World Editors Forum
Speakers | World News Media Congress 2017
World News Media Congress 2017
Editor, Dawn, Pakistan
Zaffar Abbas is the Editor of Dawn, Pakistan's oldest and most prestigious English language newspaper. He has been a journalist for 37 years and has worked for a number of national and international news organisations, including 16 years for the BBC as one of its Pakistan correspondents.
Mr. Abbas is a keen follower of the Pakistani and regional politics, has covered the civil war in Afghanistan from the days of the Soviet occupation. The last few years have been mostly dedicated to reporting and analyzing the rise in religious extremism and terrorism in Pakistan, the tricky peace process between India and Pakistan, as well as the complicated political developments in the country.
Because of his bold and objective coverage of armed militancy in the country he twice faced the wrath of different militant groups in the past, but luckily survived with non-fatal injuries.
Mr. Abbas is a strong advocate for ethical journalism in Pakistan, and has long been campaigning for creating a safe environment for working journalists in the country.
Bureau Chief Quito, El Universo, Ecuador
Mónica Almeida is Quito's bureau chief of El Universo newspaper. For the last 20 years she has managed the main regional office creating a talented team of journalists that is responsible for all the content generated from the capital of Ecuador. She has also worked as a reporter and editor for Agence France Presse in Paris. A fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in 2009, she specialized in investigative journalism and regularly takes part in the Latin American Conference of Investigative Journalism organized by IPYS. She was part of the global team of reporters working on the Panama Papers with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that won the Pulitzer Price 2017 for Explanatory Reporting. She has become a defender of investigative journalism and high journalism standards in a time press freedom has been under attack in Ecuador.
Founder & Director of the Knight Center for Journalism, University of Texas, USA
Rosental Calmon Alves is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Knight Chair in Journalism and the UNESCO Chair in Communication and is also the founder and director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. Created in 2002, the center has benefited thousands of journalists around the world with training programs. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the center has helped journalists to create a new generation of organizations dedicated to elevating the professional and ethical standards of journalism in their countries. In 2016, he was awarded with the Maria Moors Cabot Prize.
Chief Strategy Officer, Independent Media, South Africa
Vasantha Angamuthu has 30 years experience in media and communications and is the Chief Strategy Officer at Independent Media South Africa. Her role includes organisational development, product development across print, digital and onground and supporting the leadership team in the development of audience, product and revenue strategies. She also launched and heads up Studio Independent, a branded content agency within Independent Media.
She started her professional life as a political journalist and covered South Africa's transition to democracy including the country's first democratic elections; the constitution-writing process and President Nelson Mandela's time in office. She left journalism to head the communications unit of the City of Durban, elevating the unit from a PR and media buying unit to a strategic communications unit with a Paid, Owned and Earned (PEO) developmental marketing strategy. In 2007 Vasantha joined Hindustan Times Media in New Delhi as Vice President: Content and Product Development, a role that bridged marketing and editorial. In her five years at HT Media, she launched or redesigned a number of print products, drove the implementation of community and niche print products and conceptualised and launched a number of events.Founder Code4Africa, impactAfrica Fund, ICFJ Knight Fellow, Tanzania
Justin Arenstein is a veteran South African investigative journalist and media entrepreneur. He is founder of Code4Africa and is behind impactAFRICA, the continent’s largest fund for data-driven storytelling.
He is an internationally recognised expert in data-driven journalism and related new media technologies. Arenstein co-founded the pioneering independent news wire agency African Eye News Service (AENS). AENS and Arenstein have received a string of international awards for their investigative exposés into government corruption and social justice issues. This includes the Knight International Journalism Award in 2000. Arenstein was also a 2009-2010 ICFJ Knight Fellow at Stanford University, where he explored social network analysis strategies for investigative journalism, as well as strategies to help independent grassroots media in Africa exploit the mobile web.
He serves as a consulting strategist on journalistic innovation for Google, and on the boards of a number of media industry entities and related press freedom bodies. He is a former member of the Press Council of South Africa, where he helped reform the Press Code and its press oversight mechanisms.
Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development, UNESCO, Paris, France
Guy has many years of experience in the African media and headed the School of Journalism & Media Studies at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa and was recently appointed Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development at UNESCO.
In the past, he has worked in both press and television and had a long-running column on the The Mail & Guardian website. He holds a doctorate from Rhodes University and was the deputy chair of the South African National Editor’s Forum.
Director of Media Monitoring Africa, South Africa
William Bird is the director of Media Monitoring Africa and is both an Ashoka and Linc fellow. William has been monitoring the media for 22 years, and is thrilled by data journalism and how technology can be used to monitor and improve quality journalism. William is regularly invited to offer expert input on media policy, media practice and media ethics issues. He also comments on media related subjects ranging from gender to fake news and trust. William has two boys, both of whom have been introduced to the joy of media monitoring.
Deputy CEO Group Figaro – CCM Benchmark, France
Jean-Luc Breysse is the Deputy CEO of Groupe Figaro (including CCM Benchmark) in France. He joined the group in 2012 from the position of President of Mondadori Magazine France. Prior to that he was the Managing Director of EMAP France and the Finance Director for the financial newspaper Les Echos.
Chief Data Scientist, Editorial Prensa Iberica, Spain
Matías de la Barra is Chief Data Scientist at PRENSA IBÉRICA, where he oversees the Big Data department. Big Data is the unit in charge of providing in-depth corporate data in close collaboration with other departments such as publishing, advertising, commercial and business. Its main objective is to enhance business performance and spur innovation by the means of avant-garde technology, strategic thinking and decision making processes based on data.
