Executive Directors

PA Media Group appointed Emily as its Chief Executive Officer in 2024, the first woman to lead the organisation in its history and a powerful reflection of PA’s record for retaining staff and progressing careers.

Emily began her career at PA Media as a graduate news trainee in 1999. She worked in a series of subbing and editorial roles, before launching a digital showbiz news service in 2006 as Showbiz Editor. She went on to become Features Editor in 2007, before moving into various commercial and management positions within PA Media.

She was instrumental in launching a new bespoke content service for corporate clients, before playing an integral role in the acquisition of content agency Sticky in 2013, then becoming its Managing Director. After six years at Sticky, Emily was promoted to head up stock images business Alamy to lead the expanding global platform post-acquisition. In 2022, she was appointed to the PA Media Group board.

Emily was elected as President of CEPIC in 2023. CEPIC is the trade body of the visual content licensing industry.

Louise leads the Group’s Legal department and is responsible for all commercial legal matters, as well as safeguarding regulatory and corporate compliance across the Group. Louise also provides strategic counsel on new investments and acquisitions.

An expert in commercial and intellectual property law, Louise joined PA Media Group from Wolters Kluwer in 2013 where she provided legal counsel across their publishing, software, fee protection insurance and consultancy services departments. She was promoted to the role of Group General Counsel in 2017, also joining the PA Media Group board as Company Secretary.

Louise is also a director and board member of the News Media Coalition, an international not-for-profit organisation which protects news content and freedoms from arbitrary controls or restrictions.

Murdoch was appointed as Chairman of PA Media Group in 2010. As Chair, he leads the Board and is responsible for its overall effectiveness.

Murdoch has held several senior positions in the media sector, including Group Managing Director of Associated Newspapers (1995 to 2004) and CEO of Telegraph Media Group (2004 to 2017).

In addition to his role as Chair of PA Media Group, Murdoch is Chair of Mediahuis Ireland and the Scottish Professional Football League. In 2022, he was appointed a Director of the Competition and Markets Authority and Panel Chair of the Office for the Internal Market (OIM), and a Trustee of Royal Museums Greenwich.

Murdoch has been involved in several charities, including serving as President of the Printing Charity (2012 to 2013) and President of the NewstrAid Benevolent Fund (2014-2023).

Geraldine has worked in the news media industry at board level for most of her career and is a steadfast supporter of trustworthy journalism in the UK. For thirteen years she chaired the KM Media Group, a long standing, innovative family company which became the country's first integrated multimedia organisation providing news concurrently through online, TV, radio, newspapers and other products.

Amongst other roles she sits on the Appointments Panel for IPSO, is a Kent Ambassador, Trustee of Canterbury Cathedral, Patron for the Heart of Kent Hospice and a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent. She has also been president of the Newspaper Society (the second female to ever do this) as well as a director for the NMA, the RadioCentre and Iliffe Media Group. In 2020 she was awarded the OBE for services to local media in Kent.

Dominic joined the Irish News in 1998 and became Managing Director in 2008. He also served as Managing Director of Interpress (NI) Ltd, a newspaper printing company, which prints many local and national titles, and Chairman of the Northern Media Group, which operates the Q Radio network of seven local radio stations in Northern Ireland. In 2023, Dominic was appointed Chief Executive Officer of IntoMedia, the new umbrella group for Irish News, Q Radio and Interpress.

He is a Trustee of Children in Crossfire, a charity which works to bring positive and sustainable change to the lives of children who are caught in the crossfire of poverty.

Rebekah Brooks has been Chief Executive Officer of News UK since September 2015. Rebekah joined News International in 1989 as a feature writer for the News of the World’s Sunday magazine and rose through the ranks to become Editor of The Sun in 2003, a role she held until July 2009. From 2009 to 2011, she served as Chief Executive of News International.

Rebekah Brooks returned to the PA Media Group Board in September 2015, following her appointment as Chief Executive of News UK. She had previously served on the board in 2010 and 2011.

Paul took up his seat on the board in March 2019. Formerly Editor of the Daily Mail, he stepped aside after 26 years and was appointed Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Associated Newspapers in 2018. In November 2021 he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of dmg media, the parent company of Associated Newspapers.

Paul joined the dmg group as US Bureau Chief in 1979. He was appointed Editor of the Evening Standard in 1990, Editor of the Daily Mail in 1992 and Editor-in-Chief of Associated Newspapers in 1998, years which saw the launches of Metro and MailOnline.

Jim was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Reach plc, the largest commercial news publisher in the UK, in August 2019. Prior to joining Reach, he was most recently Group Chief Executive Officer of Ladbrokes Coral, where he oversaw the merger between Ladbrokes and Gala Coral.

He began his career as a software engineer and worked for eleven years in the advertising industry, eventually transitioning to digital leadership positions. His previous roles included Managing Director of Ladbrokes Digital, Chief Operating Officer of William Hill Online, and Director of Digital Strategy and Product Management at News International.

Jim is also Senior Non-Executive Director of Racecourse Media Group, an umbrella organisation responsible for media rights management 35 racecourses in the UK.

Stephen Carter is the Group Chief Executive of Informa plc, a leading business intelligence, academic publishing, knowledge and events company.

He has held senior executive positions in a range of Media & Technology businesses. Prior to becoming the Group CEO of Informa in 2013, he was President & Managing Director EMEA at Alcatel Lucent Inc, Managing Director and COO of ntl (now Virgin Media) and CEO and Managing Director of JWT UK & Ireland. Stephen was the founding CEO of Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator. He also served as Chief of Strategy to Prime Minister, The Right Hon Gordon Brown, and was the first Minister for the Media & Telecommunications industry, where he wrote and published the Digital Britain Report.

Stephen has served on a number of company boards, including as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Informa PLC, and is currently a Non-Executive Director of Vodafone plc, BolognaFiere Group and Norstella, and Chair of Informa’s joint venture with the Principality of Monaco.