The Ethical Journalism Network has boosted its footprint in the UK with a number of high-profile appointments of significant industry figures to its board.
Jane Clemetson Director of Commercial Legal Affairs at Reach, Pulitzer winner James Ball, television journalists Ayshah Tull and Keme Nzerem, and documentary film producer Christo Hird have all been appointed. Manisha Tank, a leading Singapore-based journalist, who hosts a radio programme there, is also joining.
‘The challenge of propaganda and disinformation needs a strong response,”says EJN Chair, Dorothy Byrne. “We have recruited some of Britain’s most distinguished journalists to help us combat the erosion of public trust.”
The Ethical Journalism Network is an international coalition of industry experts promoting good practice in news media. The six new trustees will join the EJN with immediate effect – bringing significant experience, diverse perspectives, and new insights to the work of the UK-based charity.
“As public trust in the media over Covid-19 recedes, there has never been a time in which ethical journalism has been more important. We are therefore honoured and grateful that these leading figures from our industry have chosen to join our board,” said Byrne, who is also Editor-at-Large at Channel 4 Television.
“With their support, the Ethical Journalism Network will contribute to establishing standards of truth and accuracy in this emergency and beyond.”
“We are delighted to welcome our colleagues to the EJN and look forward to working with them,” said EJN Director Hannah Storm.
“Each of our new trustees brings to our network a deep commitment to the values for which we stand – those of accountability, accuracy, independence, humanity – which have shown themselves to be essential in the practice of journalism, both in terms of news content and the culture of newsrooms, during this global pandemic.”
The new trustees are:
Ayshah Tull is an award-winning reporter for Channel 4 News. She joined the programme in 2019, and her broadcasting has included reporting the US elections on the ground and extensive coverage of the coronavirus crisis. She previously presented the children’s news programme, BBC Newsround from 2013-2018.
Christo Hird is the founder and managing director of Dartmouth Films, which focuses on producing and distributing theatric documentaries with a social and public purpose. His career includes working in The City, being a journalist on the Economist, New Statesman (where he was deputy editor) and the Sunday Times (where he was editor of Insight), as well as being a television reporter and producer.
James Ball is an investigative journalist and author, currently working as the global editor at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. He has previously worked at outlets including BuzzFeed News and the Guardian, on projects including the offshore leaks, WikiLeaks war logs, state cables and the NSA leaks from Edward Snowden. His latest book is The System: Who Owns The Internet And How It Owns Us.
Jane Clemetson is Director of Commercial Legal Affairs at British media group Reach plc. Prior to that she founded a legal and business affairs consultancy which worked with companies including ITN, Trinity Mirror (now Reach), News International, Sony Music and EMI. She is Education Officer for Reach’s internal Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee and a member of Reach’s working group on Reaching Gender Equality in Sport. Jane also represents Reach on numerous industry bodies and committees, including the National Media Association’s Legal Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee.
Keme Nzerem is an award-winning TV News correspondent, presenter and filmmaker who has reported from around the world on issues from corruption, politics, and human rights, to sport. His focus has been on how global events affect the lives of ordinary people. He has spent most of his staff career at Channel 4 News and has covered major stories including the #blacklivesmatter protests of 2020, the Grenfell fire, the election of Barack Obama, Hurricane Katrina, paedophiles in football, and World Cups & Olympic Games. Keme is currently making a feature documentary about the legacy of the enslavement of Africans. He is also a media trainer, running his own consultancy company.
Manisha Tank has been a broadcast journalist for twenty years, working her way up from Assistant Producer at Reuters Television in London to anchoring flagship current affairs and business programs for BBC World News and CNN International for more than a decade. Her career has spanned three continents and the world’s biggest financial news hubs, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, where she now resides. Manisha runs her own media services company, and is a regular face on the events circuit in the Asia Pacific region. She also hosts a news and current affairs breakfast radio show owned by Singapore’s SPH Holdings, the publisher of the Straits Times.