The department core activities are divided in three main areas: profiling and segmentation, advertising innovation/content recommendations and outsourcing corporate optimization models.
Matías began his career as an engineer in 2000, working as an industrial engineer for nine years. During his professional career he came to realize that data analysis, mathematical models and the Internet would provide vast source of information and opportunities at all levels, which led him to undertake a Masters Degree in Data Analysis Engineering, Optimization and Decision Making at the Maths and Stats Department of the Polytechnic University in Valencia (Spain).
Editor-in-Chief, La Repubblica, Italy
Mario Calabresi, has been Editor-in-Chief of Italy’s main daily, La Repubblica since January 2016. He moved there from La Stampa, where he had been Editor-in-Chief from 2009.
An award-winning journalist, and published author, Calabresi has worked for print and broadcast news outlets. He covered parliament for the Ansa news agency and La Stampa, and was News Editor at La Repubblica. The paper sent him to New York as their correspondent from 2007 to 2008, following the electoral campaign that saw Barack Obama elected. In 2011 he presented the RAI 3 television production entitled Hotel Patria.
His published books include Spingendo la notte più in là. Storia della mia famiglia e di altre vittime del terrorismo (Pushing back the night. Stories of my family and other victims of terrorism) (2007) and La fortuna non esiste. Storie di uomini e donne che hanno avuto il coraggio di rialzarsi(Fortune doesn’t exist. Stories of men and women who were brave enough to stand up again) (2009), published by Mondadori.
He has also written A Occhi Aperti (With eyes wide open) (2013), a collection of his interviews with ten leading photographers who recount the moments in which history was frozen by a photograph. His most recent book is called Non temete per noi, la nostra vita sarà meravigliosa (Don’t fear for us, our lives will be wonderful) which seeks to address the feeling of hopelessness amongst many of today’s youth.
Senior Manager, Accountability Journalism Program, American Press Institute
Jane Elizabeth is a senior manager at the American Press Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank that focuses on helping the news media advance and improve. A former Washington Post editor, Jane joined API in 2014 to lead its program on accountability journalism. She has worked as an editor and reporter at four other U.S. newspapers; and has taught journalism at the University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University and Point Park University. She holds a master’s degree in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University and has just been named as a 2017 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
Founder & Deputy Chairman, HuffPost Maghreb, France
Alix Etournaud co-founded HuffPost Maghreb in 2013. It now has operations in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Last year, she also co-founded La Tribune Afrique, based in Morocco and focused on Economy. Etournaud is a journalist and writer. She holds an Executive Master in Media Management from Sciences Po Paris and studied at the CFPJ journalism school.
Founder and Director, Welad Elbalad Media Services LTD, Egypt
Fatemah Farag is the Founder and Director of Welad Elbalad Media Services LTD, a company dedicated to community media development and media excellence in Egypt. She is also currently a Nieman Fellow, the MENA Director for WAN IFRA’s Women in News Program and a WEF Board Member.
Before establishing Welad Elbalad Media Services, Ms. Farag was the founding chief editor of the English Edition of Al Masry Al Youm. Before 2009, she divided her professional time between the newsroom and journalism training and education. She was Assistant Chief Editor, responsible for the features and life-style sections and senior staff reporter at Al-Ahram Weekly, the English language newspaper issued by Al-Ahram, before which she worked for the Regional Bureau of the Washington Post, was a full time staff reporter for the Middle East Times – Egypt, and has freelanced for a host of local and international news organizations.
As an educator she has held the position of Training Consultant for the Heikal Foundation for Arab Journalism and has also consulted and trained for various organizations including the European Union, the British Council, Free Voice and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. She also taught journalism at the American University in Cairo (AUC) for two years and continues to dedicate time to journalism training.
Ms Farag began her career specializing in development issues with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and as a reporter and newspaper editor she has dedicated much of her work to the coverage of social issues. She is a graduate of the American University in Cairo, from which she also received a Masters degree in political science.
Founder & CEO, frayintermedia, South Africa
Paula Fray has worked in media for more than three decades as a journalist, editor, trainer and media manager. Paula was the first female editor of the Saturday Star newspaper in South Africa. She is currently the managing director of the pan-African media training organisation frayintermedia, which she founded in 2005. The organisation has trained journalists, media leaders, civil society organisations, government officials and corporate leaders during its decade-long existence.
She is a trustee of Media Monitoring Africa and IRIN independent news agency. She is a Print and Digital Media SA fellow and a public representative on the Press Council of South Africa.
Paula graduated with a BJourn degree from Rhodes University and has a Woman and Law Certificate from UNISA. A recipient of the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, she is a former member of the Nieman Foundation Advisory Board at Harvard.
Chairperson SANEF
Mahlatse Gallens is chairperson of the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) and political editor of News24. Mahlatse is has a long career in broadcasting in Africa, most recently at the SABC where she was deputy political editor for radio news.
After obtaining her diploma in journalism from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 1999, Gallens joined SAfm’s PM Live as a producer in 2000. She has worked as a senior reporter at the SABC as well as a stint as BBC’s South African correspondent in 2005. Between 2007 and 2009 Gallens worked as foreign correspondent for the SABC in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.
