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Executive Board

posted on 09 November, 2011 10:54 , last updated on 02 July, 2024 09:51   (public)


COMPOSITION AS OF JUNE 2024

Further to the EPRA Statutes, the Executive Board acts as the strategic body steering the EPRA. Inter alia, it represents the EPRA in external events, proposes a 3-year strategy, devises the yearly work programmes and the related activities, and takes decisions relating to the operation of the EPRA.
 

EPRA Chairperson 

Helena Mandic - Photo
Mari Velsand

Director General at at the Norwegian Media Authority (Medietilsynet), Norway

After two mandates as EPRA Vice-Chairperson, Mari Velsand was elected as EPRA Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023. Mari Velsand is Director General at the Norwegian Media Authority, a position she has held since 2017.

When she entered the authority, she came from the media business, where she for more than 20 years held different management positions. She has been a part of the top management team at NRK (the Norwegian public broadcasting company), Chief Editor of the national newspaper Nationen and Executive Vice President at Amedia, the second largest media company in Norway.

Mari has studied journalism and has a master of management from the Norwegian school of management, BI.

She has also over the years held a number of board positions within the Norwegian media industry, and she has been Norway’s representative in the board of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN IFRA).

Further to the EPRA Statutes, the Chairperson chairs the meetings and represents the EPRA in its external relations.


EPRA Vice-Chairpersons

In alphabetical order


Stephanie Comey - (Senior Vice Chair)

Director of Media Development at the Coimisiún na Meán (CNaM), Ireland

Stephanie Comey was re-elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023. From 2021 to March 2024 Stephanie was in charge of the EPRA "AI and Regulators Roundtables". From March 2024, she has been leading EMIL, EPRA's Media and Information Taskforce.

Stephanie joined the Authority (formerly the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) in 2003 and has since worked across a number of broadcasting policy development and regulatory areas. Currently, she has responsibility for Media Literacy, Gender and Diversity and Sectoral Development.

She led the development of the BAI Media Literacy Policy which set out a number of key media literacy competencies and led to the development of an Irish media literacy network. She is now a co-chair of the Media Literacy Ireland network. She was also a co-chair for the ERGA Action Group on Media Literacy, and a member of the EPRA media literacy taskforce since its inception.

She contributed to the drafting of the Council of Europe Recommendation on Gender Equality in the Audiovisual sector in 2017, and has led the work of the BAI to increase women representation and participation in media. She has worked with key stakeholders to increase the availability and quality of learning and development initiatives in the media sector, supporting the establishment of industry bodies and representative networks.

She holds degrees in Law and English from the University of Le Havre in France, an MA with the University of Westminster and an MSocSci with the University of Leicester in the UK. She is currently reading for a PhD in media studies with the Technological University of Dublin.
 


 

Valentin-Alexandru Jucan

Vice President, National Audiovisual Council, Romania

Valentin-Alexandru was elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023 and joins the EPRA Board for the first time. He is currently serving as the Vice President of the National Audiovisual Council of Romania, holding the rank of State Secretary. He has been appointed to his second term in this authority and has a long experience in public administration.

He received his education at the "Gheorghe Dima" National Music Academy, and subsequently pursued specializations in law, European Affairs and journalism.

He is a graduate of the renowned international leadership and journalism "Edward R. Murrow" programme, which is sponsored by the United States Department of State and held in both Washington and New York. Moreover, Valentin-Alexandru has completed post-graduate coursework in Strategic Communications and Operations in the Information Environment at the US Navy.

A considerable portion of Mr. Jucan's preparation was carried out within the framework of the Directorate for European Affairs, situated in the Romanian Parliament's upper house, the Senate.

During his tenure, Valentin-Alexandru has prioritized the safeguarding of freedom of expression, the establishment of a mechanism to combat disinformation, and the implementation of mandatory national media education programmes. Other critical themes on his agenda include the protection of minors, as well as combating hate speech that is directed towards individuals based on their ethnicity or sexual orientation. Inter-institutional cooperation and dialogue are fundamental criteria that he employs when addressing issues that are common within the audiovisual industry.

 



Armela Krasniqi

Chairperson, Audiovisual Media Authority, Albania

Armela Krasniqi was elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 59th EPRA Meeting in Rotterdam on 6 June 2024 and joins the EPRA Board for the first time, for a period of one year. She is the Chairperson of the Albanian Audiovisual Media Authority since 7 July 2021. 

Also, she is currently a professor in Journalism and Communication, in the Bachelor and Master programs, at the Universities of Pristina and Albania.
She holds the position of the President of the Mediterranean Network of regulatory authorities (MNRA) and was elected in 2023.

During her career, she was elected as a member of the executive board of EANA (European Alliance of News Agencies) in September 2019 until July 2021. Another international position was the election as a President of ABNA (The Association of the Balkan News Agencies Southeast Europe) in November 2018.

She has a considerable management experience in different public and private institutions in Albania, such as Director General of the Albanian News Agency; Director General of the Information and Public Relations Department in the Prime Minister Office; Director of the News Department in the Public Television; General Tax Department, private televisions, etc.

Mrs. Krasniqi graduated in 1999 in the Faculty of Journalism at the University of Tirana (Albania). She holds several qualifications from the University of Perugia, Presidency of Umbria (Italy) in 2000 and Cabinet Office and Number 10 London (United Kingdom) in 2016. She has track records and expertise with international companies like Price Water House and Coopers (PwC) 2020-2021.
Topics related to media freedom, the digital era of media, the future of journalism and the fight against disinformation are and were the key issues that she most contributed to.


 

Stanislav Matějka

Head of the Analytical Department, Council for Media Services, Slovakia

 

Stanislav Matějka was elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023 and joins the EPRA Board for the first time. He is the Head of the Analytical Department at the Council for Media Services (CMS), the national regulatory authority for audiovisual media services in Slovakia.

Within EPRA, he is in charge of the series of workshops on "video-sharing platforms and regulation".

In 2024, he also serves as a Chair of Subgroup 3 of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) dedicated to countering disinformation and strengthening democracy in the digital environment.

Before joining the Slovak media regulator, he previously served as a Hybrid Threats and Strategic Communication expert at the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and as an analyst focusing on trends in terrorism studies within GLOBSEC Policy Institute, a Slovak think-tank.

 

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