During its General Assembly of Members held in Amsterdam on 13th December, WAN-IFRA, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, appointed Fernando de Yarza, President of Henneo Group in Spain, as its newly elected Vice President.
De Yarza, along with Michael Golden (USA), Lisa MacLeod (Tiso Blackstar, South Africa), Paul Verwilt (Mediahuis, Belgium), and David Callaway (The Street, USA) will now form the new Presidency of WAN-IFRA until the incoming Board elections planned for June 2019.
”I am very honoured to be appointed to the Presidency of WAN-IFRA. The organisation is undergoing a successful and remarkable transformation that underlines its role as the global voice of news publishers. I’ve followed the success of WAN-IFRA’s programmes worldwide during the past few years. It’s a unique, invaluable and inspirational forum on global trends in the news industry and I am grateful for this opportunity to contribute to its development” said Fernando de Yarza.
“New forces at work make this a critical time for WAN-IFRA to play in the global conversation on the future of journalism and independent news publishing. More than ever, publishers need a global voice that promote editorial quality and professional practice with innovative solutions,” he added.
Formerly the Heraldo Group, publisher of Heraldo de Aragon founded in 1895, Henneo is the seventh-largest Spanish communication group by turnover and a leading media group in Aragón. The group employs more than 1,400 employees in four business areas: news media, audiovisual production, technology, and industrial services. Henneo is the publisher of Heraldo de Aragón, 20minutos, Diario del Alto Aragón, and Informacion. Fernando de Yarza is a member of the board and the executive committee of Vocento, the leading general interest news publisher in Spain (with its flagship daily ABC, and 11 regional newspapers including El Correo).
He is Chairman of Taller de Editores, Spain’s largest magazine publisher; President of News Media Europe, the association of European publishers; and Vice President at the Association of Media and Information (AMI). De Yarza has held management positions at Telefónica-Terra, where he was in charge of content purchasing and was Director General of Dasa-Logística Editorial.
The next WAN-IFRA elections are planned to take place during the annual World News Media Congress to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, on 1-3 June 2019.