ROME - Patricia Thomas of the Associated Press has been elected as the new President of the Foreign Press Association in Italy.

 The Foreign Press Association, the biggest base of foreign correspondents in the world, has over 420 members representing 54 countries and 550 publications or media companies worldwide.

 Thomas’ election sees her become the fifth female president in the Association’s 107-year history, and it is the first time in the Association’s history that the post has been held by two women consecutively after Esma Cakir was voted in last year.

 Thomas has worked for APTN, the television arm of the Associated Press, for 25 years and her tenure as president will last until February 2020.

 She will be joined by a team of 12 other journalists who will help run the Association over the coming year.

 The election results for the other positions are as follows:

Secretary: Patricia Mayorga Marcos (El Mercurio, Chile)

Vice-President: Megan Williams (CBC, Canada)

Vice-Secretary: Jank Petrovec (RTV Slovenija, Slovenia)

Treasurer: Gavin Jones (Reuters, Great Britain)

Advisor: Rossend Domenech (El Periodico, Spain)

Advisor: Constanze Reuscher (Die Welt, Germany)

Advisor: Yossi Bar (I.B.A, Israel)

Advisor: Francesca Biliotti (San Marino RTV, San Marino)

Advisor: Alfredo Tesio (Danmarks RTV, Denmark)

Advisor: Regina Krieger (Handelsblatt, Germany)

Publicist Advisor: Gianfranco Nitti (La Rondine, Finland)

Managing Director: Andrew Spannaus (Consortium News, USA)