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IREX Announces $14 Million in New Media Projects

October 5, 2001

Washington, DC-The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) is pleased to announce that it has received three separate media awards totaling $14.2 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). With these contracts IREX will work to strengthen independent media in the Russian Federation, Kosovo, and Montenegro.

The Russia Independent Print Media Project (RIPMP), a three-year, $3.5 million cooperative agreement, focuses on print media and creating a viable, Russia-wide network of independent, nongovernmental press centers. The project will focus on helping the Press Development Institute (PDI) address issues plaguing the non-state print media sector in the regions of Russia. This assistance will include legal support, creating financial self-sustainability, and improving professional journalism skills.

The Kosovo Independent Media Program (KIMP) and Montenegro Independent Media Program (MIMP) will both focus on increasing the flow of objective, non-state news and information so that citizens can make informed decisions on the political and economic future of their countries. KIMP, a three-year, $7.7 million cooperative agreement, is an extension of the USAID-funded ProMedia program, which IREX has implemented in Kosovo since June 1999, and will involve working with private television stations; independent, nongovernmental media institutions; news agencies; and regional print and broadcast outlets in Kosovo. MIMP is a $3 million, three-year cooperative agreement that builds upon IREX's existing ProMedia work in Montenegro. IREX will work with a small group of the most promising independent print, radio, and television outlets in the region's media community.

IREX is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of knowledge. Central to its mission is the empowering of individuals and institutions to participate meaningfully in civil society. IREX administers programs between the United States and the countries of Eastern Europe, the New Independent States, Asia, and the Near East.

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