Information Commissioner Mojca Prelesnik appointed new STA director

Prelesnik told the STA that she applied for the job because she believes in the work of the journalists and other employees at the agency, who carry out the important mission of informing the public.

She sees her future job at the STA as a great challenge and a great responsibility, and plans to continue to follow the values that she has put at the forefront in her career so far - "professionalism, impartiality, transparency, independence from politics and integrity".

Among the key challenges ahead she listed the adoption of a new law on STA, which must create conditions for the institutional, financial and editorial autonomy of the agency and prevent abuses such was the suspension of the agency's funding under the previous government.

"The STA is an important part of the media landscape and society, and one of the key pillars for the normal functioning of democracy in society, so the state is obligated to create the conditions for its stable functioning and development. In turn, the STA must be committed to high professional journalistic and ethical standards in light of its social responsibility," she stressed.

An additional challenge will be to generate revenue in the market, especially in the challenging media market and in the context of the rapid technological development, but here too she sees many opportunities for the STA that can be achieved with the agency's team.

Prelesnik has served as the country's information commissioner since 2014, with her second five-year term expiring in mid-July.

She is a law graduate and has served as deputy information commissioner in 2005-2008 and as the secretary general of the National Assembly in 2008-2014.

Prelesnik is set to succeed Igor Kadunc, who resigned as director in March citing personal reasons. He will bid farewell in mid-May after around two and a half years on the job.

The supervisory board will soon appoint an interim director to lead the agency from mid-May to mid-July.

Kadunc started his term as acting director on 31 October 2021 following Bojan Veselinovič's resignation in September amid a financing dispute with the Janez Janša government. He was appointed for a five-year term on 1 January 2022.

Kadunc managed to resolve the dispute and said upon resignation that he hoped "the workers and the supervisors will manage to find a new director who will not only continue but also upgrade my work".

The call for applications was published on 12 March, and the deadline for submission expired at the start of last week.