Jonty Low, 48, has been appointed the chair of AAP, the 21st in the role and the first woman since the national news agency was formed in 1935 by Keith Murdoch, the father of media baron Rupert.
The businesswoman, who headed the Committee for Sydney for a decade, replaces Campbell Reid, a senior News Corp executive and former newspaper editor who was the last chair under the previous ownership.
AAP is now a not for profit, supported by a group of 35 philanthropists, after two of its previous shareholders -- News Corp and Nine Entertainment -- decided they didn’t need a national newswire.
“I don’t come from a newspaper background, but the modern media landscape is so much more diverse than newspapers, and the funding structure of AAP2.0 is so different,” Low says.
“My background will help bring fresh eyes to the old and new problems we face.”
The AAP board of directors now has three members: Low; philanthropist John McKinnon; and former News Corp Australia CEO Peter Tonagh.
Other board members, up to 10, will be appointed after a nomination process run by independent consultants.
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