Ivar Rusdal appointed as new President of ENPA
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15th November, 2010, Brussels - The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association announced today that Norwegian publisher, Ivar Rusdal, had been appointed as its President during ENPA’s General Assembly in Budapest at the weekend.
The new ENPA President, Ivar Rusdal, succeeds the German publisher, Valdo Lehari jr., Editor in Chief of the Reutlinger General Anzeiger, who stepped down after serving for four years, the maximum term allowed under the organisation’s statutes.
Since 1994, Rusdal has been the co-owner and CEO of Jæren Avis AS/Jærbladet AS, a regional newspaper published in Bryne, Norway. He has been the driving force between the development of a group of local newspapers, now consisting of six titles. Between 1995-2008, Rusdal was Chief Editor of Jaerbladet. He is also chairman of the Board of Dalane Tidende, a newspaper in Egersund, Norway.
Ivar Rusdal said: "At one of the most challenging and transformational times in our industry’s history, I am honoured to lead the European industry's representation to the EU institutions and internationally. I am convinced that with the right legislative environment, the newspaper business can look forward to an exciting future, publishing on all platforms.”
Rusdal added: “My hands-on experience of running a newspaper group through challenging times should help me to address the many and complex issues the newspaper industry is facing today. Last but not least, I want to pay tribute to the work of my predecessor, Valdo Lehari jr. who continues to be an articulate and tireless advocate for the newspaper business.”
At ENPA’s General Assembly meeting, Valdo Lehari jr. was appointed Vice-President of ENPA and will continue to take an active role in the organisation’s representation to the EU institutions.
Valdo Lehari jr. said: "It has been a fascinating role over the last four years and during this time ENPA greatly increased its visibility and influence among EU decision-makers at the highest level. In my new role as Vice-President, I look forward to supporting Ivar Rusdal and continuing this important advocacy work on behalf of the newspaper industry.”
Francine Cunningham, Executive Director of ENPA, welcomed the new appointments and paid tribute to the outgoing President: “Valdo Lehari jr. has been a passionate champion of the newspaper industry and ENPA owes him an enormous amount of respect and gratitude. In his new role as Vice-President, we look forward to continuing to work with Valdo Lehari jr. on some of our most important priorities at EU level.” Cunningham added: “The ENPA team also looks forward to working with Ivar Rusdal, whose rich experience of both the creative and business sides of the industry will be invaluable to our advocacy work.”
Biography of Ivar Rusdal
Since 1994, Ivar Rusdal is the co-owner and CEO of Jæren Avis AS/Jærbladet AS, a regional newspaper published in Bryne, Norway. The group has local newspapers, now consisting of six titles.
From 1995 to 2008, Rusdal was Chief Editor of Jaerbladet. He is also chairman of the Board of Dalane Tidende, a newspaper in Egersund, Norway (founded in 1885).
For the last two years, he has been chairman of the board of the Executive Committee of Norwegian Media Businesses' Associations (MBL). In addition, he has been Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee of ENPA since 2006.
Rusdal has a M.Sc from the University of Oslo and has previously held various positions within the Civil Service, banking and industry. Since 2008, he has been Chairman of the Board of Lyse Energi AS, the regional hydroelectric and Telecoms Company, owned by 16 municipalities in the Stavanger region. Since 2005, he has also been a member of the board of the Confederation of Norwegian Industries (NHO).
Picture of Mr Ivar Rusdal: Click here - credit: Jærbladet A.
For the press release in PDF please Click here
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The European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA) is an international association, defending and promoting the professional interests of the European newspaper publishing industry at different European and international organisations and institutions.
ENPA represents over 5,200 national, regional and local newspaper titles, published in 23 European Union Member States plus Norway and Switzerland. More than 150 million newspapers are sold and read by over 300 million Europeans every day, in addition to the tens of millions of unique daily visits to over 2,500 online newspapers’ websites.
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here for the contact details of the ENPA staff member.