Safety Advisor, World Editors Forum, Mexico
Javier Garza is a journalist based in Torreón, Mexico. As editorial director of El Siglo de Torreón he developed safety protocols for covering a wave of violence unleashed by organized crime groups in the city, which included armed attacks and kidnappings against the newspaper. He is recipient of the Dart Ochberg fellowship (2013). In 2014-15 he was a Knight Fellow at the International Center for Journalists focused on digital security and documenting attacks against the press in Mexico. Garza has a bachelor's degree in communications from the Universidad Iberoamericana and a master's in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. He has lectured on violence against the media at universities and press organizations in Mexico, the United States, Europe and South America and serves as an adviser on Newsroom Safety for the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
ICFJ Knight Fellow
Catherine Gicheru is an International Center for Journalists Fellow. Gicheru is a veteran journalist with two of the leading media organizations in the region. She was the first woman bureau chief and the first female news editor of the Nation Media Group in the region. She is also the founding editor of the daily newspaper, the Star.
She co-founded PesaCheck, East Africa’s budget and public finance fact-checking and verification initiative. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Reuters' Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, was a member of the advisory board of the Open Society Foundation’s Fiscal Governance Program which seeks to promote openness, accountability, and equity in fiscal and economic systems around the world. She was an advisory member of the State of Technology in Global Newsrooms survey conducted by the ICFJ which looked at how media professionals are adopting and adapting to digital technologies.
Gicheru is a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, a Reuters Institute Journalism fellow at Oxford University, and a 1992 IWMF Courage in Journalism award winner.
Vice President, News, Google, USA
For more than thirty years, Richard Gingras has led highly-regarded efforts in the development of online services, software, and new media. These endeavors range from pioneering uses of satellite networking for television, the first applications of television signals for data distribution, both pre-Web and Web-based online services, and the creation of various platform technologies. Over the last several years Gingras has focused his attention on the transformation of the media landscape.
He serves on the boards of the First Amendment Coalition, the International Center for Journalists. In the fall of 2012, Gingras was recognized with the Manship Prize for contributions to the evolution of digital media. The Manship Prize is awarded by the Manship School of Mass Communications at Louisiana State University. In May 2013, Gingras gave a commencement speech at West Virginia University. Until July, 2011, Gingras was CEO of Salon Media Group which operates the popular and acclaimed news site Salon.com, the blogging community OpenSalon.com, and the pioneering virtual community The Well. Gingras has had a long association with Salon having assembled its initial seed financing in 1995. Salon was the first web-only publication.
CEO, Scroll, USA
Haile is the founder of Scroll, the company dedicated to solving the problem of how to have sustainable quality journalism on a free and open web.
In 2009 Haile founded Chartbeat, a company he left in 2016 but where he keeps an advisory role. Haile is also an adjunct Professor of media and technology at Stanford University since May 2016. He created the course “Disrupting the News: How Technology is Transforming the Media” with Prof Bill Grueskin and is now teaching it.
Haile was named one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company in 2012, one of Crain’s 40 under 40 in 2014.
Editor in Chief, Aftenposten, Norway
Espen Egil Hansen is the Editor-in-Chief of Aftenposten, Norway’s most esteemed and influential newspaper. Hansen joined Aftenposten after more than 20 years at VG, Norway’s most-read newspaper. His final job at VG was heading VG Nett, the newspaper’s online arm, Norway’s most-visited news destination.
In September, 2016, Hansen made worldwide headlines when he openly challenged Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg on the issue of censorship. Facebook had taken the controversial decision to remove Nick Ut’s iconic photograph, “The Terror of War”, which depicts a naked and burning Kim Phuc fleeing her firebombed village. Hansen’s, and Aftenposten’s principled stand led Facebook to relent and allow the photo, and contributed to an ongoing discussion of their role as an editor of information.
Hansen began his career as a journalist in 1985, working for seven years as a photojournalist. He correctly understood that the Internet would reshape the media business, which led him to be one of the founding employees in VG’s digital departments.
As and editor for more then 15 years Hansen has marked himself as a strong advocate for journalistic innovation – working across traditional silos to renew editorial working methods, storytelling and business models.
Editor-at-large, HuffPost SA, South Africa
Ferial is editor-at-large of Huffington Post South Africa and editor in chief of the African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), a coalition of the continent's best muckraking newsrooms and centres. She is a former Editor-in-Chief of City Press Newspaper and edited the Mail & Guardian from 2004 to 2009. She is former Chairperson of the South African National Editor's Forum and sits on the boards of the International Womens Media Foundation, the World Editors Forum, the International Press Institute and the Inter Press Service.
Director, EPFL+ECAL Lab, Switzerland
Nicolas Henchoz is the Founder and Director of the EPFL+ECAL Lab in Switzerland. The EPFL+ECAL Lab is a unit of the EPFL (Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) in cooperation with ECAL (University of art and design Lausanne). Its mission is to foster innovation at the crossroads between technology, design and architecture.
The Lab bases its activities along three axes: giving new meaning to technologies developed in the scientific labs, fuelling innovation by widening the scope of designers’ work and forming new links between research and applications for society.
CEO, 24.com, South Africa
Andreij Horn was appointed CEO of 24.com on July 2016. Horn was until recently the Chief Information Officer at Media24. He started his career as a journalist at Volksblad in 1982. He subsequently pioneered the TopAd Shop, the country’s first online advertising booking platform, and CommerceZone, the central procurement platform used in Naspers’ South African companies.
Horn has a MA degree from the University of the Free State and obtained his MBA from the University of Cape Town in 1999, where he was honoured with the Bain Prize for ecommerce.
Expert Advisor, WAN-IFRA & Senior Advisor, Schibsted, Sweden
Beginning in the mid-90s, Kalle was one of the key designers of the strategy and success of Aftonbladet’s digital business development. The strategy and its implementation have deeply influenced the Schibsted corporate strategy.
