History of the IPI (2000-2009)
Ten years ago, IPI celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding during the World Congress in Boston, USA.
On that special occasion IPI officially presented the list of IPI’s 50 World Press Freedom Heroes.
In 2000 IPI held the two conferences – “Media and Democracy in the Arab World” and “Freedom of Expression and the Media in Jordan” – in Amman, Jordan. Over 130 journalists and human rights advocates from 28 countries examined ways of promoting free expression and improving the standards of journalism in the Arab region.
In order to stimulate public debate on the proposed EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and create awareness of the possible implications for freedom of expression IPI organized in 2000 an international conference "European Values – EU Visions for Europe".
In 2000, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was founded in Zagreb as an affiliate organisation of IPI. As an umbrella organisation SEEMO protects and furthers freedom of the press and works toward improving the standards and practises of journalism in the SEE region, providing a platform for debates on relevant regional media issues.
IPI received an honorary award from the Costas Kyriazis Foundation (named after the late owner and publisher of the Greek daily, Ethnos) for its work in "defending the ideals of press freedom.
IPI launched the Watch List project in 2000.
In 2002, IPI celebrated 10 years IPI headquarters in Vienna.
The National Television Academy (NTA) in the United States honored IPI (together with CPJ and RSF) with the News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2006 for its press freedom work.
The IPI World Congresses of this decade were held in Boston (2000), New Delhi (2001), Ljubljana (2002), Salzburg (2003), Warsaw (2004), Nairobi (2005), Edinburgh (2006), Istanbul (2007), Belgrade (2008), and Helsinki (2009).
The 2010 IPI World Congress and 60th Anniversary celebration will be held in Vienna and Bratislava from 11 to 14 September.
Sources: IPI Reports and IPI photo archive.
• 1950-1959 • 1960-1969 •1970-1979 • 1980-1989 •1990-1999
_______________________________________________________________
The 2000s – historical events:
• Terrorist attack on the United States. Hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (nearly 3,000 people died)
• Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, launches on the internet
• The euro became the currency of members of the Eurozone
• A major SARS outbreak in China, Russia, and Canada
• Invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and allied forces; end of Saddam Hussein’s regime and his execution
• The biggest enlargement of EU - 10 new member-states
• A tsunami in the Indian ocean killed over 230,000 people
• Pope John Paul II dies; Joseph Alois Ratzinger becomes Pope Benedict XVI
• North Korea performs its first successful nuclear test
• Landfall in Myanmar causing catastrophic destruction with over 146,000 fatalities
• Russia's invasion of Georgia
• Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, laying the catalyst for the global financial crisis
• Barack Obama inaugurated as the 44th and first African American President of the USA
• The outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain ("swine flu")
• Michael Jackson dies
Source: Wikipedia.
