NEW YORK (16 May 2019) — The International News Media Association (INMA) elected 18 executives to its Board of Directors at its annual business meeting in New York.

Elected president for a two-year term was Damian Eales, chief operating officer, publishing of News Corp Australia. Eales has worked across retail, financial services, and media industries, including one of Australia’s leading retailers and leading banks. The Sydney-based Eales joined News Corp in 2013 and has served as strategic partnerships director, group marketing director, and managing director of metro and regional publishing before assuming his current role in 2017. He serves on the NewsMediaWorks Board of Directors in Australia. Eales joined the INMA Board of Directors in 2014, spending the past two years as vice president.

Also elected to officer terms were:

• First Vice President: Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president of the USA Today Network and publisher of USA Today, based in McLean, Virginia, USA, was elected first vice president. She is scheduled to ascend to the INMA presidency in 2021.
   
• Second Vice President: Espen Egil Hansen, editor-in-chief and CEO of Aftenposten in Oslo, Norway, was elected second vice president.
   
• Treasurer: Sandy Naudé, CEO of African Community Media for Independent Media in Cape Town, South Africa, joins the Executive Committee as treasurer and will serve a three-year term.
   
• Immediate Past President: Eduardo Garces, general manager of Bogota, Colombia-based El Espectador, becomes immediate past president after serving the past two years as president.
   

Twelve executives were elected to Board terms:

• Alexandra Beverfjord, editor-in-chief and CEO, Dagbladet, Oslo, Norway.
   
• Michael Doorly, CEO, Independent News & Media, Dublin, Ireland.
   
• Griet Ducatteeuw, publisher, De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad, Antwerp, Belgium.
   
• Lotta Edling, editorial director of development, Bonnier News, Stockholm, Sweden.
   
• Maria Eugenia Ferre Rangel, chairwoman of the board, GFR Media, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
   
• Sanjay Gupta, CEO, Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India.
   
• Chris Janz, managing director publishing, Nine, Sydney, Australia.
   
• Debby Krenek, publisher, Newsday Media Group, Melville, New York, USA.
   
• Gary Liu, CEO, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China.
   
• Rika Swart, CEO, Media24 Print Media, South Africa.
   
• Anthony Tan, deputy CEO, Singapore Press Holdings.
   
• Suzi Watford, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, The Wall Street Journal, New York, USA.
   

Meanwhile, Gerold Riedmann, managing director of Austria-based Russmedia, joined the INMA Board of Directors in recent months as the association’s Europe Division president.V

Five executives are departing the INMA Board after many years of service, including Ross McPherson, managing director of McPherson Media Group in Shepparton, Australia; Mark Challinor, CEO of Media Futures Ltd. In London, United Kingdom; Paulo Mira, CEO of PHD Mobi based in Miami, USA; Changhee Park, chief executive officer USA for South Korean publisher JoongAng Ilbo; and Chris Blaser, vice president of audience and circulation for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in the United States. Two executives departed the INMA Board in recent months: Olivier Bonsart, CEO of 20 Minutes in Paris, France, and Gregory Hywood, CEO of Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia.

The INMA Board of Directors is the fiduciary and strategic body that guides the 89-year-old non-profit association.

The International News Media Association (INMA) is a global community of market-leading news media companies reinventing how they engage audiences and grow revenue in a multi-media environment. The fast-growing INMA community consists of more than 10,000 executives at 700+ media companies in 70 countries. INMA is the news media industry’s foremost ideas-sharing network with members connected via conferences, reports, Webinars, and an unparalleled archive of best practices.