Driving Aftonbladet to be one of the first digital news media in the world to ask users to pay for digital content, Kalle was also instrumental in developing its mobile strategy. He has over 35 years in media and is Senior Advisor to Schibsted Sweden as well as WAN-IFRA. Kalle is also a Board Member of Svenska Dagbladet.
Co-founder, The Quint, India
Ritu Kapur is the co-founder of Quint. She used to head Programming at History Channel, was Features Editor at CNN IBN, where she launched the popular CJ (Citizen Journalist) Show, among others. She has also conceived and produced Bhanwar, a docu-drama based on real-life incidents. Her shows ran to popular and critical acclaim, and went on to win several awards. She has also led successful campaigns like Register To Vote and Power Of 49, that championed a manifesto for women, who comprise 49 per cent of the population.
President, Lamb Consulting, USA
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Lamb is a Strategy Consultant, now living in Miami, Florida, and specialising in media companies. "The goal of my consulting practice is to utilise the sophisticated strategic marketing principles and techniques, learned while doing my MBA at Harvard Business School, meshing them with a hands-on sales approach, to generate new revenue streams for publications and websites. ROI is achieved by focusing on NEW-NEW revenue ... from customers that have never used our products before: print or online."
Director of Campaigns and Communications, Ethical Journalism Network, UK
Tom joined the Ethical Journalism Network in December 2015 shortly before the publication of the EJN’s international review of how media cover migration – Moving Stories. Prior to joining the EJN Tom worked as a freelance journalist specialising in covering Sudan and South Sudan, writing for websites including Al Jazeera and VICE magazine and appearing as a commentator and analyst, on BBC radio and television as well as other broadcasters.
From 2010 to 2014 Tom was the associate editor of Sudan Tribune, a leading news website on Sudan and South Sudan. His previous experience in Sudan includes; being part of the team of journalists that founded The Juba Post – an independent newspaper for South Sudan; working as a researcher for UNICEF; and as information officer at SIHA Network – an East African women’s rights group.
From March 2014 until November 2015 was the Head of Communications of Childreach International, leading the child rights organisation’s Taught Not Trafficked campaign in collaboration with SOLD, a feature film about child trafficking from Nepal to India.
Lead Developer, Code for Africa, Kenya
ICFJ Knight Fellow David Lemayian leads the development of journalistic tools and software for Code for Africa. His projects help local newsrooms to produce innovative storytelling and to increase engagement with their audiences across platforms.
Lemayian is an experienced technologist with a track record of finding creative ways to use technology in media, government and civil society organizations. He has served as Code for Africa’s lead technologist since 2012 and has worked on projects that include sourceAFRICA, Africa’s largest repository of searchable documents that journalists can use in investigations, and “Dodgy Doctors,” a web and SMS tool that allows users to check if their doctor is registered or not. He manages Code for Africa’s team of software developers and oversees all related technical infrastructure.
CEO Ringier Africa & Asia, Switzerland
Robin William Lingg was appointed CEO of Ringier Africa and Asia, and a member of the group executive board of Ringier AG, in July 2014. He had served as head of business development and head of Ringier Africa AG since May 2013 and had been a member of the board of directors of Ringier AG since July 2011. He is the son of Evelyn Lingg-Ringier, who is the owner of Ringier AG together with her brother Michael Ringier and her sister Annette Ringier. Robin Lingg studied languages, economics and cultural science at the University of Passau in Germany. He worked in different positions for the international pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH from 2006, including several years in Mexico.
Publishing Consultant FT Strategies, WAN-IFRA Supervisory Board Member London, UK
Lisa MacLeod was Head of Digital at Tiso Blackstar Group, South Africa’s largest English-language publisher, and owner of 8 newspapers, 15 websites, music, film and radio businesses across the continent. Her role was to lead digital strategy and innovation, and manage Tiso Blackstar’s online properties with 6-million unique browsers monthly on titles such as TimesLIVE, SowetanLIVE and BusinessLIVE, as well as implement sustainable digital monetisation streams.
Lisa was previously General Manager of Digital for Media24’s 24.com in Cape Town, and prior to that spent 12 years in London at the Financial Times, helping to drive their print to digital integration. She served as Head of Operations for FT.com, widely thought to be the most successful paid website in the media industry, and FT Managing Editor, overseeing staffing, strategic planning and budgets for the FT globally
From 2018-2020, Lisa served as the Vice-President of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers and is currently a member of the Supervisory Board. She has been on the board of the World Editors Forum (WEF) for many years, and has taught and spoken at numerous international conferences and training events for WAN-IFRA , WEF and Women in News.
Managing Director, Strategy & Insights, The New York Times, USA
Liz McDonnell is Managing Director, Strategy & Insights at The New York Times since July 2016. Previously Liz Worked as Director of marketing overseeing everything from marketing new mobile ad products and branded content partnerships to leading more consumer-focused efforts like @MyNYTimes on Instagram and has been of the spearheads behind the success of the native ad unit, T Brand Studio. The T Brand Studio is a result of the massive interest from advertisers looking to market their brands through the NYT platform. She never thought that her after-hours gig in improv comedy and performances in New York theaters would be her secret weapon for success in facing challenges in leadership and innovation.
Lecturer and Researcher, Media Innovation Studio, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Based at the Media Innovation Studio at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), John’s research interests span journalism, the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented paper, mobile journalism, wearables, HCI, drone journalism and innovation theory.
