Mathew, whose company is based in Kerala, India, is the first Indian to hold the office. He will begin a two-year term on July1.

O'Reilly, chief executive of Independent News & Media has been president since 2004 and oversaw the 2009 merger of the World Association of Newspapers with Ifra.

The election took place on Friday at the general assembly held during the a board meeting in Dublin. Tomas Brunegård, chief executive of the Stampen Group in Sweden, was elected first vice president.

Mathew has served on the board and the executive council for four years and been an active participant in many WAN-Ifra events for more than two decades. “WAN-Ifra's wonderful work has contributed much, especially when the industry is going through a critical period," he says.

"There are opportunities and challenges. We know the global trend in the industry. However, the encouraging sign in the Asian market at the moment is different. So one needs to address issues separately.

“With the committed team of WAN-Ifra, we should be able to handle the different challenging situations in a positive manner.”

The Malayala Manorama group publishes Malayala Manorama daily with a circulation of more than 1.9 million copies per day, and has 50 publications as well as 24-hour news broadcast channel Manorama News and FM stations. Manoramaonline is one of the most widely read newspaper websites in India.

Mathew is a trustee of the Press Institute of India/Research Institute for Newspaper Development and is also on the Asian Board of INMA. He is a past president of the Indian Newspaper Society and is a past chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India.

Tomas Brunegård had led the Swedish media company Stampen Group since 2004 and has been a driving force in reshaping the Swedish media market. Under his leadership, the company has grown to be one of the largest media groups in Sweden. He is also Chairman of the Board of the WAN-Ifra Press Freedom Development Fund, which oversees the press freedom and media development work of the organisation.

Six new members were also elected to the WAN-Ifra board: Libuse Smuclerova (Ringier Axel Springer, Czech Republic); Mart Raudsaar (Estonian Newspaper Association); Philippe Massonnet (Agence France-Presse); Eric-Paul Dijkhuizen (AD NieuwsMedia, the Netherlands; Patrick Morely (Telegraaf Media Group, the Netherlands); and Ivar Rusdal (Jaerbladet, Norway).

Three ex-officio members were appointed: Margaret Boribon, Chairwoman of the Committee of Directors of WAN-Ifra Member Associations; Erik Bjerager, President of the World Editors Forum; and Jacob Mathew.