Virtual World News Media Congress 2021

Sinead Boucher is the owner of Stuff Ltd, one of New Zealand’s largest media companies. Prior to buying the company in an MBO three years ago, she was CEO and has had a long career as a digital leader, editor and journalist.

Matt Murray is editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, responsible for all global newsgathering and editorial operations.

Kristin Skogen Lund was CEO of Schibsted. She was previously Director General of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, EVP at Telenor, CEO of several Schibsted brands, and held positions at the Coca-Cola Company, Unilever and the Norwegian Embassy in Madrid.

Wolfgang Blau is an international media manager and journalist. Currently, he is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University where he studies the potential and the challenges for journalism in covering climate change.

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.

Toyosi Ogunseye relocated to the BBC, London in 2022, as Senior News Editor for News and Commissioning, for the BBC programmes NewsDay, BBC OS and BBC Minute. Her focus is on the Latin American, Indian and African markets.

Winston Utomo is the Founder & CEO of IDN Media, the leading media platform company for Millennials and Gen Z in Indonesia, with over 80 million monthly active users across its platforms. IDN Media’s vision is to democratize information for every Indonesian.

Meera is co-founder of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network within the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), where she is Deputy Director and leads the Fellowship programmes.

Alessandra Galloni became editor-in-chief of Reuters in April 2021. She oversees all editorial functions across video, text, pictures, and graphics. She is the first female editor-in-chief in the organization’s 170-year history. Previously, Galloni was global managing editor, overseeing news planning and creation, where she was responsible for overseeing Reuters coverage and developing stories with a cross-regional focus. She first joined Reuters in 1996 for the Italian-language news service in Rome, later moving to the equities reporting team in London. She re-joined Reuters in September 2013 as editor of the Southern Europe bureau following 13 years at The Wall Street Journal, where she worked as a reporter, economics and business writer and editor, in London, Paris and Rome.

Liz Corbin is the Deputy Director of Media and Head of News at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). She oversees the Eurovision News and Sports Exchange, the Social Newswire, the News Events broadcast services team and Radio News.

Professor Lucy Kueng is an expert on strategy, innovation and leadership and advises leading companies worldwide industry on digital transformation strategy and implementation. She keynotes frequently at international conferences and is the author of numerous books including Hearts and Minds: Harnessing Leadership, Culture and Talent to Really Go Digital, Going Digital, Innovators in Digital News, Strategic Management in the Media, and Inside the BBC and CNN. 

Stig Ørskov is the CEO of JP/Politiken Media Group and Vice President of WAN-IFRA. JP/Politiken Media Group is one of the leading media organizations in the Nordics. The organisation manages a portfolio of several national news brands, local and global niche media, book publishing and streaming activities, and Denmark’s largest last mile distribution enterprise.

Currently appointed Intake Editor at Standard Group PLC, Nairobi, Kenya, Kizito Namulanda oversees news gathering operations across all platforms, as well as managing newsroom transformation process. Before this appointment, he served as Newsroom Transformation Manager charged with the responsibility of project-managing the Group’s business transformation project in both Editorial and Commercial departments.

Has worked at the Standard Group for 15 years in various capacities including Managing Editor Broadcast Services and oversaw the launch the company’s first radio station.

Saxon Phipps, and his business partner Will Stubley, founded Year13 in 2011 after they saw school leavers struggling to plan their futures and realised there was a lack of relatable support for them. Today 1.6 million young Australians aged 15 to 24 use the Year13 site each year to get life advice and help plan their post-school futures in work, study or travel.

To aid this Year13 does regular research reports into the issues Gen Zs are facing from social media to sustainability, establishing itself as Australia’s leading authority on youth insights.

Phipps will share findings from Year13’s What Gen Z Actually Do Online 2021 report which has tracked young people’s drastic move away from traditional media to online. Phipps has previously participated in events about youth issues such as The Australian Financial Review – Higher Education Summit and the Australian Davos Connection – Future of Education Summits.