In recent years his research has focussed on the Internet of Things, and how news organisations could utilise physical platforms and experiences. This work includes the Google-funded NewsThings project, an IoT content management system and conductive ink and web-connected print. He has also taught courses on innovation and multimedia journalism techniques and theory at UCLan.
Commercially, he has established business-to-business editorial operations in Manchester and Leeds, and managed large teams of online correspondents both in the UK and further afield.
Journalist, Bloomberg News, South Africa
Sam Mkokeli, an award-winning journalist and columnist, chairs the South African National Editors’ Forum’s media freedom sub-committee. He has been a journalist for almost two decades and has worked for South Africa’s leading newspaper brands, including Business Day and Sunday Times, where he held editorial executive roles. Those include the roles of News Editor/Assistant Editor and later Political Editor at Business Day – South Africa’s leading financial daily, and Cape Town Bureau Chief for the Sunday Times. He is now a specialist politics journalist for Bloomberg News, based in Johannesburg and covers mainly government affairs, political power and public policy.
Director of Strategy, El Tiempo, Colombia
Juan Pablo is Strategy Manager at Casa Editorial El Tiempo, Colombia, with responsibility over the areas of Planning, Innovation and Big Data of the company. He's an industial engineer from the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota and has a specialization degree in Finance and Systems from the same University. He's worked for 30 years in the areas of Strategic Planning, Marketing and Business Intelligence of large Colombian companies, and has been working for more than 17 years in the media sector.
Group CEO, The Nation Media Group, Kenya
Joe Muganda is the Group CEO for The Nation Media Group (NMG). NMG founded in 1959 by His Highness The Aga Khan, is the largest independent media house in East and Central Africa and has operations in print, electronic and digital media and attracts unparalleled audiences in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The company is a publicly listed company on the Nairobi, Rwanda, Uganda and Dar-es-Salaam bourses and aspires to be the Media of Africa for Africa.
Muganda holds an MBA from University of Leicester and a Bsc (Econ) Accounting & Financial Management from the University of Buckingham. He previously worked with British American Tobacco in various countries and capacities for 17 years, where he rose to become the Business Unit Head (Southern Africa Markets) and Area Head of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs (East & Central Africa).
Global Publishing Director Elect, McKinsey & Company
Raju Narisetti previously was Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and also Director of Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism.
Previously, he was CEO of Gizmodo Media Group, a group of digital journalism sites that included Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker, and The Root.
A media executive with a track record in creating, rethinking and managing major media organizations in North America, Europe and Asia, Raju was previously Senior Vice-President of Strategy at News Corp.
Prior to that, he was Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, where he is responsible for WSJ's digital / mobile content strategy and execution; the Managing Editor of The Washington Post, where he led the integration of its digital and print businesses; the Editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe; and is the Founder of Mint, the second-largest business newspaper in India.
Raju is a Board Trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, which manages Wikipedia. His home is in New York City though he is often found, rather plainspoken, @raju
Executive Director, Plataforma de Media Privados, Portugal
Luís Nazaré was appointed as the Executive Director of Plataforma de Media Privados (PMP) on February 2015. PMP brings together the five private media groups (Cofina, Global Media, Impresa, Media Capital and Renascença) in Portugal and aims to “coordinate strategic issues for the media sector in the country”. Luis oversees the strategy and interests of these companies across the Media sector in Portugal and at a European level.
He teaches Strategic Management and Marketing at ISEG (Lisbon’s School of Economics and Management).
Nazaré is the former Partner of Gestíssimo Consulting and the former president of CTT and Anacom. Additionally he has been the non-executive President of Airplus TV Portugal and served in several Boards as Chairman, like the Board of Directors of Correios de Portugal or the Board of Directors of ICP-ANACOM (National Communications Regulator). From 2002 to 2005 was a Member of the Advisory Board Telecom in Portugal and earlier in his career worked as an Advisor to the Prime Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism.
Programme Director, MA in Media Management, Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Dr. Mats Nylund is Programme Director of MA in Media Management at Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki. His main research area is interaction and networks in media production. He is currently doing research on the social implications of blockchain technology and sharing economy.
Director, Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (MBL), Norway
Randi S. Øgrey is the Director of the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (MBL) the leading media trade organization in Norway which counts approximately 324 member businesses, of which 172 are newspapers, 21 printing offices, 26 distribution companies, 24 TV companies, and 13 advertising groups. The Association’s objectives are to help build a diverse, independent and economically healthy industry; to secure editorial independence, and to initiate common initiatives in cases where the members deem it necessary and useful.
Head of Editorial, Schibsted Media, Norway
Torry Pedersen is Head of Editorial and a member of Schibsted Media's top management team. He was previously the CEO/Editor in Chief of Verdens Gang AS, Norway’s most read news-site/newspaper. He began his career as a journalist in Fredrikstad Blad 1981, and has more than 35 years of experience in journalism and publishing.
Pedersen has been Managing Editor in VG, Editor in Chief/Publisher in VG Multimedia AS, CEO of Verdens Gang AS and from 2011, both CEO and Editor in Chief of Verdens Gang AS.
He was educated at the Norwegian School of Management (formerly the Bedriftsøkonomisk Institutt), Oslo 1979 and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. He has been awarded the "Chief Editor of the Year Award" in Norway, and during his time as Editor in Chief and CEO, Verdens Gang won several prizes.
VGs is among the most profitable news organisations in Europe and its news-sites on desktop, mobile, tablet and paper, have nearly 2.4 million daily readers.
Chief Data Officer (Global), The Economist, France
Stephane Pere is Chief Data Officer (Global) for The Economist businesses. Since october 2013, his mission is to Elevate & Protect Data as a corporate asset, Leverage Data as revenue driver for the Circulation and Media Businesses as well as Explore the potential unlocked by Big Data.
