A journalist who once had claim to be the youngest editor in the country has been appointed editor of the Eastern Daily Press.
Peter Waters, 42, is only the 12th editor in the 139-year history of the Norwich-based morning title and he takes over from Peter Franzen – who retired last week after 16 years in charge. He has been deputy editor of the EDP for the last three years.
Waters began his career at the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Advertiser and East Anglian Post, where he was thought to be the youngest newspaper editor in the country at the age of 18. He moved to the Northampton Chronicle & Echo at 21, becoming deputy chief sub editor, before working in Peterborough as a production editor for Thomson Newspapers and then deputy editor of the Evening Telegraph.
Between 1994 and 2001 he worked at the Eastern Daily Press tabloid project editor, masterminding the move from broadsheet to tabloid, and he was also launch editor of the title’s first Saturday magazine.
He said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to be the new custodian of this unique title. As a Norfolk man myself I understand that the EDP is part of the fabric of this county and has a vital role to play in reflecting and championing what is happening here.
“The fact that the Eastern Daily Press is the country’s biggest-selling regional morning newspaper says a lot about its position at the heart of local life, but it is also testament to the achievements of Peter Franzen and the team he led for the past 16 years. In a time of huge developments in information technology, our challenge now is to continue evolving the EDP brand to meet the changing requirements of our customers.
“The Eastern Daily Press is a trusted brand with an enviable reputation and it is up to us now to protect those qualities while delivering an improved multi-platform news and information service.”
The EDP is the highest-selling regional morning title in the England and Wales, with an ABC circulation in the last six months of 2008 of 61,143, which was down 5.5 per cent year-on-year.
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