Hans Peter Nissen, 63, is the Head of Logistics at JP/Politiken media group since 2005. He has been working in the news media industry since 1973, starting his career as a distributor in the Berlingske media group and worked his way up from there. Hans Peter has undertaken my different roles in his career, within IT, newspaper sales, distribution and process optimization. He has been a part of JP/Politiken media group’s transition from facing a big challenge with the newspaper distribution, as digital platforms started taking over, to now having a profitable distribution business delivering both newspapers, parcels and letters. He has been a key figure in the newspaper association Danske Medier’s work to maintain and improve the conditions for newspaper distribution in Denmark. Hans Peter lives with his wife and two children in Lyngby, north of Copenhagen.

Justin Eisenband is a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Publishing + Digital Media practice and has provided financial, strategic and operational advisory services to companies in the digital media, broadcast & cable television, film, and publishing sectors. Mr. Eisenband has worked with dozens of media companies to help support growth strategy, improve profitability and drive operational efficiencies.

Kirsty is a journalist, campaigner, researcher and performer, advocating for good information, ethical technology and diverse leadership.

Her recent career highlights include acting as a selection advisor for Nesta’s government-backed Future News Fund and creating the Standup For Journalism comedy training and performance night, offering journalists a new way to talk about the public interest.

In 2019, she became the first PhD candidate to be supported by the World Association of News Publishers, where she’s looking at the environmental sustainability of the news media.

She currently works for Open Data Manchester, helping people use data better, Electronics Watch, which monitors human-rights issues in the electronics supply chain, and is a journalism lecturer at the University of Huddersfield.

Markus Ahlberg is currently serving as the Chief Sustainability Officer at Schibsted. With a background in sustainability management consulting, Markus is dedicated to incorporating sustainability strategies that contribute to meaningful impact, innovation, and long-term organizational resilience. Alongside his work at Schibsted, Markus lends his expertise as an advisor to governmental initiatives, industry projects, and NGOs.

Dmitry Shishkin is the CEO of Ringier Media International. He joined the Swiss based group in 2024. Before joining Ringier, he became well known as an expert in digital transformation, content strategy, and innovation in publishing. One of his focus areas is the concept of user needs.

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.

Sam Guzik is a journalist, futurist and product strategist. He is the Director of Product for New York Public Radio and a Senior Expert Advisor at the Future Today Institute.

Inês Bravo is a Senior Consultant at INNOVATION Media Consulting, specialized in User Experience Design, interaction and User Interface Design, Brand & Identity, Visual Design Strategy, User Research, User Centred Design, Information Architecture, Edtech and CMS for digital platforms. Her recent projects with INNOVATION includes Arab News (Saudi Arabia); Sistema Verdes Mares (SVM) Brazil and Grupo Prensa Libre (Guatemala). She is also actively engaged in digital literacy issues, focusing on the development of digital literacy tools for young people.

K.S. Dakshina Murthy was a key member of the Editorial team that launched the English language version of the Al-Jazeera news website in 2003. Based in Doha, he wrote extensively on the US invasion of Iraq and West Asian politics. He returned to India in April 2006 to pursue other journalistic and allied interests.

He has a basic degree in Science (BSc), MA in Political Science and M.Phil in International Politics.

Dakshina Murthy started his career with Sunday Mid-Day in Bangalore in 1983 and went on to work for several media houses, including The Indian Express, The Press Trust of India, Deccan Herald and the Hindustan Times.

He briefly returned to Al Jazeera in 2013-14 as India Online Editor based in Bangalore. He was also Editorial Consultant/Trainer with The Hindu from 2006-2014 and with Deccan Herald in 2014-15.

He is Associate Editor at The Federal news website, and writes for prominent publications in India and abroad besides involvement in other media-related work.

Dakshina Murthy is the author of “The Anopheles Sting”, a book of fiction, published in 2013 by Dronequill.

Paul Huybrechts, born 1960 in Belgium. He has a masters degree in metallurgical engineering. Paul has more than 20 years experience as production manager, plant manager and business unit manager working for an international company specialized in materials technology, working globally (activities in China, Australia, Malaysia, Norway, France, Belgium , UK and The Netherlands). Since 2007 he has worked in the news media industry as managing director of Printing Partners (belonging to Mediahuis -group ) responsible for print and distribution in Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Kathleen Fleury Capetta has been in the publishing industry for nearly two decades. She started out working in book publishing at Random House in New York City. The next decade she spent transforming Maine’s Down East Magazine from a legacy magazine to a multi-platform brand. For the last three years she has served as Publisher of Compass Media in the Cayman Islands, where she oversees the country’s newspaper of record (www.caymancompass.com), four radio stations, a commercial printing operation, and several magazine titles.

