Working Groups and Committees

Through working groups, IPTC members influence and change global standards set by the world's foremost authority on information exchange among the news media.

Shape the future of media technology

We have many opportunities for professionals who wish to contribute to the IPTC and its work. The most comprehensive is to become a member. Membership is the backbone of the IPTC, and levels vary for both organisations and individuals. Members can join working groups focussing on specific topic areas and standards.

IPTC also hosts two member meetings each year, where its working parties discuss and develop their ideas to support information exchange and the rapid innovation of media and the news industry.

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Working Group Meetings

In addition to the IPTC’s member meetings held in Spring and Autumn each year, our Working Groups hold regular online meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss developments and keep participants informed of developments in that subject area. Descriptions of our working groups, their objectives, leads and meeting times are given below.

Working Group Meeting Calendar

 

News in JSON

This group focuses on ninjs, the IPTC's JSON-based standard for media content APIs, lightweight applications and mobile apps.

The News in JSON Working Group meets regularly to fine tune the standard and to devise support documents, implementation guides and to promote ninjs adoption in general.

Related standard: ninjs

Public discussion forum Members-only discussion forum Public GitHub repository for ninjs

Working Group Lead

Ian Young of PA Media / Alamy, lead of the IPTC News in JSON Working Group

Ian Young (PA Media / Alamy)

Meeting schedule

This group meets every other Monday afternoon (GMT timezone).

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NewsCodes

This group maintains IPTC's set of controlled vocabularies, known collectively as IPTC NewsCodes, including our flagship news subject vocabulary, Media Topics.

The NewsCodes Working Group focuses on the maintenance of the IPTC Media Topics and other controlled vocabularies for content categorisation, working alongside other IPTC Working Groups where necessary. It also considers the creation of new vocabularies when required.

Related standards: NewsCodes, Media Topics

Public discussion forum Members-only discussion forum

Working Group Lead

Jennifer Parrucci (The New York Times)

Meeting schedule

This group has a conference call every other Wednesday afternoon (GMT timezone).

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NewsML-G2

This group maintains the global standards for describing and exchanging news and events data: NewsML-G2 and EventsML-G2.

It discusses and develops proposed changes to the standard, and provides supporting guidelines, documentation and examples to facilitate adoption. It is also responsible for promotion of the standard across providers, aggregators and consumers and liaises closely with the other IPTC Working Groups.

Related standard: NewsML-G2

Public discussion forum Members-only discussion forum

Working Group Lead

Dave Compton, IPTC NewsML-G2 WG lead

Dave Compton (Refinitiv, an LSEG business)

Meeting schedule

This group meets every Friday afternoon (GMT timezone).

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Photo Metadata

This group maintains the global standard for describing pictures.

Objectives:

  • The goal of this Working Group is to act as a special interest group regarding all photo metadata issues of the IPTC.
  • The work is not focused on a single standard but will support all current IPTC standards in all photo related areas.
  • The work done covers in particular supporting the development and maintenance of generic IPTC metadata standards, the development of specific photo metadata standards and acting as a standing group of experts to respond to issues raised by external parties.

The group discusses proposed changes to the standard, works on guidelines and other help for people and companies using the standard. The group also organises the annual Photo Metadata Conference. It is responsible for liaising with other organisations related to the photo business.

Related standard: IPTC Photo Metadata Standard

Public discussion forum Members-only discussion forum

Working Group Leads

David Riecks, Co-Lead, IPTC Photo Metadata Working Group

David Riecks

Michael Steidl, Co-Lead, IPTC Photo Metadata Working Group

Michael Steidl

Meeting schedule

This group meets every other Wednesday afternoon (GMT timezone).

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Rights Expressions

This group maintains RightsML, the rights expression language for the media industry.

It also collaborates with other organisations on related efforts, like ODRL.

Related standard: RightsML

Public discussion forum Members-only discussion forum

Discussions at IPTC Member Meetings.

The group does not currently meet regularly, but rights topics are often discussed at the IPTC Spring and Autumn Member Meetings.

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Sports Content

This group focuses on SportsML-G2 and related vocabularies.

The Sports Content Working Group discusses and develops proposed changes to the SportsML-G2 standard, and provides supporting guidelines, documentation and examples to facilitate adoption. The Working Group also provides a vibrant community for the exchange of best practices and to share experiences implementing the standard. 

It is also responsible for promotion of the standard across providers, aggregators and consumers and liaises closely with the other IPTC Working Groups.

The group is currently focussed on creating an RDF vocabulary based on SportsML-G2.

Related standard: SportsML-G2

Public discussion forum Members-only discussion forum

Working Group Lead

Paul Kelly, Lead of the IPTC Sports Content Working Group

Paul Kelly (Individual Member)

Meeting schedule

This group meets every Tuesday afternoon (GMT timezone).

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Video Metadata

This group develops IPTC Video Metadata standards including the IPTC Video Metadata Hub.

After careful evaluation of existing video metadata standards, the Working Group created the Video Metadata Hub standard. Now its work is in maintaining, evolving and evangelising the standard to drive adoption across the industry.

Related standard: Video Metadata Hub

Public discussion forum Members-only discussion forum

Working Group Lead

Pam Fisher (Individual Member)

Meeting schedule

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Standards Committee

The Standards Committee is IPTC’s body for formal approval of all standards and acts as steering group for the technical development of new standards and the ongoing review of all standards in use.

The Standards Committee is the forum at which new standards and updated versions are approved by IPTC Voting Members.

Read Paul’s inaugural speech as Chair of the IPTC Standards Committee

Committee Chair

Paul Harman headshot

Paul Harman (Bloomberg LP)

Meeting schedule

The Standards Committee meets at our member meetings in the Spring and Autumn of each year.

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Public Relations Committee

The IPTC PR Committee oversees all aspects of IPTC’s public relations and marketing, including this website.

The PR Committee looks at ways that we can increase the profile of IPTC to the industry, driving membership and 

The Committee also considers ways that we can increase the benefits of membership for existing members.

Members-only discussion forum

Committee Chair

Linda Burman (Individual Member)

Meeting schedule

The PR Committee meets every Tuesday afternoon (GMT timezone).

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