New archives list - Commonwealth Press Union

A detailed list for the Commonwealth Press Union (ICS121) and its predecessor the Empire Press Union has been added to the ULRLS Archives catalogue.

The collection contains records and publications of the Empire Press Union, later called the Commonwealth Press Union. The Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) was an association composed of 750 members in 49 countries, including newspaper groups (with several hundred newspapers), individual newspapers, and news agencies throughout the Commonwealth. They were represented within the CPU by their proprietors, publishers or senior executives.
The aims and objectives of the organisation were to uphold the ideas and values of the Commonwealth; to promote, through the press, understanding and goodwill among members of the Commonwealth; and to advance the freedom, interests and welfare of the Commonwealth press and those working within it by i) monitoring and opposing all measures and proposals likely to affect the freedom of the press in any part of the Commonwealth, ii) working for improved facilities for reporting and transmitting news, and iii) promoting the training of all involved in the Commonwealth’s press.

The CPU offered some of the Commonwealth's most prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Press Union Fellowship in International Journalism and the Harry Brittain Fellowships.

The origin of the organisation went back to 1909 with the staging of the first Imperial Press Conference. This led to the creation of the Empire Press Union, which later became the Commonwealth Press Union. The CPU was wound up on 31 December 2008. The Commonwealth Media Trust was established to continue some of the work established by the CPU. Its primary concerns are supporting media freedom and media rights, the training of journalists in the skills necessary for them to enable their work and a thorough understanding of media law and the establishment and support of self-regulatory bodies throughout the Commonwealth


Papers include a limited number of official records relating to the administration of the organisation (reports, financial statements, rules, correspondence etc., several items being mounted in a volume entitled 'The Empire Press Union Guard Book') 1909-1998; circulars and bulletins covering the periods 1911-1924, 1929-1939 and 1964-1986; a good series of Conference papers and reports, 1909-1973, together with associated albums of news cuttings, 1919-1946, and photographs, c1950-1985; a few publications, 1911-1978; a small series of Fellowship Scheme leaflets, 1965-1970; and papers relating to Sir Harry Brittain (the founder of the Empire Press Union) with other papers on the history of the organisation.


A more recent donation of further material from the Commonwealth Press Union has been received by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library and we are seeking funding to have this material listed. The Library also holds the archives of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (ICS150).