ITN, the company behind ITV News, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News, has appointed Christy Swords as its new chairman of the board.
Swords, ITV’s director for finance and operations, joined the board of directors as ITV’s representative in September last year. He replaces Geert Linnebank as chairman.
Finding a new ITN chief executive to replace John Hardie, who will step down later this year after nine years in charge, will be one of Christy’s first priorities.
Linnebank, who served as chairman for three years, said: “It has been an honour to chair ITN’s board as it has evolved into a truly world class production company. The business has gone from strength to strength, with the foundations laid for sustained long-term growth.”
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Swords said: “The Board’s clear priority is to appoint a new chief executive. I look forward to working with the whole Board on moving that process forward.
“ITN has made significant progress over recent years both as the UK’s leading commercial news supplier and a substantial UK and international producer.
“There are strong foundations to build upon for ITN’s next chapter.”
ITN chief executive John Hardie said: “Christy is becoming chairman at an exciting moment in ITN’s modern history. The company is in great health, producing more diverse content, to international acclaim, for a wider range of clients than ever before.
“The future is very bright and I look forward to working with Christy on the smooth transition to a new chief executive.”
ITN has four shareholders: ITV (40 per cent), Daily Mail and General Trust (20 per cent), Reuters (20 per cent) and Informa (20 per cent).
Picture: ITN
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