The Inter American Press Association (IAPA; Spanish: ''Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa'', SIP) is a press

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

representing major media organizations in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. Every year it issues its IAPA/SIP Excellence in Journalism Awards in the fields of cartoon, online news coverage, news coverage, coverage on mobile phones, features, human rights and community service, photography, infographics, opinion, data journalism, in-depth journalism and press freedom. IAPA has two autonomous affiliates – the IAPA Press Institute, which offers Latin American members advice on technical publishing matters and politics and the IAPA Scholarship Fund, which provides funds for educational activities. IAPA is a member of the

International Freedom of Expression Exchange IFEX, formerly International Freedom of Expression Exchange, is a global network of more than 119 independent non-governmental organisations that work at a local, national, regional, or international level to defend and promote freedom of expre ...

, a global network of more than 70

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s that monitors press freedom and

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

violations worldwide. It has been criticized by many Latin American journalists' trade unions, who claim that it only represents the owners of the large media corporations, that it does not seem to defend journalists themselves, and that it is closely related to right-wing parties.

History

IAPA was conceived at the first Pan American Congress of Journalists in 1926, with a Permanent Commission established in 1942 after the second Congress. IAPA was founded in 1943, and in 1950 became an organisation fully independent of the region's governments. In 1954 it reached a record membership of 373, with the approval of 10 new member organizations. In 1977 it was reported by Penthouse that IAPA was funded by the CIA. In 2000 the IAPA inaugurated a new headquarters building, which it named after Jules Dubois, who was Chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information for 15 years (1950-1965).

Chapultepec Index

The Chapultepec Index is an index on

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

that is created for the Inter American Press Society by the Andrés Bello Catholic University in consultation with various academics, attorneys and media experts in the region. Press freedom scores are organized as follows: * Full freedom (81–100 points) * Low restriction (61–80 points) * Partial restriction (41–60 points) * High restriction (21–40 points) * No freedom (0–20 points)

Presidents

* Luis Franzini, (Uruguay, 1951 - 1952) * John S. Knight, (US, 1952 - 1953) * Andrew Heiskell, (US, 1961 - 1962) * Jack R. Howard, (US, 1965 - 1966) * Lee Hills, (US, 1967 - 1968) * Agustín Edwards, (Chile, 1968 - 1969) * James S. Copley (US, 1969 - 1970) * M. F do Nascimento Brito, (Brazil, 1970 - 1971) * Robert U. Brown, (US, 1971 - 1973) * Julio de Mesquita Filho, (Brazil, 1974 - 1975) * Argentina S. Hills (Puerto Rico, 1977 - 1978) * Charles E. Scripps, (US, 1981 - 1982) * James B. McClatchy (US, 1991 - 1992) * Manuel J. Jiménez (Costa Rica, 1988 - 1989) * Danilo Arbilla (Uruguay, 2000 - 2001) * Robert J. Cox, (US, 2001 - 2002) * Andrés García Gamboa, (Mexico, 2002 - 2003) * Jack Fuller, (US, 2003 - 2004) * Alejandro Miró Quesada, (Peru, 2004 - 2005) * Scott C. Schurz, (US, 2005) * Diana Daniels, (US, 2005 - 2006) * Rafael Molina Morillo, (Dominican Republic, 2006 - 2007) * Earl Maucker (US, 2007 - 2008) * Andrés García Lavín (Mexico, no dates given) * Gonzalo Marroquin * Milton Coleman (US, 2011–Present)

References

External links

*
Campaña Impunidad
{{Authority control International journalism organizations Freedom of expression organizations Organizations established in 1942