He joined The Economist Paris office in 2007 to manage online advertising sales for Continental Europe, Middle-East & Africa. In 2010 he moved to New York to launch Ideas People Media (a vertical digital ad network that enables marketers to reach Thought leaders at scale trough an alliance of +60 high quality news publications). Additionally from 2012, he was the Head of Digital Advertising Sales and Agency Solutions for Americas.
Prior to joining The Economist, Stephane Pere had a diverse career within the advertising industry, which included managing online display advertising for Yahoo!, heading a TV and Print network for Canal+, and working with Bloomberg Television in international ad sales.
He holds a Masters in Management Science from E.M. Lyon Business School, as well as a Post Graduate Master in Intellectual Property Law and a Masters in Contract and Business Law both from Pantheon-Assas University in Paris.
Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Andrew Perkis received his Siv.Ing and Dr. Techn. Degrees in 1985 and 1994, respectively. In 2008 he received an executive Master of Technology Management in cooperation from NTNU, NHH and NUS (Singapore). He has been with NTNU since 1993 and currently holds a chair within Media Technology. His current research focus is within methods and functionality of content representation, quality assessment and its use within the media value chain in a variety of applications and change management, business modelling for the media sector and Digital Storytelling and the associate tools for this. He was one of the founding authors of the concept of Universal Multimedia Access (UMA) and Quality of Experience (QoE). He is also involved in setting up directions and visions for new research within media technology and entertainment as well as directions for innovations in Immersive Media Technology Experiences. He is member of The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences (NTVA), senior member of the IEEE, member of ACM, member of The Norwegian Society of Chartered Engineers, Board member of WAN-IFRA Global Alianace for Media innovation (GAMI) and member of the New European Media (NEM) executive committee.
CEO, WAN-IFRA, France
Peyrègne took up duties as Chief Executive Officer of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) on 1 October 2012. Prior to joining WAN-IFRA, since the end of 2008 he worked in the office of the French minister of Culture and Communication where he was responsible for newspapers and new media as well as the “états généraux de la presse écrite,” the French government’s response to the economic difficulties facing the newspaper industry. From 2004 to 2008 he was head of development at Edipresse Publications SA in Lausanne, with responsibility for reader studies and marketing research.
Journalist and media lecturer, South Africa
Pontsho Pilane is a journalist, editor, media lecturer and trainer with a focus in health, race and gender and how they intersect. She’s interested in using communications as a tool for social change. Prior to that Pilane was the senior writer at Health-eNews, and was formerly a health reporter at Bhekisisa, the Mail and Guardian’s centre for health journalism. She debuted as a journalist at The Daily Vox, where she wrote primarily about gender, race and how they intersect. Pilane holds two degrees in media studies from Wits University.
Founder of explain.co.za, South Africa
Verashni Pillay is a South African journalist who is passionate about digital and the future of journalism. She is the founder of explain.co.za, a WhatsApp driven portal aimed at making the news more accessible to neglected audiences. She was previously the Head of Digital at talk radio station, POWER 98.7, editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian and inaugural editor-in-chief of HuffPost South Africa. Under her helm, all site's traffic consistently grew, as did the M&G print circulation – despite a depressed climate. She cut her teeth in digital journalism with Media24 for several years before joining the M&G digital team in 2009 as a reporter. She has also worked as a media consultant and trainer in various newsrooms, specialising in digital journalism, social media and convergence. Verashni is a recipient of the CNN African Journalism Award, several Standard Bank Sikuvile Awards and an Open Society Foundation journalism fellowship. She was awarded a Mandela Washington Fellowship in 2018 and is a council member of the South African National Editors Forum.
Senior Research Fellow, Reuters Centre for the Study of Journalism, Australia
Julie Posetti is a multi award-winning Australian journalist and academic. She has recently been appointed Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Reuters Centre for the Study of Journalism where she will lead the Institute’s new Journalism Innovation Project. Posetti is author of Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age, a major UN study covering 121 countries, published by UNESCO in 2017. Among other projects, she is currently collaborating on the production of a model curriculum on journalism and disinformation for UNESCO. In 2016/2017 she was Head of Digital Editorial Capability at Fairfax Media (publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review) in Australia. A former editor, presenter and political reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Posetti was based in Paris as Research Fellow and Editor with the World Editors Forum in 2014/2015, where she edited the flagship annual Trends in Newsrooms report. She is currently a Journalism Fellow at the University of Wollongong, where she is completing her PhD.
Board Member, WAN-IFRA and Managing Director & CEO, ABP, India
D.D. Purkayastha is the Managing Director and CEO of ABP. He oversees strategy and operations of the ABP Group. A cost and management accountant, Purkayastha has spent 37 years in the media industry.
Under Purkayastha’s leadership, ABP has grown to be the largest reached news media in India. The brand’s TV News Bouquet has the highest viewership among Indian news channels. Purkayastha is regarded as a veteran in the IT Industry in India. He has led ABP to be one of the most diversified media companies in the country.
Purkayastha is the chairperson of INFOCOM, the country's largest ICT exhibition, and is on the Board of ANN (ABP News Network Private Ltd), WAN-IFRA and INMA. He is also Special Advisor to the President of WAN-IFRA.
Chairperson, African Editors Forum and the Southern African Editors Forum; Group Ombudsman: Independent Media, South Africa
Former African Independent editor Jovial Rantao was appointed as Independent Media’s press ombudsman in October 2016.
