In 2023, WAN-IFRA has driven international collaboration and growth through increased business and media development programmes. Registration for our events and training programmes reached 11,500 news media professionals, including 950 delegates attending the World News Media Congress in Taipei. Over the year, we invited some 350 media professionals to share their expertise and stories on our programmes. This is an outstanding resource that we are making available to the teams of our 3,500 member companies thanks to the Knowledge Hub that we are launching in 2024.
Eighty new members were welcomed to WAN-IFRA in 2023. Their colleagues join our community of 32,000 subscribers to our newsletters and 130,000 users of our news blogs. We launched a panel of fourteen expert professionals to guide them in their most pressing priorities. Another brilliant new capability brought to the market includes WIZONE, our new online media-tech marketplace, delivering even more for members.
Message from Fernando de Yarza, President of WAN-IFRA
In over 120 nations, WAN-IFRA takes up the mantle of empowering, mobilizing, and engaging media to confront the industry’s challenges. Our roots and purpose drive us to cultivate sustainable and independent media in emerging and transitional markets, wielding our expertise, networks, and knowledge to champion the fundamental rights and freedoms that underscore a free and independent press.
We collaborate with media entities in 26 transitional markets across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Eurasia. Unfortunately, these regions are grappling with significant challenges that demand urgent attention. Our involvement takes the form of advanced training schemes, capacity-building initiatives, and financial grants, thanks to the generous support of our global members and funding from public and private sources. Our mission permeates every facet of our organization and remains at the core of our pursuits.
For over seven decades, we have held that media freedom is rooted in sustainable, economically independent news businesses. This conviction guides our programs, partnerships, and strategies.
I sincerely thank our international donors, members, and partners for making our programmes possible worldwide. With WAN-IFRA by your side, we hope you can seize the coming year and grasp the direction of the global industry and how news publishers tackle issues that arise at an ever-accelerating pace. In these times, collective intelligence and action are the most potent tools at our disposal.
What we achieved together in 2023 and what lies ahead in 2024
In 2024, half of humanity will be called upon to vote for its new rulers. This is unprecedented. In such a decisive year, it is more important than ever to unite and strengthen the role of a free, trustworthy news media through international collaboration to enhance the economic and technological sovereignty and financial sustainability of the press, the ultimate safeguard of its entrepreneurial autonomy and freedom of expression.
For news media, the challenges that lie ahead, whether technological, economic or societal, are all intertwined. In 2024, this interaction will be further accentuated by the rise of large-scale algorithmic models, which adds to the cratering social media referral traffic, the stalled programmatic ad yields, the rise of misinformation campaigns, the pitfalls of news avoidance and declining trust in news, and most dreadfully, increasing threats and crimes against journalists.
The logical tension between the news publishers’ business viability and freedom of expression is the essence of what drives WAN-IFRA. The real sense of our mission in our work comes from seeing how the services we deliver to members are connected to a more significant set of outcomes. It’s the foundation of our value to members, as this can only be achieved with the profession’s collective resolute stance.
In 2023, we’ve driven international collaboration and growth through increased business and media development programmes. Last year, registration for our events and training programmes reached 11,500 news media professionals, including 950 delegates attending the World News Media Congress in Taipei. Eighty new members joined WAN-IFRA. Among other initiatives, we launched a panel of fourteen expert professionals to guide the news media industry’s most pressing priorities. We brought brilliant new capabilities to the market, delivering even more for members, including WIZONE, our new online media-tech marketplace.
We want to thank our members and partners for their support and what we achieved together in 2023, a milestone year for WAN-IFRA. Celebrating our seventy-fifth anniversary stands out as a key highlight, as does growing the number of global publishers we partner with. Read about some of our other publisher services team highlights below and what’s on our radar in 2024.
Eighty new members rallied WAN-IFRA in 2023
Since 2019, despite the sector’s tough economic times, particularly those of the industry’s major traditional suppliers, and the cyclical ups and downs linked to the health crisis, WAN-IFRA has recorded steady growth in members. Its churn rate has been positive for the last three years, giving us reason to be optimistic about the future growth of our community.
On our Radar in 2024
Embracing the transformative power of AI in journalism, balancing innovation and Integrity.
The integration of AI in journalism is currently reshaping how news is generated, disseminated, and consumed. This transformative moment presents a unique opportunity to embrace the power of AI, which can enhance news production efficiency and expand the breadth and depth of news coverage. The result? Engaging storytelling that resonates with an ever-evolving audience. Yet, navigating this evolving landscape requires a delicate balance between technological innovation and journalistic integrity. Emphasizing accuracy, transparency, and ethical considerations ensures that AI complements, rather than compromises, the fundamental principles of journalism. This reinforces the trustworthiness of news sources in an era dominated by automation.
➽ Read more about our publisher services team highlights and what lies ahead in 2024.: WAN-IFRA Annual Report 2023
Read More: WAN-IFRA Annual Report 2023