Digital editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post Geoff Fox has left the Johnston Press daily to set up his own video PR business – Deadline Digital – three years after being appointed to the then newly created role.
Explaining his decision to quit journalism after more than a decade in the industry, he said: “The newspaper industry is currently tying itself in knots about whether or not to put up paywalls, but the bottom line is, the web is here to stay and users demand quality content.
“The decision to leave journalism was difficult, but this is a logical next step because I have come to realise that if an organisation or business wants someone to produce videos that a news website is going to actually use, your options at the moment are limited.
“Deadline Digital is based on journalistic values where your video not only conveys your messages, but conveys them in a way that news sites want and understand.”
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He said: “Organisations and companies are keen to harness the huge audiences and trusted reputation which local newspaper websites enjoy.
“There is no better way to get your message across than with a succinct piece of video, and delivered in the right format to the right person, it stands a better chance of reaching an audience intact than traditional print press releases.
“The cost of video production has fallen substantially, and the shelf life and re-usability of video means it is often far more cost effective than traditional text-only methods of communication.”
Three years ago Yorkshire Post business editor David Parkin quit Johnston Press to launch a rival business news website for Yorkshire called TheBusinessDesk. It now has further sites in Birmingham and Liverpool.
Interviewed in Press Gazette magazine this month, Parkin says: “If the Yorkshire Post launched against us we could have been in trouble. Johnston Press was arrogant enough to think we were barmy.”
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