Sarah Marshall leads Audience Strategy at Condé Nast. This ranges from SEO to podcasts; from newsletters to TikTok. Her team supports Condé Nast’s brands, which include Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, WIRED, Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit, Epicurious, La Cucina Italiana, Glamour, Allure, Teen Vogue, SELF, Pitchfork, Ars Technica, Tatler, House & Garden and World of Interiors.

Bharat Gupta is the Chief Executive Officer of Jagran New Media, the digital wing of India’s largest print and radio publisher group, Jagran Prakashan Ltd. With more than 22 years of stellar experience to his credit, Bharat has been at the helm of managing and turning around diverse media businesses across print, radio, ground activation & digital. With over 100 million users, JNM is amongst the Top Internet Media Groups in India.

Gundula Ullah has been leading the Procurement function at FUNKE Mediengruppe, one of Germany’s largest media companies, since April 2019. She is steadily driving forward the transformation of the entire purchasing organization, which covers the needs of all business units (newspaper, magazines, digital, radio).

Chani Guyot is founder and director of RED/ACCIÓN, an Argentina-based outlet specializing in solutions journalism. In addition, in 2023 he created the Human Journalism Network, an alliance of 20 media outlets from around the world. He is a Knight Fellow of the ICFJ and sits on the board of the World Publishers Forum. He worked for 21 years in the newspaper La Nación, in Buenos Aires, where he led the newsroom between 2013 and 2017.

Anjali Kapoor is the Director of News Partnerships for APAC, Meta where she supports the news industry in the region by partnering with news organizations to achieve their business and strategic goals on Facebook platforms.

For 15 years, Ken Doctor has been a go-to expert on news business models through Newsonomics, his own company and website.

Yinka is a content creator and social media manager who has a record of success in diverse content strategies. In her previous roles, she has developed content for clients’ websites and social media platforms. She has also applied analytics tools to boost social media reach. Yinka is also a TikTok creator who is conversant with how the platform works. When she’s not creating content, she’s either dancing or writing.

Kanyinsola is a marketing professional with a background in growth marketing and digital strategy. She spearheaded many successful campaigns in her previous role as a Senior Marketing Lead at She Leads Africa. She also successfully launched the Pulse Influencer Awards maiden edition which was held in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Senegal and is currently contributing immensely to the growth of Pulse’s digital platforms.

Paula has worked in media for more than three decades as a journalist, editor, trainer and media manager. An award-winning journalist, Paula was the first female editor of the South African Saturday Star newspaper. A recipient of the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, she is a former member of the Nieman Foundation Advisory Board at Harvard University. In 2005, she started Paula Fray and Associates (now frayintermedia) before joining Inter Press Service (IPS) as Africa regional director in 2008. As regional head, she oversaw the operations of the international development news agency. She is the current President of The New Humanitarian, the independent, non-profit news agency covering crises and disasters. She was a trustee of Brand South Africa until March 2016 and is a trustee of Media Monitoring Africa. She has wide-ranging consultancy and project management experience and has served as a mentor for organisations such as Health-e and the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). Paula graduated with a BJourn degree from Rhodes University and has a Women and Law Certificate from UNISA.

Wahyu is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tempo digital. He was the editor in chief of Tempo Magazine, Indonesia until July 2021.

Alexandra Borchardt is a highly experienced senior journalist, book author, lecturer, and independent media advisor. She is a member of the WAN-IFRA’s Expert Panel, a distinguished network of experts who offer impartial advice on a range of strategic digital business and organisational issues. Alexandra’s expertise areas include: Managing digital change: strategy and culture, Leadership development, Climate journalism strategy.

Samia Nakhoul has reported from the Middle East for almost 35 years. She began her career reporting on the civil war in Lebanon in the 1980s, has covered the Western hostage crisis, hijackings, the Gulf War of 1990-91, the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, where she was severely wounded when a tank shell hit the Palestine Hotel, headquarters of the international press and had to undergo brain surgery.

