Leading editors from the Philippines, Kenya and Nigeria have joined the Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists for press freedom.
The new members are Maria Ressa, CEO and executive editor of the Philippine news website Rappler; Stephen Gitagama, CEO of the Nation Media Group, a top publisher of independent media in East Africa; and Wada Maida, chairman of the Nigerian publisher People’s Media Limited and a long-time member of IPI’s Nigeria National Committee.
They were elected at last week’s IPI World Congress in Geneva, Switzerland by the IPI General Assembly.
“We are delighted to welcome Maria Ressa, Stephen Gitagama and Wada Maida as members of the IPI Executive Board”, IPI Executive Board Chair Markus Spillmann said.
The General Assembly also re-elected the following Executive Board members to new three-year terms: Beata Balogová, editor-in-chief, SME (Slovakia); Ole Kristian Bjelaanes, managing editor, Norwegian News Agency (Norway); Woosuk “Kenneth” Choi, editor, Chosun Ilbo (South Korea); Kim Fletcher, editor, the British Journalism Review (UK); Kadri Gürsel, columnist, Al Monitor (Turkey); Johannes Hano, New York and Canada bureau chief, ZDF German television (Germany); Hiroshi Komatsu, editor-in-chief, The Mainichi Shimbun (Japan); Virginia Pérez Alonso, deputy editor, Público.es (Spain); Markus Spillmann, founder and CEO, SPILLMANN Media Management GmbH (Switzerland).
Daoud Kuttab, director general and founder of Community Media Network in Jordan, was elected by the Executive Board as one of its four vice chairs, joining Balogová, Choi and Khadija Patel, editor-in-chief of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper. Kuttab assumes the seat of Dawn Thomas, CEO of One Caribbean Media Ltd., who stepped down from the Executive Board due to term limits.
In addition to Thomas, Kabiru Yusuf, chairman of Nigeria’s Media Trust, and Daniel Hadad, CEO of Argentina’s Grupo Infobae, also stepped down after serving two full terms on the Executive Board.
The IPI Executive Board is elected by the General Assembly with regard to geographic, gender and media diversity. The Board oversees IPI’s finances and guides the Secretariat in implementing IPI’s strategy in defence of media freedom. Members serve three-year terms, extendable for a second term.
