STA’s new editor-in-chief takes office

Ljubljana – Aljoša Rehar took over as the new editor-in-chief of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) on Monday after serving as the head of the agency’s digital strategy group for the last seven years. He succeeds Barbara Štrukelj, who was the content chief for 12 years and decided not to seek another term.

The appointment was confirmed in September after Rehar was backed by the vast majority of the agency’s news staff, with 98.5% endorsing him in a secret ballot on a turnout of 80.7%.

The new STA general manager, Igor Kadunc, stressed the importance of the high support to Rehar and the unity of the staff on several occasions.

Rehar takes over at the STA at a time when it is still not completely clear whether and under what terms the government will finance the STA’s public services in 2022.

The agency is understaffed as it has seen many departures of staff because of the financial uncertainty it was in for more than 300 day this year.

Rehar said his goal was clear – “to continue to fulfil the important mission of the national news agency to the fullest extent possible through our dedicated and high-quality reporting work.”

His team of editors has been endorsed by the representatives of the staff and Štrukelj stays on as deputy editor-in-chief. When Rehar was appointed, she said she had “full confidence that Aljoša, with his good ideas, knowledge and perseverance, will fulfil the objectives”.

Rehar, who has a dual bachelor’s degree in journalism and sociology of culture, has worked for the STA since 2000. After serving as journalist and business editor, he has headed the STA’s digital strategy group for the last seven years.

The group is in charge of the agency’s activities on social media, management of STA’s portals, and news coverage of science.

He was the head of several STA’s projects, including NewsMapper, which made the European Commission’s list of the best European innovations.

In August 2020, he was the Name of the Week by the public radio station Val 202 for his contribution in developing this advanced article-tracking tool.

He was a member of the STA supervisory board from the ranks of employees for two terms, and has also been representing the agency in national and international organisations.

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