Sinha Ratnatunga re-elected to Board of Directors of WAN-IFRA

Sunday Times Editor-in-chief

The Sunday Times Editor-inchief and Wijeya Newspapers Limited Executive Director Sinha Ratnatunga has been re-elected to the Board of Directors of WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers), the largest international media body -- representing 1,500 publications. His re-election came at the WAN-IFRA General Assembly in Cartagena, Colombia on Sunday. The general assembly was held alongside the organisation’s World News Media Congress, World Editors Forum and World Advertising Forum. Some 700 participants, publishers, editors and other senior news executives from around the world attended the events, which continued through Tuesday. Also at the conference, the Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom award of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WANIFRA), was awarded to Dmitry Muratov, Editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, in recognition of his leadership and outstanding perseverance in safeguarding Novaya Gazeta’s independent editorial line, as well as the great sacrifices made by its staff, over the paper’s many years of service in the cause of press freedom. At the general assembly, Kevin Beatty, CEO of dmg media, was elected second Vice President of WAN-IFRA, while eight new members were also elected to the Board. Mr. Beatty was once the managing director of The Mail on Sunday; managing director of the Evening Standard and London Metro; COO of Associated New Media; and managing director of Northcliffe Newspapers. He was also managing director of the Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd. The highlight of the conference was the keynote address by Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos, who was also journalist previously.