Awards:

2021 Laureate for the Women in News Editorial Leadership Award in the Arab Region.

Reuters scoop of the year for breaking the news that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured with his son and then later killed – 2013

Her special report on the secret plan to take Tripoli was recognized as a finalist in the Pultizers that year. – 2013

She was awarded the Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite, one of France’s highest honors, for her venerable career covering the Middle East – 2014

The Reuters Baron Award which recognizes an individual who exemplifies Reuters tradition of integrity, journalistic excellence, personal courage and expertise – 2015

Reuters scoop of the year award for leading the coverage that unveiled the grisly murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul – 2020

Edyth Kambalame has more than 15 years experience in the media,  and today holds an important leadership role at Malawi’s leading newspaper, as Editor and Acting President. She is a well known gender advocate, working in various capacities from reporter to editor, conducting media trainings, mentoring reporters and attending conferences to build networks, among others.

Awards

UNFPA Reproductive Health Champion Award (Print Media),  2012

Chevening scholarship to study for a Masters Degree, 2016

Nyein Nyein Naing holds the position of editor-in-chief in Burma [also known as Myanmar] a rare occurrence in a country where women are not usually blocked from the most senior positions in media. Her journalism career began in  2001 as an intern reporter for 7Days News, one of Myanmar’s most influential private media outlets and over two decades she has worked as a journalist under Myanmar’s notorious media censorship including her work in 2010 as part of an undercover team that ran news stories daily on the elections including the Bangkok Post, Jakarta Globe and Asia Sentinel.

As Editor-in-Chief and oversaw the digital newsroom for all 7Day News digital platforms, including 7Day TV, the new web TV outlet of 7Day

In February 2021 the government shut down  the newsroom as part of a sweeping clampdown on the independent media following the military coup. At that time, 7 Day had 28 million online followers that made it a platform with the biggest audience in Myanmar. Its print newspaper also had the most significant circulation among private papers in the nation.

She is currently a Board Member of Yangon Journalism School. Nyein attended WAN-IFRA DMA 2019 and participated in the WAN IFRA Media Professionals Program representing 7 Days media.

Awards:

Myanmar Press Award: The Best Feature Story, 2010

National Press Award: The Best Article, 2011

Guy Berger is an independent media and Internet expert. He spent a decade as a senior official at UNESCO, overseeing the Organization’s global work on press freedom, safety of journalists, internet freedom and media development. From 1994 to 2010, Berger headed up the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, South Africa. He has published and presented extensively, and worked in both television and press, including writing a long-running column on the media for South Africa’s Mail & Guardian. Over his career, Berger has been recognised with several awards, and has also served as elected deputy chair of the South African National Editors Forum. He holds a Doctorate in Philosophy from Rhodes University.

Mijal Iastrebner is a journalist, entrepreneur, teacher and Executive Director of SembraMedia, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has worked as a professor in Journalism Master’s programs at La Nación and Torcuato Di Tella University in Argentina, and as part of the Journalism Diploma at the University of San Andrés. She also developed the Entrepreneurial Journalism program for the School of Journalism TEA. In 2016, Mijal participated as an instructor in the Entrepreneurial Journalism MOOC at the Texas University of Journalism in Austin. She began her journalistic career launching her own magazine at age 22 and leading a team of 20 people. At the age of 24, she started working as a digital startup consultant, specialising in monetisation and management. She has also worked for international companies such as Coca-Cola in their online education and brand development projects. In 2015, she co-founded SembraMedia with Janine Warner, and has since managed an international team of journalists, researchers, consultants and developers.

Dame Frances Cairncross is a British economist, respected journalist and academic. She is a senior fellow at the School of Public Policy, UCLA and formerly chaired the executive committee of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. From 2004 to 2014, she was the Rector of Exeter College, Oxford. From 2015 to 2020, she was chair of the Court of Heriot-Watt University. In 2019, she chaired the UK’s independent review into the future of quality news provision; ‘The Cairncross Review’ considered the sustainability of the production and distribution of high-quality journalism.

Mads Ommundsen is a Norwegian journalist with 10 years experience working in online journalism. He started out as reporter and online news editor at regional title Fædrelandsvennen, subsequently moving to the development department, where he’s spent the past few years working as project lead. Robot journalism is one of his areas of responsibility.
Fædrelandsvennen is part of Norwegian local media group Polaris Media.

