WAN-IFRA gets first president

Mr O’Reilly, 42, who had been President of WAN until the merger, was elected President of the new organisation at its first Annual General Meeting, held during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Hyderabad, India. Horst Pirker, Chairman of the Board of Austria-based Styria Media, was elected First Vice President and is […]

Mr O’Reilly, 42, who had been President of WAN until the merger, was elected President of the new organisation at its first Annual General Meeting, held during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Hyderabad, India.

Horst Pirker, Chairman of the Board of Austria-based Styria Media, was elected First Vice President and is in line for the Presidency when Mr O’Reilly’s term ends in December 2010. Mr Pirker had been President of IFRA.

As Chief Executive Officer of Independent News & Media, Mr O’Reilly oversees a leading international newspaper group with more than 200 titles in Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India.

As President of WAN, Mr O¹Reilly spearheaded a number of global initiatives for the industry, notably creation of the Automated Content Access Protocol to protect intellectual property rights of on-line publishers, and the formation of the News Media Coalition to defend open news coverage of sports and other events. WAN had also undertaken numerous press freedom and industry support initiatives during his tenure.

The WAN-IFRA Annual General Meeting will be held next year on 10 June 2010, during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Beirut, Lebanon. Newspapers world-wide are invited to attend the events, to be held from 7 to 10 June 2010.