Inter American Press Association (IAPA)

Overview

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA), known in Spanish as the Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa (SIP), is a Miami-based nonprofit representing more than 1,300 print, broadcast and digital media organizations across North America, South America and the Caribbean. It describes its mission as defending and promoting freedom of the press and freedom of expression throughout the Americas.

Key functions and role

IAPA sends missions to investigate press-freedom violations in member countries, monitors and reports on threats to journalists twice yearly, and publishes the Chapultepec Index, an academically produced ranking of press-freedom conditions across the hemisphere. It holds three annual conferences -- a General Assembly, a Mid-Year Meeting, and SiPConnect, focused on digital technology and media business models -- and awards annual prizes for journalistic excellence. Its autonomous affiliates, the IAPA Press Institute and the IAPA Scholarship Fund, provide technical assistance and educational funding to member publications and journalists.

History

IAPA traces its origins to the first Pan American Congress of Journalists in 1926 and formally organized in 1943, becoming fully independent of the region's governments in 1950. The organization has investigated press repression under numerous Latin American governments, including Argentina under Juan Perón and Cuba under Fulgencio Batista, and in 2000 it opened a permanent Miami headquarters named for Jules Dubois, a longtime chairman of its press-freedom committee. President John F. Kennedy addressed IAPA's general assembly in Miami Beach in November 1963, three days before his assassination.

Political positions

IAPA describes itself as an independent, nonprofit organization defending press freedom across the political spectrum. Critics, including the media-watchdog site SourceWatch, have argued that the organization's membership structure -- open to media owners and executives rather than working journalists -- has historically aligned it with the interests of media proprietors, and some reporting has documented past connections between IAPA's early leadership and U.S. intelligence-linked funding sources. IAPA's current leadership has publicly criticized press restrictions and rhetoric from governments across the ideological spectrum, including the second Trump administration.

Leadership

Pierre Manigault, of the U.S. media group Evening Post Publishing, became IAPA's 73rd president in October 2025 at the organization's 81st General Assembly. Carlos Lauría has served as Executive Director since late 2023, succeeding longtime executive director Ricardo Trotti.

Location and contact info

Address
Jules Dubois Building
1801 SW 3rd Avenue
Miami, FL 33129, USA
Phone
(305) 634-2465
Email
info@sipiapa.org
Website
https://en.sipiapa.org