Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and President of Africanews, has appointed Françoise Champey to work alongside him as Chief Content Officer and Member of the Executive Committee.
Lyon, France – 10 April 2018 – Françoise Champey is based at the group’s headquarters in Lyon and became responsible for all newsrooms on 19 March 2018.
With 24 years’ experience in key international media, Françoise has managed multilingual and multicultural teams. Most recently she worked as Director of the English service of France 24. Prior to that, she was Editor in Chief at Al Jazeera English, headed up the Afghan service of Voice of America, and also managed the North and South American bureaus of Reuters TV.
Françoise Champey’s appointment was made in cooperation with Deborah Turness, President of NBC News International, in accordance with the new shareholder agreements signed in June 2017 when NBC News bought stakes in Euronews. Within this context, Françoise will work closely with Deborah in order to oversee the new editorial offering. She will ensure its implementation across all media platforms.
François now heads up a team of 500 journalists and a new network of correspondents. Her mission is to guarantee the independence of the editorial line and ensure coherence between all language editions while respecting Euronews’ European DNA, which has been at the core of its identity for 25 years.
Her objective is also to assist the 12 editions in finding new approaches, concepts, and formats and in creating programme schedules that are adapted to each language edition’s audience.
Françoise Champey replaces Lucian Sârb, who had joined Euronews in 2009.
Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and President of Africanews
“I am very proud to welcome Françoise. Her international experience in multicultural teams and her passion for journalism and journalists are major assets for Euronews. I am certain she will bring her great know-how to our multicultural team.
I would also like to thank Lucian Sârb very warmly. He has been a close and valued colleague. Lucian was involved in creating our new editorial strategy, thereby building solid foundations for the current essential transformations. Lucian is and will always be a friend of Euronews.”
Deborah Turness, President of NBC News International
“Françoise is a journalist, a TV News professional and a proven leader of international newsrooms. As we build and invest in the future of Euronews, she is well qualified to deliver the bold innovation, the editorial strength and the creative content that we will be rolling out in the months ahead. I am thrilled she has joined us.”
About Françoise Champey
Up to December 2013, Françoise Champey was Director of France’s English language channel, France 24. Within that role, she created new programmes, changed the programming schedule and managed many journalists.
In 1998, she created POMM Productions which produced a great number of news reports for European media outlets such as Arte info, RTBF, France 3, TSR, TVRO and Discovery Networks. She also produced reports and advised IMF, The World Bank, UNESCO and L’Oréal ‘Women in Science up to 2013.
In parallel, from 2006 to 2009, Françoise worked in Washington in different roles: Editor in Chief of Voice of America Afghan service (where she managed a trilingual newsroom: English, Dari, Pashto), then as Editor in Chief for Al Jazeera English (2007-2009).
From 1993 to 1998, she was Reporter, Head of Special Operations and then Head of News at Reuters TV, for the Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro bureaus. Françoise began her career as Washington Correspondent for the French TV channel, La Cinq (1988-1992).
In 2006, Françoise made a film in Mali called “La Fibre Africaine” about cotton production and the World Trade Organisation. The film was shown at numerous documentary film festivals and on TV5 Monde and TV5 Afrique.
Françoise has a Master’s Degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Sorbonne University, and was a researcher for UNICEF in Sri Lanka in preparation for the International Year of the Child.
She is a founding member of the Tocqueville Press Club in Washington and works actively with NGOs. Françoise has frequently been part of the jury for the “Documentaries” category of the International Emmy Awards.
follow Euronews and Africanews teams on Twitter: @euronews_group
for breaking news follow: @euronews @africanews
Media contact: Lydie Bonvallet t +33 (0)4 28 67 05 35 lydie.bonvallet@euronews.com
Euronews
Euronews, based in Lyon (France) celebrates its 25 years in 2018. Euronews offers a unique perspective on world events in 12 languages and empowers people to make up their own mind by delivering factual analysis and a diversity of viewpoints. Because all views matter, Euronews is “All Views”. A well-established brand in Europe, Euronews is available worldwide in more than 400 million households in 160 countries.
In June 2017, NBC News and Euronews closed a transaction in which NBC News acquired 25% of the company to make a significant financial investment in Euronews to support expanded news coverage and programming. The company’s TV and digital will ultimately be co-branded EuronewsNBC.
Euronews Group: Euronews Group operates two international, multilingual, multiplatform and independent news media, Euronews and Africanews, the first pan-African, multilingual and independent news outlet, launched in April 2016 from Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo.