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Inter Press Service was founded in 1964 as a non-profit non-governmental association of journalists, mostly from the South, and a news agency based in Rome specializing in issues of interest to the South. At this year's Conference, FAO recognized IPS's "significant contribution to covering sustainable agriculture and rural development in more than 100 countries, filling the information gap between developed and developing countries" by naming the agency co-winner of the Boerma Award for journalism. Roberto Savio, one of the agency's founders and its current Director General, talks about the changing nature of IPS coverage over the past three decades.
"We've become more global. Global trends make a difference to people's perceptions and now people think of their town, their country and their continent. For IPS the challenge is to show the meaning of each event in a global context. The solutions to the issues that concern IPS - the environment, women, human rights - aren't local; they're all global." What has the end of the Cold War meant to your agency? "The concept of a Third World doesn't exist any more. The world isn't divided into North and South but between people who are in and people who are out. The global issues I was talking about - we are playing a role in reacting to that." How is IPS using the new electronic technologies? "We reach people not only through newspapers but directly through action groups, through the Internet. Using a password, 30 000 NGOs now have access to our stories on our Web site, located in Norway. They need access to the issues and we give it to them." Do you have anything to add? "For 34 years we have sided with FAO to announce the agenda that you are debating here. For example, Terra Viva (IPS conference newspaper) was published during the World Food Summit. The Boerma prize money (US$5 000 for each co-winner) will go into a fund to support a campaign for food security for children, the first victims of food insecurity." |
Mr Savio, how has IPS changed over
the years?
