David Walmsley Named President of the World Editors Forum
Walmsley takes over from Martha Ramos, Chief Editorial Officer of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), who has led the Forum with distinction over the past three years. In line with WEF’s governance guidelines, Ramos will remain a key part of the executive team as Deputy President, supporting Walmsley during a transformative era for journalism worldwide.
“It is an honour to take on the presidency of the World Editors Forum at this turning point in history,” said Walmsley. “Journalism has arguably never been more essential—or more under threat. Working alongside editors from every continent, we can thicken our collective line of defence and reinforce a global network that highlights what is truly lost when journalism is attacked.”
Beyond his role at award-winning The Globe and Mail, Walmsley is a pioneering figure in global journalism. He is the creator of World News Day, a worldwide initiative that brings together over 800 news organisations across five continents to showcase the value of journalism and how it changes lives and strengthens communities.
He is also the co-creator—alongside Professor Anthony Feinstein—of the Toronto Moral Injury Scale for Journalists, the world’s only psychometric tool designed to identify moral injury in journalists covering traumatic and ethically complex stories.
As an executive producer, Walmsley has brought journalistic narratives to screen through acclaimed documentaries including Nike’s Big Bet and Shooting War, which explores the work of frontline conflict photographers.
He is a trustee of the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship and serves on the steering committee of the Sir Harold Evans Fellowship for Investigative Journalism. His investigative work continues, including his long-standing inquiry into the 1994 RAF Chinook helicopter crash in Scotland that claimed all lives on board.
Martha Ramos
Outgoing President Martha Ramos reflected on her term, highlighting the mounting pressures facing the industry: “These past two years have revealed the increasing complexity of our profession. Through the work of our colleagues at the WEF, we’ve witnessed the global impact of the pandemic’s aftermath, the rise of social media, the disruptive force of artificial intelligence, and the spread of sophisticated disinformation campaigns—often driven by powerful interests. The challenges t
o journalism have grown, but so too have the risks. Efforts to discredit our work and dismantle independent media from the highest platforms are intensifying. Only within the World Editors Forum does one truly grasp the full scale of these threats across every corner of the globe. It has been an absolute privilege to serve.”
The World Editors Forum, part of WAN-IFRA (the World Association of News Publishers), is the leading global network for chief and senior editors, dedicated to defending press freedom, strengthening newsroom leadership, and advancing journalism worldwide.
