Inter Press Service News Agency has braved
severe political assaults and financial tempests since 1964, when Roberto Savio
and Pablo Piacentini laid its foundation as a unique and challenging information
and communication system.
Fifty years on, IPS continues to provide in-depth news and analysis from
journalists around the world – primarily from the countries of the South – which
is distinct from what the mainstream media offer. Underreported and unreported
news constitutes the core of IPS coverage. Opinion articles by experts from
think tanks and independent institutions enhance the spectrum and quality
offered by IPS.
As the social media transforms the communication environment, IPS is
determined to consolidate its unique niche and is tailoring its offer to adapt
to the changes under way, while remaining true to its original vocation: make a
concerted effort to right the systematic imbalance in the flow of information
between the South and the North, give a voice to the South and promote
South-South understanding and communication. In short, nothing less than turning
the world downside up.
The fiftieth anniversary coincides with IPS decision to strengthen coverage
not only from the U.N. in New York, but also from Vienna – bridging the U.N.
there with the headquarters – as well as from Geneva and Nairobi, the only
country in Africa hosting a major U.N. agency, the U.N. Environment Programme
(UNEP).
Turning 50 is also associated with a new phase in IPS life, marked not only
by challenges emerging from rapid advance of communication and information
technologies, but also by globalisation and the world financial crisis.
The latter is causing deeper social inequalities, and greater imbalances in
international relations. These developments have therefore become thematic
priorities in IPS coverage.
The consequences of “turbo-capitalism”, which allows finance capital to
prevail over every aspect of social and personal life, and has disenfranchised a
large number of people in countries around the world constituting the global
South, are an important point of focus.
IPS has proven experience in reporting on the issues affecting millions of
marginalised human beings – giving a voice to the voiceless – and informing
about the deep transitional process which most of the countries of the South and
some in the North are undergoing.
This latter day form of capitalism has not only resulted in dismissal of
workers and catapulted their families into the throes of misery, but also
devastated the environment and aggravated the impact of climate change, which is
also playing havoc with traditional communities.
IPS also informs about the critical importance of the culture of peace and
points to the perils of all forms of militarism. A Memorandum of Understanding
between IPS and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) provides an
important framework for seminars aimed at raising the awareness of the media in
covering cross-cultural conflicts.
Nuclear weapons that are known to have caused mass destruction in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki 69 years ago, represent one of the worst forms of militarism. IPS
provides news and analysis as well as opinions on continuing efforts worldwide
to ban the bomb. This thematic emphasis has educed positive reactions from
individual readers, experts and institutions dealing with nuclear abolition and
disarmament.
As globalisation permeates even the remotest corners of the planet, IPS
informs about the need of education for global citizenship and sustainable
development, highlighting international efforts such as the United Nations
Global Education First Initiative. IPS reports on initiatives aimed at ensuring
that education for global citizenship is reflected in intergovernmental
policy-making processes such as the Sustainable Development Goals and Post-2015
Development Agenda.
IPS reports accentuate the importance of multilateralism within the
oft-neglected framework of genuine global governance. It is not surprising
therefore that IPS coverage of the United Nations and its social and economic
agenda is widely recognised as outstanding in the global media landscape.
This is particularly important because the news agency has come to a fork
in the road represented by the financial crunch, which is apparently one of the
toughest IPS has ever faced. However, thanks to the unstinting commitment of
‘IPS-ians’, the organisation is showing the necessary resilience to brave the
challenge and refute those who see it heading down a blind alley.
At the same time, IPS is positioning itself distinctly as a communication
and information channel supporting global governance in all its aspects,
privileging the voices and the concerns of the poorest and creating a climate of
understanding, accountability and participation around development and promoting
a new international information order between the South and the North.
IPS has the necessary infrastructure and human resources required for
facilitating the organisational architecture of an information clearing house
focused on ‘global governance’. Whether it is the culture of peace, citizen
empowerment, human rights, gender equality, education and learning, development
or environment, all these contribute to societal development, which in turn
leads towards global governance.
In order to harness the full potential of communication and information
tools, adequate financial support is indispensable. Projects that conform to the
mission of IPS – making the voiceless heard by the international community, from
local to global level – are one way of securing funds.
But since projects alone do not ensure the sustainability of an
organisation, IPS is exploring new sources of funding: encouraging sponsorships
through individual readers and institutions, enlightened governments and
intergovernmental bodies as well as civil society organisations and corporations
observing the UN Global Compact’s 10 principles in the areas of human rights,
labour, the environment and anti-corruption, which enjoy universal consensus.
(theothernews)
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