Information Commissioner Mojca Prelesnik has been appointed new director of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). She will assume the post on 18 July, when her term at her current job ends.

Prelesnik, 55, was appointed in an unanimous decision by the STA supervisory board on 11 April to succeed Igor Kadunc, who tendered his resignation in March, citing personal reasons.

Kadunc, 73, is retiring in mid-May after about two and a half years on the job. The agency's former editor-in-chief Barbara Štrukelj will fill in as interim director during the two months before Prelesnik can take over.

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

She 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 she listed the adoption of a new law governing the STA, which she said should create conditions for the agency's institutional, financial and editorial autonomy, and prevent abuse such as 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, so the state has an obligation 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 said.

A further 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.

A legal professional, Prelesnik has served since 2014 as Slovenia's information commissioner, an institution responsible for personal data protection and freedom of information.

Before becoming commissioner Prelesnik served as the secretary general of the National Assembly in 2008-14 and as deputy information commissioner in 2005-08.

Kadunc took over as the agency's director at the end of October 2021 to succeed Bojan Veselinovič, who stepped down in September that year amid a prolonged financing dispute with the Janez Janša government.

Kadunc managed to resolve the dispute and turn the tide. "I had a privilege to lead great co-workers for a good two years and fight for them and thus for the STA. I'm convinced that the staff and the supervisors will manage to find a new director who will not only continue but also upgrade my work," he said when he tendered his resignation in March.