Issue No.14, July 2004

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Comment

London has been chosen as the venue for the 2006 annual general meetings of both the International Association of Press Clubs and the European Federation of Press Clubs. This is a signal honour for the London Press Club and the Board will be spending the next two years preparing to make it a memorable occasion. It is nearly ten years since London hosted the European Federation's conference and we have never before had the honour of holding the international event.

2006 is also the centenary year of the Newspaper Publishers' Association, which will be marked by, among other things, a major newspaper exhibition at the British Library. Former Club Chairman Dr Dennis Griffiths is closely involved with this exhibition, as is Steve Oram, Director of the NPA, whom I take this opportunity to welcome as a new member of the Board of the London Press Club. So we may be sure that the two international meetings the Club is hosting in that year will also be part of the NPA centenary celebrations.

The 2004 Annual Awards Lunch was a great success, thanks in large part to our guest speaker, Michael Howard, the presenter, Andrew Marr, and of course to our generous sponsors, British Gas. We offer our sincere thanks to all of them. The introduction this year of shortlists and of two new categories - Daily Newspaper of the Year and Sunday Newspaper of the Year - proved very popular and attracted wide publicity.

Finally, we are pleased to record that the memory of the great Johnnie Johnson, Club Secretary from 1986 to 1999 was marked by a special ceremony at St Bride's Church, attended by his widow, Bunty. The club owes so very much to both of them.

Donald Trelford