Express and Star editor Keith Harrison is stepping down and leaving publisher the Midlands News Association after 25 years.
Harrison has spent the last five years editing England’s best-selling regional daily newspaper.
He first joined the media group as a senior reporter in 1993.
Harrison said in a statement that he had spent “almost half my life” at the Express and Star’s headquarters in Queen Street, Wolverhampton, and had seen “many changes”, adding: “I feel it is now time for a new challenge.”
The Express and Star, which covers the West Midlands, has a circulation of 42,200 copies (ABC figures to June this year).
Harrison took over as editor in 2013. Two years prior he had been made editor of the Shropshire Star.
He said: “In that time, it has been great to see our efforts as a team rewarded with various awards for our campaigning, our website and the overall quality of our work.
“It has been fantastic to work with so many talented journalists down the years and to have learned from some of the best in the industry.”
Harrison said the Express and Star “is a special title in a special part of the country”, adding: “It will always have a huge place in my heart and I wish it every success in the future.”
MNA print managing director Graeme Clifford said: “Amid significant upheaval for regional news publishing, Keith has proved to be first a formidable journalist and then a highly capable editor.
“Keith has led the editorial team with great energy and leadership, building upon the MNA’s heritage for first-rate local news coverage.”
The publisher said Harrison’s successor would be announced in due course.
Picture: David Hamilton/Midlands News Association
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