PPF Secretary General elected member of Steering Committee of GFMD
- October 4, 2016, 9:18 pm
- National News
- 78 Views
KARACHI/QUETTA Oct 4 (PPI): Owais Aslam Ali, Secretary General Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has been elected as a member of the Steering Committee of The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD). Ali will represent the Asia Caucus along with Nezar Patria Chief Editor of The Jakarta Post Digital and member of Indonesian Press Council.
Addressing GFMD members Ali said media development is a success story of our times. He said a generation ago media in most of the world was state owned and controlled,. Today, independent online media, print media, radio and television channels operating throughout the world present a wide range of voices and views. He said every change brings about new challenges in the time frame for media development should be measured in generations rather than years or project cycles.
The new Steering Committee is composed of 20 members: 14 members elected in Jakarta and six incumbents serving a third and final term. The Steering Committee then elected Ricardo Corredor (Colombia), Executive Director of Fundación Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez para el Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI) as the new Chairman of GFMD. Kateryna Myasnikova (Ukraine) was chosen as Vice-Chair; Leon Morse (USA) as Secretary General, and Laurent Allary (France) as Treasurer.
The new Steering Committee by GFMD at its fourth World Forum for Media Development held 20-22 September , 2016.
GFMD members also laid the foundations for a closer cooperation around research projects related to media development and for joint responses around major political challenges facing independent, quality media, such as the use of media for propaganda purposes and restrictions to press freedom under the pretext of national security and countering terrorism.
GFMD is a unique network of 200 organisations, with a vibrant southern dimension. The members expressed the need to further develop the network’s learning agenda by increasing South to South exchange and cooperation, and strengthen the effectiveness and coordination of media assistance efforts.
The new Steering Committee includes:
Asia caucus: Owais Aslam Ali (Pakistan), Secretary General of Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), Chair of Pakistan Press International (PPI).Nezar Patria (Indonesia), member of Indonesian Press Council for 2016-2019 and Chief Editor of The Jakarta Post Digital. Co-founder and Managing Editor at VIVA.co.id.
The 14 elected members join Leon Willems (Netherlands), Director for Policy and Programmes of Free Press Unlimited); Jesper Højberg (Denmark), Executive Director of International Media Support (IMS); James Deane (UK), Director for Policy and Learning at BBC Media Action; Joyce Barnathan (USA), President of the International Center for Journalists; Remzi Lani (Albania), Executive Director of the Albanian Media Institute; and Jeannette Minnie (South Africa), founder of Zambezi Fox, whose membership of GFMD’s Steering Committee was extended for a third and final term by the new GFMD Constitution, adopted on September 10, 2016.
