The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has honored 12 newspaper and news publishing associations as “Centers of Youth Engagement Excellence”.
This was in appreciation of the associations’ long-term commitment of engaging young people with news and also by helping teachers to use news in the classroom. WAN-IFRA stated that the “Center of Youth Engagement Excellence” designation honors newspaper associations that have a deep, long-term commitment to news literacy and youth engagement and that continue to devote resources to these areas of endeavors.
The honoured associations were the national newspaper associations of the United States (Newspaper Association of America), Denmark (Danske Medier), Finland (Finnish Newspapers Association), Norway (Mediebedriftenes Landsforening), The Netherlands (NDP Nieuwsmedia), France,(SPQR, SPQN ARPEJ), Brazil (Associacão Nacional de Jornais), Germany (Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger), Japan (Nihon Shinbun Kyokai), Colombia (Andiarios), Belgium (Les Journaux Francophone Belges), and Korea (Korean Association of Newspapers).
“One of our core values is assuring that new generations understand the importance of free, credible and independent news, and are able to identify it, and seek it out, among the vast amount of information that bombards them each day,” said Larry Kilman, Secretary General of WAN-IFRA.
“The associations we honor have helped generations of young people and their teachers work together in support of these values. They are utterly committed to both quality education and to a free press as a foundation of democratic society,” he said.
The honoured associations have conducted youth engagement in education programmes for at least two decades and more. Details of their work can be found at www.wan-ifra.org/node/44087
