APPRECIATION
Midyear Meeting
Cartagena de índias, Colombia
March 16 - 19, 2007

WHEREAS
our Host Committee, presided by Enrique Santos of El Tiempo, Bogotá, and made up of all the Colombian newspapers comprising ANDIARIOS, provided an atmosphere of hospitality and cordiality that was conducive to professional and social activities

WHEREAS
the Midyear Meeting received the generous support of the following organizations which sponsored hospitality events, offered services and supplied useful and informative material and equipment: Association of Colombian Newspapers ANDIARIOS, Avianca, CODENSA S.A., Colombia es Pasión, Drummond Ltd. Colombia, EMGESA EPS S.A., Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, PETROBRAS, ABITIBI CONSOLIDATED INC., Fundación B.A.T. Colombia, Legis S.A., Seguros Bolívar, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Telefónica Movistar, TCC, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Alcaldía de Cartagena, Aeronáutica Civil, Colombian Nacional Navy, Asocolflores, Aviatur, Foreign Ministry, Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad - DAS, Discovery Farms, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano – FNPI, Gematours, OPAIN, Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, Printer Colombiana S.A., Sociedad Aeroportuaria de la Costa, Sociedad Portuaria, Teatro Heredia, and Zetta Comunicaciones S.A.

WHEREAS
Álvaro Uribe Vélez, president of Colombia, officially inaugurated the Midyear Meeting of the IAPA and addressed the participants

WHEREAS
Bill Gates gave the Keynote Address and was introduced by Earl Maucker of the Sun-Sentinel of Ft. Lauderdale

WHEREAS
Chilean writer Jorge Edwards gave a Keynote Speech to the members and their guests and was introduced by Juan Pablo Illanes, El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile

WHEREAS
Dr. Rodolfo Segovia, historian, member of the Colombian History Academy, gave a special presentation, introduced by Ana Mercedes Gómez, El Colombiano, Medellín, Colombia, in which he read part of a work by Eugenio Pérez Montás, historian, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the moderator was Victoria Cox, associate professor, department of languages and literature, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina

WHEREAS
a group of personalities participated in important seminars about online newspapers, among them, How Is Online Journalism in Latin America Doing? by Guillermo Franco, director of eltiempo.com; The New Workforce of the Future. by Mike Smith, executive director, Media Management Center, Northwestern University and Christian Oliver, consultant with Innovation, Atlanta, Georgia, Trends in new technologies in online communication, by Christian Oliver, and The Future of Advertising in Online Media. by Mauricio Vázquez, Mediacontacts, Mexico City, Mexico

WHEREAS
distinguished personalities participated in interesting panels: Journalistic Narrative introduced by José Salgar, former editor of El Espectador, Bogotá, Colombia, with Tomás Eloy Martínez and Jon Lee Anderson, teachers at the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano, with Jaime Abello, director of the foundation as moderator. Another panel, Journalism and Armed Conflicts, was introduced by Alejandro Aguirre, Diario las Américas, Miami, Florida with panelists: José María Calleja, ,editor of CNN+ news channel (Spain); Alvaro Sierra, journalist and consultant to El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia; Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Washington, DC, and Francisco José Lloreda, editor of El País, Cali, Colombia. Clark Bell, director, Journalism Program, McCormick Tribune Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, was the moderator. A third panel, The Value of Ethics in the News Company, was introduced by Rafael Molina, El Día, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The participants were Javier Darío Restrepo, author and journalist, Bogotá, Colombia; Bill Mitchell, online editor, The Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida; Eduardo Ulibarri, former editor, La Nación, San José, Costa Rica and Sergio Muñoz of the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, was moderator. Finally, Milton Coleman, The Washington Post, spoke on confidential sources in the United States.

WHEREAS
distinguished journalists from the continent took part in a Round Table on investigative journalism sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Brant Houston, IRE, St. Louis, Missouri; Marta Soto, El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia, Angelina Nunes, ABRAJI, Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Karla Sponar, Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The moderator: was Gerardo Reyes, El Nuevo Herald, Miami, Florida.

WHEREAS
Ana Mercedes Gómez spoke at the breakfast for female delegates about “Medellín, an Example of Educational Transformation.”

WHEREAS
Nicolás Curi, mayor of Cartagena, presented the key to the city to IAPA officials in a ceremony at the Teatro Heredia, where there also was a ceremony of recognition of El Espectador by IAPA President Rafael Molina,

WHEREAS
President Álvaro Uribe and Vice President Francisco Santos hosted a special dinner for members of the Executive Committee, the Advisory Council and the Host Committee, at the Casa de Huéspedes Ilustres of Cartagena

WHEREAS
the Midyear Meeting was a resounding success in every way

THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES

to express on behalf of the president, his officers, directors and members, his deepest gratitude and appreciation to the people and enterprises that supported this Midyear Meeting and especially to the Association of Colombian Newspapers (ANDIARIOS), the Organizing Committee and the people of Cartagena.