Turning accountability into an asset: implementing RSF’s Journalism Trust Initiative. How it’s going and why it matters. Holding others to account is what journalism is all about. But who is hold...
Jon Williams
Jon Williams is the Executive Director of the Rory Peck Trust. A three-time Emmy Award winning journalist and editor, he leads the organisation’s staff, overseeing the Trust’s fundraising, governance, programmes and operations and delivering the mission agreed with the Board of Trustees.
In a three-decade-long career in journalism, Jon led the global newsgathering operations of both the BBC and the US broadcaster ABC, becoming Managing Director of RTÉ News where he led the digital transformation of Ireland’s public broadcaster.
As the BBC’s World News Editor, Jon directed the coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the reporting of the Arab Spring, winning two Emmy Awards for Middle East reporting. He headed a team of more than 200 journalists in 30 different countries, serving audiences in both the UK and around the world, travelling extensively, including to Iran, Libya and North Korea. In 2013, he joined ABC News, spending four years in New York as International Managing Editor, winning a third Emmy for ABC’s reporting of the Syrian Refugee Crisis.
In addition to his work with the Trust, Jon serves on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists where he chairs its Journalists Assistance Committee.