INMA Cancels Paris World Congress

The International News Media Association (INMA) today canceled its Paris World Congress of News Media April 23-28 over concerns about the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

The INMA is a global community of news media companies reinventing how they engage audiences and grow revenue in a multi-platform environment. The INMA community consists of more than 11,000 members at 800-plus news media companies in 70 countries.

“Our overriding priority is the health, safety, and well-being of our participants,” said Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director and CEO of INMA. “Participants cannot realistically travel from their home countries to Paris. And the ramifications of the pandemic in Paris have turned the situation in the city problematic.”

The INMA World Congress canceled after two years of preparation. The Congress would have attracted nearly 600 participants from 50-plus countries for its conference, workshops, and study tour of Parisian media houses. The conference was to have been held at Palais Brongniart, with an opening reception at The Louvre.

“We are fortunate to have a strong foundation as an association, a robust virtual training environment for members, and amazing conference experiences planned for the second half of the year in Dublin, New Delhi, Lima, and Los Angeles,” Wilkinson said. “We are disappointed that we couldn’t bring the world of news media to Paris and, of course, show off Paris to so many international guests.”

The announcement of winners in the INMA Global Media Awards competition will be made via livestream video on or around April 28, the originally scheduled date for the unveiling which would have taken place in Paris.

Planning has already begun to bring a virtual World Congress to Paris participants in April-May, as well as the next in-person World Congress in New York in May 2021.