World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations, and many individual newspaper executives in 100 countries. The association was founded in 1948, and, as of 2011, represented more than 18,000 publications globally.
WAN's objectives are to defend and to promote freedom of the press, to support the development of newspaper publishing, and to foster global co-operation. It has provided consultation for UNESCO, the United Nations, and the Council of Europe.
According to WAN, from 2007 to 2011, global newspaper advertising dropped 41% to $76 billion.
History
The earliest organization that has since become WAN-IFRA was the FIEJ, the international federation of newspaper editors founded in 1948 by survivors of the clandestine press of France and the Netherlands to fight for survival of a free press worldwide.IFRA's origins emerged from INCA, founded in 1961 when European publishers began to introduce the use of colour in newspapers; it was the world's leading association for newspaper and media publishing. In 1970, it became IFRA to treat the rapidly developing technical side of the publishing industry.
In 2007, the organization founded MINDS, Media Information Network, a nonprofit organization that hosts an annual conference for news organizations and agencies.
In July 2009, the World Association of Newspapers merged with IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry, to become the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. The two organisations had been discussing a merger, on and off, for more than five years, and had built up several similar products and services and had an increasing overlap in membership.
In June 2024, DistriPress, a global trade association founded in 1955 to promote circulation and distribution of newspapers and magazines, was formerly merged into WAN-IFRA. In December 2025, FIPP announced it will merge into WAN-IFRA.