James Hewes to be named president of international media organization FIPP

James Hewes has been appointed president of FIPP, the network for global media. He succeeds Chris Llewellyn, who is stepping down in September. Hewes has been a director of the FIPP management board since October 2015 and worked for BBC Worldwide and BBC Magazines from 2001 to 2012.

He has recently been the interim CEO for The Art Newspaper. And had been publishing director of Dubai-based Gulf News Publishing where he had responsibility for more than 30 product areas including digital across mobile, websites and apps, live events, magazines, books, newspaper supplements, content marketing and contract publishing. He launched new brands across digital, live events and print including www.gntech.ae and Cititzen K Arabia and the launch of the group’s first consumer title in Arabic – wheels Arabic.

He was the launch publisher of olive magazine, and grew BBC Magazines’ licensing portfolio from eight to 55 editions including 20 editions of Top Gear Magazine. James was also a key member of the team that sold BBC Magazines to private equity in November 2011 for £120m. He subsequently became publishing director for Top Gear, Good Food, Easy Cook and Lonely Planet Magazine, responsible for the brands across print and mobile applications as well as a director of the BBC Haymarket Exhibitions joint venture.

Hewes said: 

“I am a huge supporter of FIPP and it’s an incredible honour to be asked to lead the organisation. FIPP’s ability to connect its members with the information networking opportunities and expertise they need are more important than ever.”

He added: “The media industry is undergoing a period of rapid transformation. I look forward to engaging with our members to ensure FIPP continues to deliver products and services that reflect these changes and enhance our members’ ability to thrive in a changing media environment.”

Magazines Canada is a member of FIPP.