Gavin O'Reilly, the Chief Operating Officer of Ireland-based Independent News & Media PLC, has been re-elected President of the World Association of Newspapers for a second two-year term. Fred Arp, Chief Financial Officer of the Telegraaf Media Group in the Netherlands, was re-elected Treasurer of WAN.
O'Reilly, 39, who is Irish, was re-elected President Wednesday by the WAN Annual General Meeting, held during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Moscow, Russia. The events drew more than 1,700 publishers, editors and other senior newspaper executives from 110 countries.
"What I would like to remind everyone is that the core of WAN is press freedom, but obviously a very critical component of that is the financial health and durability of our industry," said O'Reilly. "If there is one thing I want to outline, it is the vitality of our industry. Ours is certainly an industry in pretty good shape and we have to stop beating ourselves up and be a little more creative in sharing our experiences and position in the media matrix."
As COO of Independent News & Media, O'Reilly oversees a leading international newspaper group with 175 titles in Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India.
New Board Members from 10 countries were also elected Wednesday: Aavo Kokk, CEO of Eesti Paevaleht, Estonia; Alexis Zaoussis, Publisher of Estia, representing ADNPA, Greece; Georgios Alexiou, Publisher of the Karditsa daily, representing DRNA, Greece; Bela Papp, Managing Director of Ringier Publishing, Hungary; Claudio Calabi, CEO of Il Sole 24 Ore Spa, Italy; Masato Kitamura, Chairman of Nihon Shinbun Kyokai, Japan; Olav Mugaas, CEO of Aftenposten, Norway; Joao Palmeiro, President of the Portuguese Press Association; Milovan Jaukovic, Serbia & Montenegro; Connie Molusi, CEO of Johnnic Communications, South Africa; and Scott Schurz, President of Hoosier Times Inc, United States of America.
The WAN Annual General Meeting will be held next year on June 6, 2007, during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Cape Town, South Africa. Connie Molusi, the new Board member for South Africa, invited newspapers worldwide to attend the events, to be held from 3 to 6 June 2007.
Meanwhile, Göteborg, Sweden, has been chosen as the host city for the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo in 2008. The meetings – the global summit of the world's press – will be held in the first week of June 2008 and will be hosted by the Swedish Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents Sweden's daily newspapers and other media companies. The choice of the south-western Swedish city was made by the Board of WAN during the 2006 Congress and Forum in Moscow, Russia.
"Newspapers are an essential part of life in Sweden, which enjoys the benefits of a strong and vibrant press, and understands the value and importance of press freedom. We have been actively involved in WAN since its inception, yet we have never hosted a Congress," said Tomas Brunegard, President & CEO of Stampen Group, who presented the Swedish proposal to the WAN Board. Stampen is the publisher of the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper.
Timothy Balding, Chief Executive Officer of WAN, noted that newspaper readership, on a per capita basis, was higher in Sweden than almost anywhere else in the world. "Swedish newspaper companies are among the greatest innovators in our industry globally, not only in print but in all electronic media from the web to mobile to e-paper," said Timothy Balding. "Bringing the Congress and the Forum to Sweden will allow newspaper publishers from around the globe to examine these initiatives and to benefit from the Swedish experience."
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 73 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and worldwide press groups.
