Reuters Faircliff to take seat on AOP Board

Tim Faircliff, the newly-appointed general manager of news and business products for Reuters Consumer Media in the UK, is to become Reuters representative on the Board of the Association of Online Publishers (AOP).

As the latest heavyweight publishing company to join AOP, Reuters addition to the Board is in line with plans to grow its media business by developing a series of new digital services targeted at consumers in the areas of news, business information and financial investments.

Said Faircliff: “As the world’s largest international news source, electronically sending stories and information around the world twenty-four – seven, Reuters is an active member of the publishing industry. As we expand our consumer facing, online media business I am delighted to represent Reuters on the AOP Board. The Association is an important forum for the industry to share and debate ideas in this most dynamic of mediums.”

Faircliff is no stranger to the Association, having previously represented Telegraph Digital on the Board. He worked for The Telegraph for seven years in a number of digital media roles, most recently as general manager of Telegraph.co.uk. In his new role with Reuters, he manages all commercial aspects of its consumer news services including product and site development, sales and marketing, and relationships with partners and third party content providers.

Alexandra White, director of AOP, welcomes the addition of Reuters to the Board: “Reuters has always been a very strong brand in the business publishing world and has now moved successfully into the consumer space also. I’m sure that there will be much experience shared between Reuters and the other major media brands on the AOP Board, and I am delighted to welcome them to the association.”

Reuters.co.uk offers the very latest financial, business, world, sporting, and entertainment news from the UK and around the world. Visitors can choose from text, video and photo stories produced by Reuters’ 2,300 journalists in 196 different bureaux around the world. The site also provides access to a range of financial information and research on companies and markets around the globe. In addition to the site, Reuters is developing a series of new media services targeted at consumers, including mobile and internet delivered TV services.

AOP is the association representing publishers of original, branded, quality content online. It publishes original research, and hosts forums, awards and conferences, covering a range of topics from: broadband, mobile, paid-for-content, subscription models and data protection, through to copyright, content management, new technologies and audience measurement.


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About AOP
The UK Association of Online Publishers (AOP) is an industry body representing online publishing companies that create original, branded, quality content. AOP champions the interests of approximately 160 publishing companies from diverse backgrounds including newspaper and magazine publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, and pure online media. Together they publish around 1,150 products and attract more than five billion page impressions per month.

AOP presents a unified voice to industry and Government, specifically to address issues and concerns relating to all areas of online publishing. AOP publishes original research, hosts forums, conferences and events, covering a range of topics from paid-for-content, subscription models and data protection, through to copyright, content management, new technologies and audience measurement.

AOP recently investigated the importance of B2B websites in the lives of business decision makers, in research titled 'The role of B2B websites'. Last year AOP produced the highly acclaimed consumer research ‘Reaching the Online Elite’ and every year it delivers the annual member benchmarking study, the ‘AOP Census’.

The AOP autumn Online Publishing Conference & Awards is its annual industry event. It attracts the biggest names in online publishing to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry and celebrate outstanding achievement. The 2005 event will be held on 7 October at the London Hilton, Park Lane.

Members include Associated New Media, BBC, BSkyB, Capital Radio Group, CNET Networks, Channel 4, Dennis Interactive, The Economist Group, Emap, FT.com, Future Publishing, Guardian Unlimited, Haymarket Publishing, Independent Digital, IPC Media, ITV Online, News International, Reed Business Information, Reuters, Telegraph Group Limited and Which?. In addition, PPAi (Periodical Publishers Association Interactive) retains a corporate seat on AOP board: representing the interests of magazine publishers online. www.ukaop.org.uk

Contact:

Matthew Leach
immediate future Limited
0845 408 2031
pressoffice@immediatefuture.co.uk