Taking advantage of the celebration in Cádiz of the Spanish Language Congress, members of the College of Journalists of Andalusia, promoter of the idea, have conveyed the proposal to the director of the Cervantes Institute, the president of the Open Editors Club and the journalists Guillermo Fesser and Paco Reyero , the first also representative of the Gomaespuma Foundation.
San Fernando, where in 1810 (during the debate and drafting of the mythologized Spanish Constitution that would be promulgated in Cádiz in 1812, in the context of the War of Independence against the French) the decree was signed that, in theory, It allowed freedom of the press for the first time in the country, and dreams of hosting the World Press Freedom Conference organized by UNESCO every year.
The Professional Association of Journalists of Andalusia proposed the idea to the island City Council almost a year ago, and since then they have been working on that candidacy, and on gathering support.
Precisely taking advantage of the International Congress of the Spanish Language that has taken over the Cadiz capital in recent days, representatives of the territorial demarcation of said College in Cádiz, Lorena Mejías and José Antonio González Alba, have held a meeting with the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero; the president of the Open Editors Club (Clabe), Arsenio Escolar; and the journalists Guillermo Fesser and Paco Reyero, to present the proposal to them and request their support for the initiative.
As expected, everyone expressed themselves in favor of the proposal, aware that San Fernando hosted the proclamation of the first norm that facilitated freedom of the press in the country and the relationship that this fact has with the birth of political journalism both in Spain in the rest of the Spanish-speaking countries. Argument on which the Association of Journalists bases its project in this regard, is highlighted in the note sent to DIARIO Bahía de Cádiz.
García Montero and Arsenio Escolar, for their part, indicated that they will forward to their respective organizations the application for membership presented by the College (in their name and in that of the City Council), in order to treat it as a proposed agreement. Paco Reyero and Guillermo Fesser wrote their signature and immediately joined the initiative, the latter as a representative of the Gomaespuma Foundation.
ADDING SUPPORT AND ASSEMBLY THE CANDIDACY
Until now, the College of Journalists of Andalusia has been in charge of gathering membership from entities related to journalism and other professional groups in the environment (the three press associations of the province, the Network of Colleges of Journalists of Spain, the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain, the colleges of Veterinarians, Economists, Doctors, Nursing…).
It has also carried out procedures at an institutional level before UNESCO itself, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Aecid) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (which is the representative organization of Spain at UNESCO), the subdelegation and the delegation of the Government in Andalusia, basically to receive information on how the candidacy should be formed.
The island City Council, for its part, is in charge of putting together the project that must be presented to the Aecid and seek support from other administrations.
The intention of both the Consistory and the College is to develop an intense membership campaign starting this month, also within the framework of Press Freedom Day.
IT HAS NEVER BEEN CELEBRATED IN SPAIN
The World Press Freedom Conference, organized by UNESCO, is an annual event that focuses on the commemoration of press freedom in the world, celebrated every May 3 by decision of the United Nations General Assembly since 1993. Spain has never hosted this summit.
For several days, political representatives, journalists and specialists in the field gather around panels and conferences in the host country to analyze the state of journalism internationally.
This 2023, this Conference will take place at the same UN headquarters in New York (USA). And this time it is a special edition, since it marks the 30th anniversary since the proclamation of World Press Freedom Day.
2023-09-21 16:17:25
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