The purpose of the World Editors Partnership Programme (WEPP) is to help editors from emerging countries integrate the community of journalism professionals despite cultural and/or financial issues, and learn how to successfully run an independent newspaper.
WEF established the World Editors Partnership Programme in 2004: overall 100 editors from Asian, African and Arabic emerging countries have benefited from WEPP. There will be more than 25 editors to benefit this programme at the 17th World Editors Forum in Hamburg, Germany, from October 6 to June 8.
The programme begin with 10 editors at the 12th World Editors Forum in Seoul and the 13th World Editors Forum in Moscow, and it has since reached about 30 editors every Forum. The acme was the 2007 event in Cape Town, South Africa, were as many as 60 editors attended under the World Editors Partnership Programme, with a special focus on African editors due to a Pretoria government help.
The four main assets of WEPP are:
1 - Sponsored participation to Annual Editors Forum:
The World Editors Forum represents a unique opportunity to:
* Learn from best practices and case studies
* Network with the foremost professionals of the media world: every year special social events are scheduled to encourage contact with colleagues and publishers.
2 - A four-month coaching process.
The participants are followed for a period of four months by the WEF staff, in order to prepare the editors for the intensive World Editors Forum held in June each year.
3 - Free membership to the World Editors Forum for one year :
Direct access to the WAN/WEF Members database;
Delivery of the 8 WAN/WEF publications, overall about 1000 pages covering all the subjects involved in the strategy, concept and practice of editorial excellence.
4 - Privileged conditions for participating to the WAN conferences organized throughout the year: The sponsored editors who wish to participate to the WAN events will benefit from special fees.
If you wish to participate in WEPP, please apply here.
I would like to participate in the selection for sponsored editors within WEPP :
Feedback from some former WEPP sponsored editors
Baba Hamed Mohamed Fodil, Algeria
Director - Le Quotidien d'Oran
M. Fodil was "particularly interested in the discussions about print and online supplements, given that his country is not ready to fully comply with the new technologies." He would like for the Editors Forum to dedicate time to subjects specifically designed for newspapers coming from poor countries.
Ms. Ausra Leka, Lithuania
Editor in chief - Kauno Diena
Ms Leka was particularly satisfied "with the contacts (she) could build with colleagues": she will keep in touch with the professionals she met at the Forum, in order to share ideas and experiences regarding projects (they have) in common." As a consequence of her participation to the Editors Forum she will "develop an online edition of (her) newspaper and a project aimed to young readers."
Tarek Atia, Egypt
Assistant Editor in Chief - Al-Ahram Weekly
The Editors Forum gave to M. Atia the input necessary to try a newsrooms convergence and to change the design of his newspaper.
He advises for the future that the Forum foresees an event that brings together the WEPP participants in order to meet before the actual works begin.
M. Zurab Matcharadze, Georgia
Editor in Chief - Resonasi/Resonance Newspaper
As a consequence to his participation in the Editors Forum, M. Matcharadze will implement the online services of his newspaper. His suggestions to improve the WEPP are: "foreseeing more time for questions at the end of conferences and organizing an event that facilitates the initial contacts among WEPP participants."
