IREX

International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) is an international nonprofit organization providing leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society development. 

Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of over $60 million and a staff of 500 professionals worldwide. IREX and its partner IREX Europe deliver cross-cutting programs and consulting expertise in more than 100 countries.

According to their website "IREX works with local partners to advance the professionalism and long-term economic sustainability of newspapers, radio, television, and Internet media. Specialized programs and small grants build skills for balanced, investigative reporting, better media management, and advocacy for press freedoms." 

Program areas include : •	Journalism Training and Education •	Media Strategy and Management •	Business Development and Advertising •	News and Public Affairs Production •	Media Law Reform and Advocacy •	Technology and Infrastructure Development

IREX's Pro-Media Program took over the role of the now defunct International Media Fund in 1995. Pro-Media have worked with the US law firm Covington and Burling "to analyze controversial Slovak media legislation and constitutional statutues, such as the May 1998 amendment to the Slovak election act that severely circumscribed political advertising and campaigning in the independent media." (Ballentine, 2002, p.109)

Projects
Iraqis Build Commercial Independent National News Agency: IREX is working as a subcontractor to America’s Development Foundation (ADF) on the USAID Iraq Civil Society and Media Support Program. 


 * "The authoritative, professional coverage supplied by the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA) will help Iraqi media outlets provide their audiences with impartial, accurate information. Owned and operated by Iraqi media professionals, NINA debuted at www.ninanews.com in conjunction with the Iraqi constitutional referendum on October 15."

The NINA team, is backed by IREX through USAID’s Iraq Civil Society and Media Support Program. Also see Supporting Independent Media in Iraq.

Arrest in Georgia
According to a report from ITAR-TASS World Service on 17 April 2006, the former head of the Tbilisi-based office of IREX, Salome Mudzhiri (from 2003-2005), "and her husband, David Rogava, have been arrested in the Georgian capital on embezzlement charges.
 * "After an audit carried out by the American side revealed financial violations, the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stepped in.


 * "Once Mudzhiri’s guilt was confirmed, the FBI asked the Georgian Interior Ministry to detain her and her husband, who American investigators said was also involved in the 550,000 U.S. dollar fraud." (ITAR-TASS World Service, 2006)

IREX in Afghanistan

 * "IREX ceased financing of its mass media resource center in Jalal-Abad from August 1, 2005. Personnel of the Center are concerned on that the IREX has determined to transfer the technical equipment to other organizations.


 * "According to local journalists, it is quite hasty and unreasoned decision, which will bring to collapse of the mass media center. It is very hard to found an analogical center with technical equipment. In this connection, journalists of Jalal-Abad forwarded an address to the US Embassy and IREX Administration with request not to transfer the equipment of the center to other organizations, but leave it in the center, which will continue its activity under assistance of other donors." {The Times of Central Asia, 2005)

IREX in Belarus
IREX opened it first office in Belarus in 1997 and in 2003: "A spokesman for Belarus's security police, the KGB, on Monday accused the U.S. International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) of threatening Belarus's security. ...


 * "By its actions, the International Research & Exchanges Board is creating a threat to the security of Belarus, and not only in the information field," spokesman Alexander Bazanov told Interfax.


 * "He said the KGB had been analyzing IREX's activities for a long time as "no development in the information field can escape the attention of state authorities." (Interfax News Service, 2003)

Management

 * W. Robert Pearson - President
 * Paige Alexander - Vice President
 * Michael Lavelline - Chief Financial Officer
 * Larry Birch - Director of Development
 * Joyce Warner - Director, Education Programs Division
 * Mark Whitehouse - Director, Media Development Division
 * Linda Trail - Director, Media Development Division
 * Rob Cronin - Director, Civil Society Division

Details obtained from.

Directors 2006
Source
 * Avis T. Bohlen, Chair
 * John J. Roberts, Chair Emeritus
 * Mark G. Pomar, (ex officio), President IREX
 * Adrian A. Basora
 * Patrick Butler
 * Robert Clough
 * Nancy S. Dye
 * Edward M. Fouhy
 * Michael McFaul
 * Frank Ponzio
 * Armen Sarkissian
 * Barry Zorthian

Directors 1999
Source
 * John J. Roberts, Chair - American International Group, Inc.
 * Barbara A. Anderson - University of Michigan
 * Thomas L. Basacchi - Boeing Commercial Airplane Group
 * Naomi F. Collins - Past Executive Director, NAFSA: Association of International Educators
 * Jane Leftwich Curry - Santa Clara University
 * Franz B. Ehrhardt - CASCA Consulting L.L.C.
 * Artemis A. W. Joukowsky - Brown University
 * Herbert S. Levine - University of Pennsylvania
 * John J. Maresca - Business-Humanitarian Forum Association
 * Leonard Marks - Cohn and Marks
 * Daniel C. Matuszewski - Chairman, Executive Committee, IREX Board of Governors
 * James R. Millar - The George Washington University
 * Mark G. Pomar, Ex Officio, IREX President
 * Sarah Claflin Pratt - University of Southern California
 * Dariusz K. Rosati - Monetary Policy Council, National Bank of Poland
 * Roald Sagdeev - Center for Political and Strategic Studies
 * Roman Szporluk - Harvard University
 * Sarah Meiklejohn Terry - Tufts University
 * Kurt A. Wimmer - Covington & Burling
 * Susan L. Woodward - King’s College London
 * Barry Zorthian - Alcalde & Fay

1999 Media Advisory Council
Source
 * Robert T. Coonrod - Corporation for Public Broadcasting
 * Jane Leftwich Curry - Santa Clara University
 * James L. Greenfield - Independent Journalism Foundation
 * Ted Iliff - Cable News Network (CNN)
 * Kevin Klose - National Public Radio (NPR)
 * Leonard Marks - Cohn and Marks
 * Kurt A. Wimmer - Covington & Burling
 * Susan Woodward - King’s College London
 * Barry Zorthian - Alcalde & Fay

Major Funders
Details obtained from 2004 Annual Report.

US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) US Department of State, Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor (DRL) US Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) US Department of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Aff airs (NEA)
 * Carnegie Corporation of New York
 * The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
 * National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
 * US Agency for International Development (USAID)
 * US Department of Labor, International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB)

Donors
Source
 * US Agency for International Development (USAID)
 * US Department of State
 * Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)
 * Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)
 * Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Title VIII Program (INR)
 * Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL)
 * European Commission
 * British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Global Opportunities Fund
 * Institut für Auslandsbezeihungen
 * Media-Im-Pakt
 * United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
 * United National Development Programme (UNDP)
 * World Bank
 * The Starr Foundation
 * Carnegie Corporation of New York
 * The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Public and Private Supporters
Details obtained from 2004 Annual Report.


 * American International Group, Inc.
 * Arnold & Porter
 * Robert Clough
 * Covington & Burling
 * CPI
 * Delta Air Lines
 * The Huang Hsing Foundation (USA)
 * Microsoft Corporation
 * North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
 * Norwegian People’s Aid
 * O’Reilly Associates
 * The People Technology Foundation
 * Press Now
 * John J. and Nancy Lee Roberts
 * Qualcomm
 * The Starr Foundation
 * Swedish Helsinki Committee
 * Thomson-ProMetric
 * World Bank Institute

Related SourceWatch resources

 * Independent Journalism Foundation
 * Peter Gross
 * Herbert J. Ellison

Contact
2121 K Street NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20037 Tel: (202) 628-8188 Fax: (202) 628-8189 Email: irex AT irex.org Web: http://www.irex.org/media/index.asp