Mindaugas Jurkynas, a professor at Vytautas Magnus University and the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, has been elected to chair the LRT Council, the supervisory body of the Lithuanian national public broadcaster.
Jurkynas is replacing Eugenijus Valatka, rector of Kaunas University of Technology, who announced his resignation last week.
Jurkynas was appointed to the LRT Council last May for a second term by President Gitanas Nausėda.
The LRT Council, the public broadcaster’s highest collegial governing body, comprises 12 members who are prominent figures in social, scientific, and cultural fields. Each is appointed for six-year terms.
Four members are appointed at different times by the president and the parliament each, and one member each by the Research Council of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Education Council, the Lithuanian Artists’ Association, and the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference.
The LRT Council has recently ordered a “political neutrality audit” of LRT’s coverage, prompting criticism from national and international journalist organisations over media independence.
Valatka, the previous chairman, said during a meeting with LRT staff that he did not support the audit.
He told BNS that the audit was not the reason for his resignation, but rather his commitments at his main job.
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