Tina Brown, journalist, editor, author, and co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast website, is one of several new additions to an already strong line-up of speakers and panellists slated to take part in the annual IPI World Congress in Vienna, Austria, and Bratislava, Slovakia, this September.
Brown will join panellists Martim Figueiredo, publisher and editor-in-chief of the award-winning Portuguese daily newspaper i, and Jim VandeHei, co-founder and executive editor of the influential Politico website, in a session titled, “What’s Working Where? And Why?”, which will look at examples of how media outlets are defying negative global trends through innovation and creativity.
“Tina Brown’s reputation for revitalizing publications began at an early age,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “As editor-in-chief of Tatler, she managed to turn a nearly defunct, 270-year-old society journal into a popular British glossy magazine that was quickly bought by Condé Nast Publications.”
Brown moved to the United States in 1983, where, as editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, respectively, she significantly raised the circulation of both magazines, winning them numerous national awards along the way. In 1998, Brown left The New Yorker to found Talk magazine with partners Harvey and Bob Weinstein of Miramax Films. In October 2008, together with Barry Diller of InterActiveCorp, Brown launched The Daily Beast, already one of the most influential news and opinion websites in the United States.
Other newly-confirmed speakers include:
Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of the Telekom Austria Group, the largest telecommunications company in Austria, with international operations in Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Serbia, and Macedonia.
Ferial Haffajee, editor of City Press, the third biggest-selling newspaper in South Africa, former editor of the weekly investigative newspaper, Mail & Guardian, and the first non-white woman editor of a major newspaper in South Africa.
Michael Spindelegger, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Austria.
To see the biographies of all the confirmed speakers, as well as more about the programme, visit the official Congress website: www.ipiworldcongress.com.
This year’s IPI World Congress marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of IPI, and will be held in Vienna and Bratislava from 11-14 September 2010. Under the overall theme, “Thinking the Unthinkable: Are We Losing the News? (Media Freedom in the New Media Landscape),” the Congress will focus attention on the state of the news media itself, providing new business models and solutions for the media and the unique opportunity to interact with major players from both traditional and new media outlets.
A special Gala Dinner and Ceremony, to be held at Vienna City Hall, will honour “60 World Press Freedom Heroes,” to commemorate the 60 years of IPI’s existence.
Parallel to the congress, IPI will also hold a “New Media & High-Tech Innovations Exhibition,” showcasing the latest in new media technologies and information platforms.
Over 400 participants from around the world are expected to attend the event.
IPI’s partners for the Congress include: Google; OMV; Samsung Electronics Ltd; Telekom Austria Group; City of Vienna; Twin City Liner; and Austrian Airlines, the official carrier.
Media partners include: ORF – Austrian Broadcasting Corporation; Der Standard newspaper, and APA – Austria Presse Agentur.