World Press Group Reasserting Its Goals p.14

By: DEBRA GERSH HERNANDEZ S THE INTERNATIONAL Federation of Newspaper Publishers (FIEJ), now known as the World Association of Newspapers, moves into its 50th year, it does so with a renewed determination to fight for press freedom around the globe.
The association can "become the greatest advocate for freedom of the press, and the resolute opponent of regulations that restrict newspaper publishing activity and jeopardize the economic independence and prosperity of our industry," said its new president, Jayme Sirotsky of RBS in Brazil.
By working toward 10 corporate goals ? world leadership, new identity, focus on ethics and profits, membership growth, investing in the next generation, expanding partnerships, more services, better communications, first-class training, and innovation, progress and creativity ? Sirotsky said the association can achieve its mission.
"FIEJ has a fundamental role to play in facilitating the future of this industry both in the developed and in developing worlds," he noted.
The three-year READY (Research Education Assistance and Development strategy) for the Year 2000 project "is a very creative way to put the best minds in the business working together on some of the fundamental questions facing this industry, in an effort to build new models that will take newspapers into the new millennium," Sirotsky said.
The READY project includes marketing and management conferences, visit-seminars to newspapers, study tours, and informational publications, as well as the Fund for Press Freedom Development, a program of training, advising and consulting to help newspapers in developing and transitional countries develop the skills to run profitable companies, Sirotsky explained.
The importance of supporting press freedom around the world also was stressed by Sirotsky's predecessor as FIEJ president, K. Prescott Low, publisher of the Quincy, Mass., Patriot Ledger.
"We must never forget that some of the most important obstacles to the widespread dissemination of information in the world today have nothing to do with the availability of technology and telecommunications nor, in many cases, with inherent poverty," Low said.
"The obstacles of which I speak have been constructed, [and] continue to be constructed, by governments worldwide, who have decided that their peoples are not ready or fit to receive information freely," he added. "In all the cases that I can think of, they have decided this without asking the peoples concerned."
While WAN "promotes the professional and business interests of the industry, not for a single moment do we lose sight of our press freedom mission."
Citing statistics about press repression around the world ? including the fact that as he spoke, more than 180 journalists were in jail for doing their jobs ? Low made a special appeal for the release of Gao Yu, the Chinese journalist who received the association's Golden Pen of Freedom Award last year.
"What can you do about it, you may ask? What can you do personally to improve the fate of your newspaper colleagues persecuted by their governments worldwide or struggling against appalling odds to bring out newspapers under conditions that would make most of us give up in despair?" Low asked.
"The answer is: a great deal," he said.
"If you really care, there is much that you, that we, can do collectively in this struggle to defend and promote freedom of the press around the world.
"There are today numerous countries in Africa, in Asia, in the Balkan region of Europe, where press freedom hangs in the balance. It could go either way," he continued.
"Concerted action, campaigns and pressures of all kinds ? moral, professional and material aid ? can make a difference in ensuring that the situation evolves towards more openness, more freedom, more democracy," Low said. "I urge you and your publications to become directly involved in this struggle."
?("Concerted action, campaigns and pressures of all kinds ? moral, professional and material aid ? can make a difference in ensuring that the situation evolves towards more openness, more freedom, more democracy. I urge you and your publications to become directly involved in this struggle.") [Caption]
?(? K. Prescott Low, outgoing president of the World Association of Newspapers and publisher of the Quincy, Mass., Patriot Ledger) [Photo & Caption]