大象传媒

The Government today announced that Aideen McGinley and Sonita Alleyne have been appointed to the 大象传媒 Trust with effect from 1 November 2012.

Aideen McGinley will replace Rotha Johnston as Trustee for Northern Ireland (NI), and Sonita Alleyne will replace Mehmuda Mian as Trustee. In addition, Anthony Fry, Trustee and chairman of the Trust鈥檚 Finance Committee, has been reappointed for a further three years.

Aideen McGinley is currently Chief Executive of Ilex, the urban regeneration company for Derry-Londonderry. She is on secondment from her post as Permanent Secretary of the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, and will take early retirement later this year. In her role as Trustee for NI, she will chair the Audience Council for NI 鈥� the Trust鈥檚 audience advisory body.

Sonita Alleyne holds a number of non-executive roles, including at the British Board of Film Classification and Archant regional newspaper group. She is a former radio journalist and founder of digital production company Somethin鈥� Else.

Welcoming the appointments, 大象传媒 Trust Chairman Lord Patten said:

鈥淎ideen has spent her career at the heart of local and central government in Northern Ireland, giving her a deep understanding of NI affairs, as well as significant experience in managing the interests of a range of stakeholders.聽 She is familiar with the 大象传媒 from her time as a former chair of the 大象传媒 NI Appeals Advisory Committee, and I feel sure that she will use these skills to improve the 大象传媒 for audiences through her new role at the Trust.鈥�

鈥淪onita has vast experience of the independent radio production sector, bringing with her an intimate knowledge of what audiences want, as well as insight into how the 大象传媒 operates alongside the wider market. Her energy, enthusiasm and perspective will be a real asset to the Trust.

鈥淚 would like to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of our two outgoing Trustees, Rotha Johnston and Mehmuda Mian. They both played a key role in establishing the Trust and were passionate defenders of licence fee payers鈥� interests throughout their tenure. Their contributions will be very much missed.鈥�

Aideen McGinley said:

鈥淎s it starts to implement the savings plans agreed by the Trust earlier this year, the 大象传媒 will have to make some tough changes. It will be imperative to keep the needs of audiences at the forefront of our minds. I鈥檓 delighted and proud to be representing the concerns and interests of those in Northern Ireland.鈥�

Sonita Alleyne said:

鈥淚鈥檝e worked at, with and alongside the 大象传媒 for my whole career. So I know how important it is, both to audiences and to the media industry. I鈥檓 very excited about the chance to use my experience to help make the 大象传媒 even better for licence fee payers.鈥�

Ends.

Notes to editors

1. Aideen McGinley has served as Chief Executive of Ilex, the urban regeneration company for Derry-Londonderry since September 2009. In this role, she is on secondment from her post as Permanent Secretary of the Department for Employment and Learning, and prior to that, was Permanent Secretary of the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure. She will take early retirement later this year. Prior to this, she was Chief Executive of Fermanagh District Council with 25 years鈥� experience in local government, community service, and economic development in Strabane, Fermanagh and Donegal.聽 She is currently a Director of the City of Culture Company 2013, a member of the Northern Ireland (NI) British Council, the NI Chief Executives Forum, a Trustee of Fermanagh Trust, and a Governor of St Michael鈥檚 College in Enniskillen. She was a founding member of the UK National Lotteries Charities Board, Chair of the 大象传媒 NI Appeals Advisory Committee, Trustee of the NI Voluntary Trust, The Omagh Fund and a number of other local charities.聽 She was awarded an OBE for services to local government and the community in 2000.
2. Sonita Alleyne currently holds a number of non-executive roles across the public and private sector, including at the London Legacy Development Corporation, the British Board of Film Classification, regional newspaper group Archant, and The University of the Arts London. Sonita鈥檚 career began in marketing at Jazz FM, where she moved into production before she left to found the digital production company Somethin' Else in 1991. She ran the business as Chief Executive until 2009, as well as appearing as weekly presenter for Greater London Radio, and a reporter for 大象传媒 Radio 4 and 5. In 2009, she joined the board of Somethin鈥� Else and served as a non-executive director until 2011, also serving as a Non-Executive Board member for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, during London's bid for the 2012 Games. Sonita was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting in 2004.
3. Sonita Alleyne and Aideen McGinley鈥檚 appointments are made for four years from 1 November 2012 to 31 October 2016. Anthony Fry is reappointed for three years from 1 November 2012 to 31 October 2015.
4. Trustees' fees are set by the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. Fees for the Trustees for the UK nations are set at 拢41,070 a year and for other Trustees at 拢35,935 a year. Trustees are currently taking a voluntary reduction of 8.3 per cent.聽 Aideen McGinley鈥檚 fee will, therefore, be 拢37,660 and Sonita Alleyne and Anthony Fry will receive 拢32,952. 聽Trustees are expected to spend about two days a week on Trust business.
5. The 大象传媒 Trust is the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. There are 12 members of the 大象传媒 Trust, which is led by the Chairman, Lord Patten of Barnes. The 大象传媒 Trustees are the guardians of the public interest in the 大象传媒. Full details of the other Trust members and biographies can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/who_we_are/trustees/