Southern Africa's largest association of independent grassroots publishers will be formally launched at a small media summit near Johannesburg on September 16. The new Association of Independent Publishers of Southern Africa (AIPSA) is expected to launch with a membership of 120 rural, township, and neighbourhood publishers from across the region. The new body will incorporate the 126-year-old Community Press Association (CPA) and the Independent Media Alliance (IMA), and will automatically gain membership of the umbrella Print Media South Africa (PMSA) association.