Virginia Melero

WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News Publishers

WHO WE ARE - WAN-IFRA is the World Association of News Publishers. Our mission is to protect the rights of journalists and publishers around the world to operate independent media. We provide our members with expertise and services to innovate and prosper in a digital world and perform their crucial role in society. 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. WHAT WE DO - We believe that business sustainability enhanced by a culture for innovation is the best guarantee for publishers to play their pillar role to advance freedom of expression in open societies. This has been a guiding principle of WAN-IFRA for seven decades of global advocacy and development work. Our mission is twofold. We deliver operational services to our individual members, be it to share knowledge on best practices, solutions to develop their organisation and business or to connect with expertise that helps them find the best solution to prosper in a digital world. We also represent our members as a global trade organisation with human rights mandate, advocating to protect the rights of journalists across the world to operate free media, coaching news media professionals in fragile states with our media development programmes.