Philippines – ABS-CBN has appointed seasoned broadcast journalist Charie Villa as the head of ABS-CBN’s online news website abs-cbnnews.com and its mobile counterpart, ABS-CBN news mobile starting February 1. Villa, who headed Reuters’ television group in the Philippines, rejoined ABS-CBN in 2005 as head of newsgathering. Villa’s new appointment shows ABS-CBN’s commitment to reach out to its expanding audience worldwide and deliver the news in any platform they prefer, said ABS-CBN senior vice president for news and current affairs Maria Ressa. “Putting one of our key leaders on new media will trigger a culture change from the ground up. This is a sign of how important we believe new media has -and will- become. It holds the future of journalism,” Ressa said. Named to another strategic position is Chi Almario-Gonzalez , a veteran print and TV journalist, who is now head of newsgathering for ABS-CBN. Gonzalez was an award-winning investigative reporter for The Manila Times and Today before she joined ABS-CBN in 1997. At ABS-CBN, she has worked as a reporter, producer, and production unit manager. Ressa said the twin appointments are part of ABS-CBN’s ongoing reorganization and rethinking as it deals with fast-paced changes in the media. “These indicate that we are preparing for the future and we are sensitive to what the news consumers are looking for,” she added.