Linn Grundberg is News Editor and Acting Editor-in-Chief at local publisher Örnsköldsviks Allehanda in Sweden. Before working in local news at ÖA, Grundberg ran her own production company and her background is in TV and digital journalism.
Örnsköldsviks Allehanda is part of Swedish local media group Bonnier News Local.

Antonia Kerle is a research manager with Economist Impact’s Policy & Insights practice. Antonia leads research programs for foundations, international organisations, private sector clients and non-profits seeking evidence-based analysis and policy recommendations. She specialises in the intersection of media, technology and education. She leads Economist Impact’s work on technology, media and democracy in the EMEA region, with a focus on topics relating to media viability, disinformation, hate speech and trust in institutions.

Antonia has worked with clients to support research and policy analysis on major technology and media issues including the economic sustainability of news media, data privacy in education, technology enabled personalised learning and digital business models. She holds a master’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Bryn Mawr College. She also has a certificate in Data, Law and Policy from the London School of Economics. 

Since 2015 Clémence Lemaistre has been Digital Editor at Les Echos in charge of digital news and transformation. Before that, she was the Editor-in-chief at BFMTV.com, the website of the TV channel, for three years. She had previously been on the editorial team which launched the daily 20 minutes in France in March 2002, and the website 20minutes.fr in 2007.

Retno Pinasti is a seasoned journalist with more than 20 years of experience in the television news and media industry. During the 2019 Indonesian Elections, Retno hosted the Presidential Debate of the fourth most populous country and third largest democracy in the world. Prior to her current position as Chief Editor of two free-to-air channels owned by Emtek Group, she was with several television news stations in Indonesia as well as the U.S. State Department Broadcasting Board of Governors – The Voice of America (VOA) in Washington D.C.

Retno received her master’s degree in Television Journalism from University of London’s Goldsmith College, U.K. in 2002 under a British Chevening Scholarship.

Emtek, which is one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates across media, advertising, digital publishing, events, fintech, e-commerce, healthcare and IT/telecommunications, took a US$375m stake in Grab (the country’s equivalent of Uber) in July 2021. Earlier in April, Softbank-backed Grab bought a 4% stake valued at US$261m in Emtek. Grab and Emtek own two major e-payment platforms in the country, OVO and DANA, respectively. In July 2021, Grab and Emtek announced a strategic partnership to accelerate digital transformation in Tier 2 and 3 cities and explore collaborations in logistics, e-commerce, financial services, telemedicine, advertising, digital media and digital products for millions of small traditional businesses. Emtek does not just see itself as a media empire but also as a key player shaping the country’s digital economy.

As the first Head of Registered Audience at The Independent, Philippa helps the business fulfil its ambitious anonymous to known strategy and oversees The Independent’s newsletter portfolio, virtual event series and commenting platform. Previously, she worked for the Western Daily Press, Bristol Post and Reach Plc, where she oversaw the engagement and live operations of six digital titles.

Mark Zohar is an experienced technology and business executive with over 20 years of experience founding, operating and scaling technology, SaaS, and digital media companies. As an entrepreneur, product and technology leader, and C-suite executive, Mark has helped build, grow and manage to exit technology software companies; developed and launched new digital products and lines of business; and led product, engineering and sales teams to success.

Federica Cherubini is Head of Leadership Development at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. She is an expert in newsroom operations and organisational change, with ten years experience spanning major publishers, research institutes and editorial networks around the world. Federica specialises in devising and implementing new and improved ways of working, bridging people, disciplines, departments, projects and cultures.

Adam Bird is a Senior Partner and the Global Leader of McKinsey’s Consumer Tech & Media practice. He advises the top management of the most disruptive and disrupted companies on their most critical business issues.

Michael is an APAC Publisher Data Maturity Lead, where he coordinates programs and resources across different Google teams to identify gaps in deliverables and develop new initiatives and tools. The common objective of his work is to enable publishers to make better use of data within their organizations. Within his role he has contributed to internal data infrastructure as well as external solutions and products.

Michael has worked ~10 years in the Ad tech industry in commercial and technical capacities. He is passionate about technology, the Internet, and developing/scaling products while helping people use them.