Blueprints for Growing Sustainable Media on show in Zaragoza

WAN-IFRA is organising the event in cooperation with the publishing group Henneo and Zaragoza Tourismo. Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Spain, are Honorary Presidents of the Congress. With 800 media executives and editors expected to attend and close to 100 speakers, the Congress is set for an exceptional event for its return to face-to-face format.  Spread over three days, the programme includes three main conventions and various fora like the World Media Leaders Summit, the World Editors Summit, and the Women in News Summit.

There will be a strong emphasis on finding formulas to safeguard the future of independent news publishing. Publishers will share successful reader revenue strategies incorporating strong product thinking focus and innovative advertising solutions. Congress-goers will also address worrying challenges to press freedom around the world, and get behind initiatives to promote greater diversity and inclusion within news organisations and in their journalism.

“We have invited close to 100 speakers from leading news organisations to discuss their strategies and solutions to get their media businesses onto a sustainable footing. This is vital as we gather at a time of increased socio-political division and economic strain,” said Vincent Peyrègne, CEO of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). “The unprecedented challenges we face, for many the gravest since the Second World War, call for solidarity. Support for press freedom is also needed to ensure independent journalism and news media can continue playing their role,” continued Peyrègne.

For WAN-IFRA President Fernando de Yarza López-Madrazo, hosting the Congress in his home city of Zaragoza is significant. “Ever since I was elected to lead WAN-IFRA in 2019, I have wanted to share Aragon with the global media community, and show the vitality of independent local media. But the pandemic disrupted our plan,” said de Yarza. “This year, we are finally set for an exceptional event and a great attendance under the presidency of a great defender of a free, independent, diverse and plural media ecosystem worldwide, the King of Spain, HM Felipe VI,” added Fernando de Yarza.

The World News Media Congress is the most important annual gathering of news media leaders and has been so since 1948. It is organised and hosted by WAN-IFRA at a different location each year. Typically, some 700 to 1,500 C-level decision-makers from more than 80 countries have attended the physical event. When the Congress was forced to go virtual, over 1,000 news media leaders, from 84 countries, joined online discussions. The Congress hosts important community meetups and celebrates each year the Golden Pen of Freedom to recognise the outstanding action, in writing or deed, of an individual, a group or an institution in the cause of press freedom. The full programme of the 73rd World News Media Congress is available online. The Spanish version is available here.