Ireton is the first woman to head the organization, which was created in 1994 as a unique global network for exchanging ideas on newsroom management, editorial quality, online strategies and press freedom issues. Ireton is a seasoned newspaper professional with more than 20 years experience on South Africa’s top newspapers, including the Sunday Times and Business Day, where she worked as a journalist, editorial manager and chief operations officer.
For the past six years she has been based in London, consulting on media matters to a variety of international organizations and governments.The WEF runs the Editors Weblog and organizes several conferences and study tours, including an annual Newsroom Summit and its flagship event: the World Editors Forum Conference, intended for chief editors and other senior executives, a unique annual occasion for dialogue, debate and idea-exchange on the changing business of editing newspapers.
The WEF conference is held annually alongside the World Newspaper Congress. Together the meetings are the global annual summit meetings of the world’s press.The World Editors Forum is the only global organization to provide a platform and opportunities for exchange and debate on these fundamental professional issues.
The Forum is guided by an advisory board, chaired by Mr. Erik Bjerager, editor-in-chief and managing director of the Danish national daily Kristeligt Dagblad, which meets four times a year. Day-to-day management is carried out by Ireton.
WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organization of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.