The Polish media group Agora has appointed Marek Sowa as its new chief executive, responsible with pointing the company in the direction of growing its online advertising and finding a spot in local television.

Sowa, whose background is in television and electronic media, will take the reins from Wanda Rapaczynska, who took the company public in 1999.

At the beginning of 2008, Sowa plans to present outlines for his new “few-year strategy,” he is quoted by Finanz Nachrichten as saying. “It will be a strategy of continuation and evolution rather than revolution – an accelerated evolution when it comes to our electronic business.”

Agora publishes Poland's biggest daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, and is present in all media markets except TV. The company wants to strengthen its position in new media, expanding the newspaper's Web site, www.gazeta.pl, as well as producing television and video formats in cooperation with ATM Grupa.

Analysts expect Sowa to shift Agora's focus to electronic media and away from its press market, Finanz Nachrichten reported.