Jovial is one of the most experienced editors in South Africa and is the chairperson of the African Editors Forum and the Southern African Editors Forum. His past editorships include African Independent, the Sunday Independent and Sunday Tribune.
Journalist, commentator, consultant
Marcelo Rech is a journalist, president of the Brazilian Newspaper Association (ANJ), columnist, commentator and consultant.
He was Editorial and Institutional Vice President of Grupo RBS, a multimedia group with operations in southern Brazil. As a reporter, he worked in investigative reports and in war coverages, such as the wars in the Gulf and the Balkans and conflicts in Africa and Latin America.
For about 15 years he was managing editor of RBS newspapers and later director of journalism at RBS Group.
Marcelo was president of the World Editors Forum (WEF) between 2015 and 2017. He is currently a member of the executive committee of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-Ifra) and of different boards and councils. Graduated in journalism, he attended the Executive Development Program at Fundação Dom Cabral and has specialization courses at the Media Management Center, linked to Kellogg, and media strategy at Harvard Business School.
CEO and Executive Editor, Rappler, Philippines
A journalist in Asia for nearly 35 years, Maria Ressa co-founded Rappler, the top digital only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines. As Rappler's executive editor and CEO, Maria has endured constant political harassment and arrests by the Duterte government, forced to post bail eight times to stay free. Rappler's battle for truth and democracy is the subject of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival documentary, A Thousand Cuts.
For her courage and work on disinformation and 'fake news,' Maria was named Time Magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year, was among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019, and has also been named one of Time's Most Influential Women of the Century. She was also part of BBC's 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2019 and Prospect magazine's world's top 50 thinkers. Among many awards, she received the prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom Award from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, the Knight International Journalism Award from the International Center for Journalists, the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Shorenstein Journalism Award from Stanford University, the Columbia Journalism Award, the Free Media Pioneer Award from the International Press Institute, and the Sergei Magnitsky Award for Investigative Journalism.
Before founding Rappler, Maria focused on investigating terrorism in Southeast Asia. She opened and ran CNN's Manila Bureau for nearly a decade before opening the network's Jakarta Bureau, which she ran from 1995 to 2005. She wrote Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of al-Qaeda’s Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia and From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism.
Deputy CEO at Code For Africa, South Africa
Chris Roper is deputy CEO for the continent’s largest federation of civic technology and data journalism labs, Code for Africa (CfA).
Using over two decades of insights from building Africa’s largest online news and content portals, Chris shapes CfA’s civic engagement and scaling strategies. He also serves as director for CfA’s forensic data initiative, the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR). From 2015 - 2019, Chris’ role at CfA was underwritten by a Knight International Fellowship, with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ)
Prior to joining CfA, Chris was editor-in-chief of Africa’s first newspaper to establish an internet presence, the Mail & Guardian. Before M&G, Chris was editor-in-chief of Africa’s largest online publisher, 24.com, where he managed the merger of MWEB and News24 editorial content into the biggest digital content offering in Africa.
Chris has taught journalism courses at the Universities of Pretoria, and the Polytechnic of Namibia. Chris has served as a judge on, among others, the SA Bookmark Digital Awards, the British Council Future of News competition, the NuMedia Plum Awards, the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards, and the PICA Awards. He frequently consults to publishing houses in his capacity as a Code for Africa strategist.
President, Innovation Media Consulting Group, UK
As a Partner at Innovation, Juan Senor has directed projects all over the world helping news operations to re-invent their products and stay relevant with shifting audiences. He has worked and advised hundreds of media companies on every continent. He serves on the Advisory Board of several media companies around the world.
He has been listed as one of 'The World's Leading Innovators' in Journalism and Media' by Journalism UK Site.
Mr Señor is a highly-sought commentator on the media industry, speaking at global forums and quoted frequently in leading publications such as The Economist and The Financial Times.
He is also the co-editor of two annuals books; Innovation in NewsMedia and Innovation in MagazineMedia, written on behalf of WAN-IFRA and the FIPP respectively.
He is a former journalist and presenter for PBS's NewsHour, EBN-Wall Street Journal TV, CNBC Europe. And he served as London correspondent of International Herald Tribune Television. His work has been nominated for an Emmy Award and his television programme, Media Report, was voted by viewers as Europe’s Best Business Programme. He continues to work as a live events and television host and presenter globally.
Managing Director, Reuters Consumer, USA
Isaac Showman leads Reuters consumer business, which includes Reuters TV, Reuters.com and Reuters mobile apps.
Reuters TV a disruptive video news service that was launched by Isaac in February 2015. It creates a new category of “mid-form video” by offering an individually personalized news program that is simultaneously on-demand and up-to-date. The service reaches over 2M monthly active users and leads the industry for engagement.
Reuters.com is one of the world’s largest news websites. With a focus on global breaking news it is evolving to become the leading source of global news for professionals.
An innovator, Isaac joined Reuters, believing that the organization’s history and reach provided it a unique opportunity to reshape the future of journalism. He has responsibility for all aspects of Reuters consumer business, which has operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Previously he was a Vice President at The Economist Group, working in London and New York where he launched and and ran a number of online businesses. Prior to that he led the magazine’s marketing and subscription strategy.
