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Distributed for Karolinum Press, Charles University

The Rise and Fall of the International Organization of Journalists Based in Prague 1946–2016

Useful Recollections Part III

In this book, Finnish scholar Kaarle Nordenstreng provides a unique account of the Prague-based International Organization of Journalists, a group that was at one time the world’s largest media association. The IOJ expanded from a postwar fraternity of professional journalists in twenty countries to a truly global organization that had its hand in running journalism schools, a publishing house, a conference service, and a number of commercial enterprises in Czechoslovakia. Though the Cold War kept most Western journalists’ unions isolated from the organization, the IOJ was a major player in Communist Eastern Europe--at its peak in the late 1980s, the IOJ counted 300,000 journalists as members. Nordenstreng--who served as president of the IOJ for fourteen years--illuminates this exciting and little-explored chapter in the history of postwar Europe, from the rise of the Iron Curtain through the post-Soviet 1990s. He enlivens his firsthand account with personal testimonies from former IOJ members and a wealth of previously unpublished internal documents.
 

540 pages | 6 1/2 x 9 1/4 | © 2021

History: European History


Table of Contents

Preface 9
PART ONE – HISTORY OF THE IOJ
1. Prehistory 1894–1946
The starting point in the 1890s
The FIJ between the World Wars
Developments during World War II
2. Founding 1946–47
Copenhagen 1946
Prague 1947
3. Turmoil in the Cold War 1948–53
Crisis 1948–49
Split 1950–53
4. Consolidation 1954–66
Quest for unity 1954–60
Emancipation of the Third World 1961–66
5. Expansion 1966–75
Record congresses and expanding activities 1966–71
Détente facilitating broader co-operation 1971–75
6. Keeping pace with a new world order 1976–80
Celebrating détente in Helsinki and Paris 1976–77
Global outreach with UNESCO, Mexico and Vietnam 1978–80
7. Persevering in a new Cold War 1981–85
Facing and waging campaigns 1981
Promoting peace and circumventing conflicts 1982–85
8. Heyday 1986–89
Turning 40 and in full flower 1986–87
Approaching zenith 1988–89
9. Disintegration 1990–97
Shaken by the fall of communist regimes 1990
Struggling for survival 1991–97
10. Demise 1998–2016
Last activities 1998
The lingering end 1999–2016
11. Overview 1946–2016
The IOJ history in brief
Recounting key aspects
Epilogue
Personal Reflections
PART TWO – PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS ABOUT THE IOJ
From inside the IOJ
Josef Klánský: A young man in a young organization (1947–50)
Jirí Meisner: Managing the IOJ to adulthood (1958–66)
Václav Slavík: The age of achievement with Jirí Kubka (1966–88)
Ferdinando Zidar: The story of my expulsion (1972)
Pál Tamás: The IOJ empire in Kadarist Hungary (1966–74)
Alice Palmer: The IOJ and the American black press (1983–91)
Christopher Muzavazi: From heyday to chaos (1988–92)
Michel Diard: The French factor (1946–98)
Rüdiger Claus: A journalist trainer’s perspective (1984–98)
Phan Quang: Mission accomplished, heritage lives on (1974–98)
Testimony of the last four IOJ Presidents
Kaarle Nordenstreng: Bridgebuilding in a volatile world (1976–90)
Armando Rollemberg: From dream to disappointment (1991–93)
Manuel Tomé: Acting in crisis (1994)
Suleiman Al-Qudah: Towards the end (1995–2016)
From outside the IOJ
Théo Bogaerts: Three decades in the IFJ (1952–85)
Hifzi Topuz: A quarter of a century at UNESCO (1959–83)
Paolo Murialdi: Bringing the IOJ and the IFJ together (1974–84)
Wolfgang Mayer: Trying to overcome rivalry (1986–2000)
APPENDICES – DOCUMENTATION ON THE IOJ
1. Meetings of the IOJ statutory bodies 1946–96
2. Members of the IOJ leadership 1946–96
3. Documents from the Russian State Archive 1949–50
4. IOJ member organizations in 1966
5. Chronology of IOJ activities 1967–90
6. IOJ presentations at the UN 1982–88
7. Statement in Geneva 1984 and press release in Sofia 1985
8. Proposal for main areas of IOJ activity after the 10th Congress
9. Minutes of the IOJ Presidium Bureau in Moscow 1987
10. Mandates of the IOJ Commissions and Committees 1987
11. IOJ member organizations in 1988
12. Survey of the IOJ membership in 1988 and 1991
13. IOJ organizational structure in 1988 and 1990
14. Agenda of the IOJ Secretariat meeting in March 1988
15. IOJ awards until 1988
16. Statement of the 3rd Congress of CSCE Journalists 1989
17. Background paper for the IOJ trade union activities 1989
18. Letter to the IOJ by the 1968 Center of Journalists of CSSR 1989
19. Message from the IOJ on the eve of 1990
20. IOJ buildings and premises in Prague 1990
21. Declaration of the Syndicate of Czech and Moravian Journalists 1990
22. Minutes of the IOJ talks with the Syndicate 1990
23. Minutes of the IOJ talk with the Deputy Prime Minister 1990
24. Report on the IOJ commercial activities in Czechoslovakia 1990
25. The President’s report on IOJ developments in 1989–90
26. Temporary arrangements in the Secretariat in April 1990
27. Report on the 11th IOJ Congress in Harare 1991
28. Statement by the IFJ and IOJ for co-operation 1992
29. Proposal by the IAMCR to re-establish the IJI 1992–94
30. The President’s post-resignation letter 1994
31. Reports from the 12th IOJ Congress in Amman 1995
32. Internal briefings from the Secretary General 1995
33. IOJ homepage 1995
34. Report of the Executive Committee in Prague 1995
35. The Secretary General’s report to the Executive Committee in Hanoi 1996
36. IOJ letter to IFJ Congress in Angers 2016

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