Inter Press Service (IPS) is a global

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...

headquartered in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy. Its main focus is news and analysis about social, political, civil, and economic subjects as it relates to the Global South, civil society and

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

History

IPS was set up in 1964 as a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

international journalist

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

. Its founders were the Italian journalist

Roberto Savio Roberto Savio (born in Rome, Italy, but also holding Argentine nationality) is a journalist, communication expert, political commentator, activist for social and climate justice and advocate of global governance. He has spent most of his career ...

and Argentine political scientist Pablo Piacentini. Initially, the primary objective was to fill the information gap between Europe and Latin America after the political turbulence following the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Later the network expanded to include all continents, from its Latin American base in Costa Rica in 1982. In 1994, IPS changed its legal status to that of a "public-benefit organization for development cooperation". In 1996, IPS had permanent offices and correspondents in 41 countries, covering 108 nations. Its subscribers included over 600 print media, around 80 news agencies and database services and 65 broadcast media, in addition to over 500 NGOs and other institutions.

Approach

IPS's stated aims are to present voices of

marginalized Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...

and vulnerable people and groups, to report from the perspectives of

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

, and to reflect the views of civil society. The mainstreaming of

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...

in reporting and the assessment of the impacts of

are priorities. IPS may be unique in its concentration on

and the strong relationships with civil society. For this reason, IPS has been termed by some probably the "largest and most credible of all 'alternatives' in the world of news agencies." It is also considered by some as the "first and only independent and professional news agency which provides on daily basis information with a Third World focus and point of view."

Legal status

IPS is registered as an international not-for-profit association. It has "general" NGO consultative status with ECOSOC at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, and the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

status of " ODA eligible international organization".

Organizational structure

Five editorial desks coordinate the project: Montevideo, (regional bureau for Latin America); Berlin-London (for Europe and the Mediterranean); Bangkok (for Asia and the Pacific); New York City (North America and the Caribbean) and Johannesburg (Africa). Most of IPS's journalists and editors are native to the country or region in which they work. IPS receives funding from various sources: through its subscribers and clients, from multilateral and national development cooperation programmes and from project financing from foundations. It is not, as are most other agencies, financed by a country or newspaper group. The agency's budget is comparatively small for "roughly the sixth-largest international news-gathering organization".

Role

IPS's role is to provide an alternative to sometimes non-existent or unaffordable clipping services. One study by the UN's

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

in 1991 found that of the nearly 3,000 clippings with news agency bylines, 13% credited IPS, making it the third-most cited. IPS reports were collected from 138 publications in 39 countries, more countries than any other agency. IPS was particularly strong in Latin America; 72% of clippings from Latin America with news agency bylines came from IPS.

Notable contributors

* Jim Lobe * Fitzroy Nation * Mohammed Omer * Gareth Porter * Don Gasangwa

Notes

References

* * * * * * *{{cite, {{cite web , url=http://www.wikamusi.com/wikitionary/swahili wipedia , title=Wikidoc IPS , work=

Languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

, date=September 22, 2022 , Wandishi= "Habari na Majira" , author=Gasangwa , url-status=yt , archive-url=https://web.racafile/web/s1276

External links

* {{Official website
Official news website
{{South-South {{News agencies {{Portal bar, Journalism, Italy {{Authority control News agencies based in Italy International development organizations Globalization Alternative journalism organizations