RSF’s UK board will hold its first meeting on 5 December 2016, and the UK bureau will host a launch event that evening.
Often referred to as ‘The First Lady of Fleet Street’, Pollard became the second woman to edit a national newspaper in the UK, The Sunday Mirror, in 1987. She has also edited The Sunday Express, Elle Magazine in the US, the Sunday magazine for the News of the World, and You Magazine for the Mail on Sunday. Pollard is the Honorary President of the networking group Women in Journalism, which she set up in 1989, and Vice Chair for Wellbeing of Women. She was made an OBE in 2008, and is a regular commentator in the UK media.
“As a journalist, I find it horrifying that colleagues, simply doing what I did, reporting, are jailed and worse. It has never been more important to have a free press and to hold power to account. I have always admired RSF for their work in highlighting the plight of reporters all over the world who lose their freedom for doing their job”, said Pollard.
RSF has also welcomed to its UK board a number of other prominent figures, including Director of News and Current Affairs of the BBC James Harding; Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow; Editorial Director of The Sunday Times Eleanor Mills; professor of journalism and columnist for The Guardian Roy Greenslade; Executive Director of the European Publishers’ Council Angela Mills-Wade; Doughty Street Chambers barrister Siobhan Grey; UK Chairman and Media Freedom Representative of the Association of European Journalists William Horsley; and Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Nathalie Delapalme.
“Our UK board members bring to RSF a vast wealth of experience in media, law, and human rights. We are thrilled to welcome them to RSF’s global team, and look forward to accomplishing a tremendous amount together through our new London office”, said RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire.
RSF’s UK Bureau is headed by Rebecca Vincent, a human rights activist, writer, and former diplomat who joined the organisation in September. The bureau is working to promote the freedom to inform and to be informed, raising both UK and global press freedom issues. Including the London bureau, RSF now has offices in 12 cities around the world, including Vienna, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Helsinki, Berlin, Madrid, Stockholm, Geneva, Tunis, and Washington DC, in addition to its Paris headquarters.
