Dear IPI members,
It was wonderful to see so many of you at last month’s 75th anniversary IPI World Congress and Media Innovation Festival in Vienna. It was a deeply meaningful gathering as well as the biggest Congress in recent memory – more than 600 participants from over 90 countries joined us to share, listen, debate, and strategize on securing the future of free media. We were also glad to have a strong turnout at our first-ever online General Assembly in October.
We’ve spent a lot of time recently listening to our community and reflecting on the future of the IPI World Congress, which has served as a valued annual gathering of IPI’s network and the wider media freedom community for more than seven decades.
In these conversations, we’ve asked some key questions: How do we make the World Congress a more sustainable experience for our network as we look ahead to the next 25 years? And how do we better engage our members around the globe – including those not able to travel to an annual event – amid our shared and urgent challenges?
We’ve heard from many of you that you want to see more of IPI around the world, and that the Congress, while a valuable gathering, isn’t always accessible to everyone. Members have shared that there’s real value when IPI comes to where you are, creating more accessible opportunities to gather and connect. While the Congress remains a highlight for many, we’ve also heard a clear call for more local and regional offerings to make it easier for our members to engage meaningfully with IPI and each other throughout the year.
It’s in this context that I’m excited to share with you some important changes to the IPI World Congress, as approved by the IPI Executive Board at its recent meeting in Vienna. Going forward, the full Congress will take place every second year – aligning us with other journalism events that have adopted a similar change and giving IPI and our community more time and resources to plan, prepare, and attend this cherished gathering. The next World Congress will therefore take place in 2027. Our Media Innovation Festival, however, will remain an annual event, with a stand-alone festival taking place May 6-7, 2026 in Vienna.
Meanwhile, we’ll be using the years in between to step up our member engagement by meeting our members where they are – taking IPI and the spirit of the World Congress “on the road”. In short, we’ll be investing in bringing IPI to you. Expect to see us hosting regional member gatherings and side or pop-up events at existing gatherings where our members will be. Our goal is to make the IPI network more global, more accessible, and more present and to expand opportunities for our members to meet, share, and learn from one another at a time of need. It’s also a chance for us to strengthen partnerships and alliances within the wider media and press freedom community.
We’ll start this next year – and as we begin our planning, we’d love to hear from you. Write to us at congress@ipi.media or join one of our member focus groups in early December (see more information below) to share your thoughts on where you think we should be!
While this is a change, we believe it’s one that meets this moment. This year’s World Congress was one of our most successful yet, and worthy of our 75th anniversary. But now is also the time to look to the future, with a vision that’s bold, nimble, sustainable and that puts our members at the center of IPI’s work and mission.
We’re excited to start this new journey with you!
Sincerely,
Scott Griffen
IPI Executive Director
