during the year that begins this evening. In order to achieve the proposed goals what is needed is an IAPA that is vigorous and dynamic. Every one of its 15 committees needs to be a driving force that takes care of every single detail in its respective area of work, and does not give mere lip service so as to flaunt a title. With that vision I would like the various committees, especially their chairmen, to adopt an attitude of noteworthy, positive change, and to achieve this we will integrate old and new members who have a real interest in strengthening our Association. In this regard, I am pleased to announce the names of the colleagues who this year will chair the various committees of our Association: To chair the important Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, correctly described as the right arm and cornerstone of the IAPA, I have asked Gonzalo Marroquín, of Prensa Libre, Guatemala City, Guatemala, to continue carrying out that function which he has being doing so well in recent years. The Chapultepec Committee, with the delicate mission of promoting the 10 principles of the Declaration of Chapultepec through its Chapultepec Project, which is funded by the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, will be chaired by Bartolomé Mitre (La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina). The Impunity Committee, responsible for supervising the investigation of crimes against journalists in the Americas, will be headed by Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz (El Universal, Mexico City, Mexico), with the special task of conducting relevant public awareness campaigns and organizing seminars to ensure the safety of journalists reporting in hostile environments. In the International Affairs Committee I have asked Jorge Canahuati Larach (La Prensa, San Pedro Sula, Honduras) and Nélida Rajneri (Río Negro, General Roca, Argentina) to remain as co-chairmen. Fabricio Altamirano ((El Diario de Hoy, San Salvador, El Salvador) will continue to chair the Internet Committee. The co-chairmen of the Awards Committee will be Gustavo Mohme (La República, Lima, Peru) and José Santiago Healy (Diario San Diego, Chula Vista, California), with the noble task, through the various awards given each year, of recognizing and encouraging excellence in journalism in any corner of the hemisphere where it is produced. Felipe Edwards (El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile) will head the Finance Committee, while the Foundations Committee will continue to be chaired by Edward Seaton (Seaton Newspapers, Manhattan, Kansas), and Armando González Rodicio (La Nación, San José, Costa Rica) will remain as chairman of the Legal Committee, and the Audit Committee will continue to be chaired by Luis Alberto Ferré (El Nuevo Día, San Juan, Puerto Rico). I am leaving Saturnino Herrero Mitjans (Clarín, Buenos Aires, Argentina), with whom up to today I have been co-chairing the Strategic Plan Committee, as sole chairman of that committee. The Membership Committee has before it currently one of the most delicate and important tasks in the history of the IAPA. One of the main objectives of the Strategic Plan that we have adopted has to do with the membership, which – it must be admitted – needs to be reinforced, especially in North America and Brazil. To head the Membership Committee we will have two magnificent, efficient co-chairmen: Bruce Brugmann (San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco, California) for English-speaking new members and Jayme Sirotsky (RBS, Porto Alegre, Brazil) for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaker enrollment. The special Membership Committee for the United States and Canada will continue to be chaired by Scott C. Schurz (Herald-Times, Bloomington, Indiana), while the special Membership Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean will have as co-chairmen Juan Luis Correa (La Prensa, Panama City, Panama) and André Jungblut (Gazeta do Sul, Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil). Also within the Membership area, Liza Gross (The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida) will chair the Orientation of New Members section. Tony Pederson (Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas) will chair the Inter-American Committee. Silvia Miró Quesada (El Comercio, Lima, Peru) will remain as chairman of the Newspaper in Education Committee and Milton Coleman (The Washington Post, Washington, DC) will chair the Future Sites Committee. The Program Committee, as customary, will be chaired by the IAPA 1st vice president, that is, Earl Maucker (Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida), while the important Nominations Committee, made up of all former IAPA presidents, now will be chaired by Diana Daniels (The Washington Post Company, Washington, DC). Finally, the Investigative Journalism Institute will continue to be headed by Tom Fielder (The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida) in his capacity as chairman of the Advisory Board. I take this opportunity to remind the committee chairmen I have named that tomorrow, Wednesday, October 4, beginning at 9:00 a.m. we will be having a first working session with them to define the objectives we are going to pursue right away, review the annual plan and hear presentations and suggestions that will be submitted for consideration. The names of the vice chairmen and members of each committee will notified at the appropriate time to those concerned and will be available to all IAPA members in the Association’s Secretariat. I congratulate them all and urge them to take up their respective duties actively and enthusiastically, so as to keep the IAPA at the forefront, as is its rightful place, in the area of freedom of the press. I cannot end without offering a word of special thanks and recognition to each and every one of the members of the IAPA staff, all of them most dedicated, most collaborative, most efficient and most identified with the ideals of the IAPA, and also to join those who have preceded me in expressing admiration and appreciation to the Host Committee for its extraordinary organization and the insuperable attentions that have characterized each detail in this unforgettable General Assembly. I thank everyone for the trust that you have put in me and I can assure you that I will not let you down. I promise to give of my best so that our organization may continue carrying out, as it has been doing so successfully up to now, the role of watchdog of freedom of the press in the hemisphere that gives us such pride. My heartfelt thanks for the honor that you have conferred on me. I count on you all.
Copyright © 2003 Inter American Press Association. All rights reserved. . |
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