Broadcaster

Former chief justice is
new ABC chairman
James Spigelman, former
chief justice of the New South
Wales Supreme Court, has been
appointed the new chairman
of the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation (ABC).
Mr. Spigelman had previously
been the president of the
Museum of Applied Arts and
Sciences, a member of the
council of the National Gallery
of Australia and chairman of
the Film Finance Corporation.
He was a senior adviser to
former Prime Minister Gough
Whitlam and secretary of the
department of media in the
1970s.
His five-year term as chair of
the public broadcaster begins
from April 1, 2012.
Guy Berger joins
UNESCO as FEM
director
AIBD
Members and Partners
A former editor and political
prisoner, he convened the
first major conference on
Freedom on Information in
post-apartheid South Africa
in 1995. Berger describes
himself as a media freedom
activist, and has been deeply
involved in the South African
National Editors Forum since
its inception in 1996.
Bangladesh TV has a
new DG
M. Hamid has been
appointed as director general
of Bangladesh Television
(BTV), a state-run TV channel,
for a term of two years.
M Hamid was the managing
director of Bangladesh Film
Development Corporation in
October 2011. M. Hamid, an
eminent theater leader, cultural
and medial personality, joined
as a producer at the Bangladesh
Television in 1980.
He received a national award
in documentary film making in
1982 and got an international
award in the same category
in 1986.
Sircar takes over as
CEO of Prasar Bharati
Jawhar Sircar had worked in
the Government of India in
the late’ 80s and early’ 90s
and joined it again in 2006 as
additional secretary, moving
on to become secretary in
the Ministry of Culture in late
2008.
Born in 1952 in Calcutta, he
studied at St. Xavier’s School,
Presidency College and
Calcutta University. An honors
graduate in political science,
he has an M.A. in History and
also an M.A. in Sociology.
New secretary at
Nepal’s Ministry
of Information &
Communications
Avanindra Kumar Shrestha
is the new secretary at Ministry of
Information & Communications
in Nepal.
He was the finance comptroller
general of the Financial
Comptroller General office
(FCGO) since 2005.
Baker is CEO of the
Thomson Foundation
Press Television News, from
start up to market leader,
serving successively as head
of news, director of content
and managing director.
Earlier in his career he held
senior editorial roles with ITN,
Reuters and Sky News and
covered major stories in the
Middle East, the Balkans and
CIS.
He holds an MSc in eCommerce
from Brunel University and
has undertaken management
training at Oxford University
and the Open University.
Honour for Ken Clark
A long-term partner of AIBD
and CBA Vice President, Ken
Clark, has been appointed as
an Officer of the Order of Fiji
(OF) for distinguished service
of a high degree to Fiji.
The Award, approved by
Fiji President Ratu Epeli
Nailatikau, honours Mr Clark
for his contribution to the
development of Fiji TV Limited
and the television industry both
in Fiji and the Pacific. Having
lived in Fiji since 1999, he has
represented Fiji on the global
stage and is recognised for
his ‘immeasurable economic
contribution’ to the country.
Broadcaster
Guy Berger has been
appointed director, Division
of Freedom of Expression
and Media Development (FEM),
Communication and Information
Sector (CI) of UNESCO.
Professor Guy Berger was
head of the School of Journalism
and Media Studies at Rhodes
University, South Africa from
1994-2010. He has worked in
the press and television, and
has a PhD from Rhodes.
Jawhar Sircar is the new
CEO of Prasar Bharati
Broadcasting Corporation
of India, the national public
service broadcaster. He
assumed his duties in
February 2012.
Nigel Baker has assumed
the CEO post of the Thomson
Foundation in 2012. He was
formerly vice president of
business operations for EMEA
and Asia of the world's largest
news agency, the Associated
Press (AP).
Nigel was a driving force in
taking the AP's international
television wing, Association
Ken Clarke was responsible
for Fiji TV becoming an
affiliate member of AIBD. He
contributed as speaker in a
few Asia Media Summit. He
was actively involved in the
AIBD General Conference
meetings and professional
discussions, and was part of
the Pacific Media Partnership
Committee. He has also been
an AIBD consultant.
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