The News Minute | March 21, 2015 | 11.23 am IST
British daily The Guardian, has appointed its first woman editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, after the organization’s staff elected her to the post.
Viner was elected to the post by the 839-strong editorial staff of The Guardian and Observer newspapers which are owned by The Scott Trust, which conducted the elections. Twenty-six people had applied for the post.
Viner becomes one of the few women to head a British newspaper. She rose through the ranks of the newspaper after joining in 1997. She takes over from Alan Rusbridger during whose 20-year tenure, The Guardian won the Pulitzer for public service for its coverage of US surveillance activities based on NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
Liz Forgan, outgoing chair of the Scott Trust, which announced the decision after a seven-hour meeting, said: “Kath shone through in what was a tremendously strong lineup of candidates. In her 18 years at the Guardian, she has done almost every editorial job in the organisation, including running Guardian US and Guardian Australia, and has shown herself to be an inspiring and courageous leader. She has embraced the huge changes in the industry with creativity and relish whilst bringing with her a deep commitment to the Guardian’s traditions of plural, liberal journalism.
“This has been a thorough, transparent and, for the first time, international process. We considered a very broad range of candidates across geographies, disciplines and backgrounds – including all those who took part in the editorial hustings – in our determination to leave no stone unturned in the search for the best person to lead this now global and much respected media organisation.”