SCOTLAND TO HOST THE WORLD NEWS MEDIA CONGRESS IN 2019

Organised in partnership with the Scottish Newspaper Society (SNS), the events will take place at Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde.

Glasgow is a significant center for journalism: it is Scotland’s most important location for broadcasting, media, digital and the creative industries, and is home to the headquarters of BBC Scotland, STV and a range of major press titles including The Herald, The Daily Record, The Scottish Sun and Scottish Daily Mail.

“Scotland is a market with a remarkable diversity of national, regional and local media. We are privileged to be hosted in Glasgow by the SNS and their affiliate members,” said Vincent Peyregne, CEO Wan-Ifra.

“The Congress, incorporating the one-of-a-kind Women in News Summit, and the World Editors Forum, is a milestone on our annual programme of professional events. It is of value to every news professional seeking to better understand and address the unprecedented forces at work at this time. The Congress is a vital forum for discussions - on the future of news, press freedom and issues facing our society and its citizens,” said Peyregne.

Scottish Newspaper Society director and former Scotsman Publications editor-in-chief John McLellan said: "We are thrilled to be able to stage the 2019 World News Media Congress and are confident delegates will find Glasgow and Scotland an appropriately stunning and stimulating host.

"Scotland is steeped in the finest traditions of freedom of expression but also of media innovation -- after all, television and the telephone were both invented by Scots -- and is home to one of the most competitive and vibrant news markets anywhere in the world."

Scotland has been a crucible for the development of publishing and the concepts of freedom of expression from even before the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment. This is the home of Adam Smith, where Encyclopaedia Britannica was founded in 1768 and where three of the daily newspapers, The Herald, The Scotsman and The Courier are over 200 years old.

[1]SEC Glasgow

PROGRAMME ELEMENTS

The World News Media Congress is the annual meeting of news executives, including publishers, editors and owners, of newspapers from all over the world. It is hosted in a different city each year. The 2018 Congress in Portugal drew around 1000 people from over 60 countries for three days of conferences, executive meetings, networking, and social events. A list of previous host cities for WAN-IFRA Congresses, from 1948 to the present, can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/78299 [2]. It incorporates the:

• The World Editors Forum (WEF) organises the editorial stream of the Congress. WEF is built on a commitment to defend press freedom and promote editorial excellence. It is at the forefront of newsroom change and connects editors on issues that matter for the future of independent and free news publishing. More on www.wan-ifra.org/wef [3]
• Women in News (WIN) Summit is a gathering to support of WAN-IFRA’s sector-leading initiative to increase women’s leadership and voices in news through capacity building, training and advocacy.

PROGRAMME & REGISTRATION

For registration and additional information, visit www.wan-ifra.org/scotland2019 [1]

ABOUT WAN-IFRA

WAN-IFRA is the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. Its mission is to protect the rights of journalists across the world to operate free media, and provide its members with professional services to help their business prosper in a digital world and perform their crucial role in open societies. With formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, it derives its authority from its global network of leading news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, and its legitimacy from its 80 national association members representing 18,000 publications in 120 countries.