World Press Freedom Committee
| World Press Freedom Committee link | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | WPFC |
| Formation | 1979 |
| Extinction | 2009 |
| Leader | World Press Freedom Committee/President |
The World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC) was founded in 1979 and existed until 2009. The WPFC was founded to oppose the New World Information Order (NWICO) a UNESCO initiative to make global media representation more equitable. (during the Cold War, UNESCO was not as controlled by the US as other UN organs).
The World Press Freedom Committee was a coordination group of US and international news media organizations to counter the UNESCO effort, ie. by changing the foucus from 'more equitable global press representation' to 'press freedom', a narrative that can more easily be dominated by mainstream Western media. WPFC members include Henry A. Grunwald (Managing Editor of Time, 1968-79), Tony Mauro, Al Neuharth (founder USA Today) and Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. (New York Times Publisher) [1]
On September 17, 2009, the WPFC merged with the US-based non-governmental organization Freedom House ('non-governmental' is as usual a misnomer. It is heavily funded by the US government to further US foreign policy interests) following the retirement of its Executive Director Mark Bench.[2]
