17. 06. 2008

IPI ELECTS JANNE VIRKKUNENAS NEW CHAIRMAN

Belgrade, 17 June 2008 (Media  Center Belgrade) - At its 57th General Assembly in Belgrade, Serbia, on 16 June 2008, the members of the International Press Institute (IPI) announced the appointment of its new chairman, Janne Sakari Virkkunen, Senior Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki. He succeedsPiotr Niemzcycki, publisher of the Polish daily newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza.

Janne Virkkunen studied at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Political Science, and at the Sanoma School of Journalism. He started his career in 1972 as a staff writer for domestic news and politics and parliament at Helsingin Sanomat. In 1977, he became assistant editor for politics and parliament at Helsingin Sanomat and in 1985 managing editor. From 1989 to 1990, he was editor-in-chief/news and in 1991 he was appointed senior editor-in-chief at Helsingin Sanomat. Mr. Virkkunen has also been the Chairman of the Association of Political Journalists in Finland (1981-83), a member of IPI since 1989, and a member of the editorial committee of the Finnish Newspaper Association since 1994. In 1999, he was appointed Member of the Board of Sanoma Corporation and Vice Chairman of the Board of Kymen Lehtuimedia Oy.

The following members were also elected to the IPI Executive Board:

Kiyofuku Chuma, Chief Editor, Shinano Mainichi Shimbun Inc., Nagano, Japan;
Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, Editor-in-Chief, Der Standard, Vienna, Austria;
Radomir Licina, Member of the Board & Senior Editor, Danas, Belgrade, Serbia;
Pavol Múdry, General Manager, SITA-Slovak News Agency, Slovakia
Wangethi Mwangi, Editorial Director, Nation Media Group Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya;
Galina Sidorova, Editor-in-Chief, Sovershenno Secretno, Moscow, Russia; and
Ferai Tinç, Foreign Editor and Columnist, Hürriyet, Turkey.

Ismaila Isa, CEO, New Africa Holdings, Nigeria was awarded an IPI Lifetime Fellowship.
Furthermore, at the IPI Constitutional Board Meeting, on 17 June 2008, Prof. Dr. Carl-Eugen Eberle, Director of Legal Affairs at ZDF German Television, Mainz, was elected as the third Vice Chairman of the Board, joining Mark Damazer, Controller, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7, UK, and Simon Li, former Assistant Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, USA.