JTO Appoints New Executive Director

Thursday 2 December 2004

JTO Appoints New Executive Director

Jim Tucker has been appointed the new Executive Director of the Journalists’ Training Organisation to replace Bill Southworth who retires early next year.

Announcing the new appointment, JTO Chairman Mike Fletcher said the organisation was delighted that it was able to appoint someone with as strong a background in journalism and journalism training as Mr Tucker.

“From a beginning on the Taranaki Herald, Jim has held many senior positions on daily newspapers including Editor of the Auckland Star. For 8 years he was Head of Journalism at Auckland Institute of Technology and for 6 years he held a similar position at Western Institute of Technology. He has written extensively on journalism training, ethics and press freedom.” said Mr Fletcher. He also paid tribute to the work of Bill Southworth.

“Bill is retiring after 10 years of great service to the industry. He has worked to develop and maintain high standards in journalism training and practice not only through the role of the JTO in moderating training programmes run by Universities and Polytechnics but also through a comprehensive range of training seminars for working journalists around the country.”

The JTO is a voluntary organisation funded by newspaper, magazine, radio and television companies. All major employers belong to it and its brief is to guide and foster training and to raise standards generally. It does this by setting qualifications and training standards for journalism schools.

ENDS

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