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Hooper quits Radio Authority |
The radio industry welcomed the appointment of Richard Hooper, chairman of the Radio Authority, as Lord Currie's number two at the Government's new media regulator Ofcom this week.
Hooper missed out on the number one spot at the regulator when Currie was appointed chairman earlier this year.
His is one of five non-executive appointments that Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell unveiled this week.
"That's excellent news as it signals the importance of radio in the wider media picture," said an industry source.
"Radio has been treated as the younger cousin of TV, so this is a positive sign to the radio industry," said the source.
Urmila Banerjee, previously a non-executive director on the Channel 4 board, will quit her current position to join Hooper on the new Ofcom non-executive team.
David Edmonds, director general of the telephone regulator Oftel, has also been chosen as a non-executive director, as has Ian Hargreaves, director of the centre for journalism studies at Cardiff University, who will join later in the year.
Sara Nathan, who is currently a non-executive director on the board of the Radio Authority and a previous editor of both ITN and Channel 4 news, is the final addition to the new line up.