News Director, NRK (Norwegian public service broadcaster), Norway
Helje Solberg is News Director of NRK, the Norwegian public service broadcaster. Prior to joining NRK, she was CEO/Editor of VGTV and Executive Managing Editor for VG, the largest Norwegian media house on paper and internet combined. Helje is chair of Faktisk.no, Norway's collaborative fact-checking initiative. She is on the advisory board of the World Editors Forum, is the head of the organising committee of Schibsted Journalism Awards and is on the Board of MBL (Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association). She is a member of the Oslo Editor Association and is a member of SKUP’s Advisory Committee. She has spent a year at Phillips Academy, Andover, has studied Russian, social anthropology and politics. Before becoming editor of VGTV she served as Executive Managing Editor for VG, the largest Norwegian daily. Solberg has worked for a number of Norwegian newspapers. She has experience across all platforms in VG, where she started working as a political reporter in 1994. The following year she received the SKUP Award for Investigative Journalism for the so-called “AUF Scandal” (which led to the imprisonment of former treasures and leaders of the Worker’s Youth League for membership fraud).
Managing Partner, amaBhungane, South Africa
Sam has been a journalist since 1986. He has worked for the investigative magazine noseweek, served as political editor of the Sunday Tribune, and joined the Mail & Guardian as investigative journalist in 2002. In 2003 he won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year award for first reporting the criminal investigation of then national deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Together with colleague Stefaans Brümmer he has received numerous journalism awards, including for their Oilgate exposés that traced the involvement of an ANC-linked company in diverting money from a state contract to the coffers of the ruling party. Sam was instrumental in revealing the links between former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, slain mining magnate Brett Kebble and various figures from South Africa's underworld, including Glenn Agliotti. Together with Stefaans and Adriaan Basson, Sam won the Taco Kuiper award in 2009 for sustained investigation of the notorious South African arms deal.
Sam co-founded amaBhungane in 2010.
CEO, Tinius Trust, Norway
Kjersti Løken Stavrum is CEO of the Tinius Trust, which is the largest shareholder in the Schibsted Group. The trust's main role is to ensure that Schibsted remains a media group characterised by free, independent, quality journalism.
A former Secretary General of the Norwegian Press Association, Stavrum began her journalism career with the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten in 1994. She left, to edit the weekly women's magazine Kvinner og Klær, but returned to Aftenposten in 2005 as feature editor of the paper's revamped weekly magazine A-magasinet where she remained until 2012. Thereafter, for a short period, she was head of the communications department of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO).
In April 2013, she was appointed Secretary General of the Norwegian Press Association, replacing Per Edgar Kokkvold who had occupied the post since 1966.
In 2003, Stavrum was named Norway's Female Media Leader of the Year in recognition for her success in making KK (Kvinner og Klær) Norway's most popular women's magazine.
Director, International News Safety Institute (INSI), UK
Hannah Storm is Director of the International News Safety Institute (INSI), a UK-registered charity, which provides safety advice and training to journalists working in difficult and dangerous situations, from conflict to disasters, civil unrest to online harassment.
Its members include many of the world’s leading news organisations including the BBC, CNN, Reuters, Globo, AFP and NHK.
Storm is the co-author of ‘The Kidnapping of Journalists: Reporting from High Risk Conflict Zones’ and ‘No Woman’s Land: On the Frontlines with Female Reporters’, which explores the unique safety issues for women working in the media.
She also works as a freelance media consultant and trainer for different UN agencies with a specific focus on gender and the media.
Before joining INSI, Storm spent more than a decade working mainly overseas as a journalist for outlets including the BBC, The Times, Reuters and ITN, as well as a media officer for Oxfam.
Head of Creative Sales, Schibsted Brand Studio, Sweden
As head of Creative Sales, Lotta Tjulin Thörnqvist is leading and coaching Creative Specialists and ensuring Schibsted’s Creative portfolio stays the best on the Swedish market, educating the internal sales organisation, advertisers and agencies in strategies for content- and creative marketing.
Lotta has been working for Schibsted since 2006, starting off as an Key Account Manager at Aftonbladet – Sweden's largest newspaper – and has since worked as a Sales Manager, Creative Business Developer and for the last four years focused on sponsoring, branded content and native advertising.
Exec Director, Digital Revenue Network, WAN-IFRA
Nick runs WAN-IFRA's most advanced digital revenue programmes, including the Table Stakes Europe programme and the subscription focused eRev initiative, as well as managing our events and operations in Europe & Africa.
He started his career in London and has over fifteen years experience in innovative digital projects and collaborative working.
Before joining WAN-IFRA, he managed IT projects for ExxonMobil, Deutsche Bank and the European Patent Office, and facilitated the exec forums and conferences for the e-gov agency London Connects. He has a Diploma in Creativity, Innovation & Change from the Open University Business School.
Research Director, First Draft News, USA
Claire Wardle works for First Draft News, a non-profit dedicated to finding solutions to the challenges associated with trust and truth in the digital age. She was previously the Research Director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, was the Senior Social Media Strategist at the UN Refugee Agency and Director of News Services for Storyful. She is one of the world’s experts on user-generated content, and has led two substantial research projects investigating how it is handled by news organizations. She also sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Information and Entertainment.
Director, Ethical Journalism Network, UK
Aidan White is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Ethical Journalism Network. He worked as a journalist with newspapers in the United Kingdom, including the Birmingham Evening Mail, the Financial Times and The Guardian, before taking up his post as General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists from 1987-2011 based in Brussels.
He founded the EJN in 2012. He has written extensively on human rights, ethics and journalism issues and played a leading role in establishing the International News Safety Institute, the global campaign for news safety, as well as the creation of IFEX, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a global network of free expression campaigners.
In 2014 Aidan served on the appointments panel of IMPRESS, the Leveson-compliant alternative press regulator in the UK.
