Scott Griffen named as new executive director of IPI

The International Press Institute (IPI) has named Scott Griffen as its new executive director. Griffen has been temporarily leading the organisation since June 2024.

IPI’s Executive Board Chair Márton Gergely explained why they chose Griffen at this difficult time for journalism: “As we start the year 2025, IPI’s work has never been more important. Attacks on journalists and the free press are on the rise everywhere we look. After a thorough review process in the search for a new director, the IPI Executive Board found that we already had the right person in place. Thanks to his long tenure at IPI, Scott has an unmatched understanding of our mission – but he also brings the fresh energy IPI needs to meet this moment and become fit for the future.”

Notably, this appointment comes as IPI celebrates 75 years of defending press freedom. The organisation was founded in 1950 by 34 editors from 16 countries who wanted to protect free press as a key part of free societies. Since then, IPI has grown to connect leading media professionals across more than 100 countries.

Throughout his career, Griffen has dedicated himself to fighting for media freedom. Initially, he started at IPI in 2012 working on press freedom in Latin America and the Caribbean. Subsequently, from 2018 to 2024, he served as deputy director, helping IPI grow and adapt to its members’ changing needs. During this time, he has written many important reports about press freedom and visited dozens of countries to support journalists.

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In his own words, Griffen explained: “As it was 75 years ago, press freedom is indispensable to democracy, to our rights and freedoms, and to addressing the urgent problems that our communities and our world face. And just as we have over the past seven decades, the IPI global network is once again stepping up as independent, public-interest news comes under growing threat. We’re strengthening our advocacy, solidarity, and support, and reaffirming the universal values that we share. I’m honoured to lead IPI at this crucial moment and to work with our partners, team, and courageous members – leading journalists and editors – around the world.”

IPI will celebrate its 75th anniversary World Congress in Vienna this October. This event will bring together people working to protect media freedom to share ideas and find solutions to current challenges. The Congress will include a Media Innovation Festival to help plan ways to protect free media in the future.

Griffen, who is from the United States, studied at Yale University, King’s College London, and the University of Linz in Austria. He speaks five languages – English, German, Spanish, French, and Basque – and has studied several others, including Greenlandic and Turkish.