New editor of the North West Evening Mail Jonathan Lee said editing the Shetland Times was an ‘extremely positive experience”, despite the fact that some staff had backed a vote of no confidence in him.
He told Press Gazette: ‘In 2007, the paper retained its Newspaper of The Year title in The Highlands and Islands Media Awards. Reporter Rosalind Griffiths also won reporter of the year.
‘Also, last year the paper won Scottish Campaign of The Year at the Scottish Press Awards for our coverage of the Sakchai Makao campaign, where we came out on top in the company of such major titles as The Scotsman, The Daily Record, Glasgow Evening Times, and the Edinburgh Evening News.
‘The paper, which has undergone some design changes, is enjoying record circulation. We have also introduced daily news to our website.”
Lee said working in Shetland had been ‘an extremely positive experience, so in many ways it is a wrench to leave.”
He previously worked as assistant editor at the Evening Express, Aberdeen and at The Gazette, Blackpool.
Former Shetland Times reporter Mark Latham, who left the paper in December, told Press Gazette of the no-confidence vote, and claimed staff felt the paper had been taken downmarket: ‘The main problem for me and my colleagues was the
reputation of the newspaper, which has for more than 100 years has been a serious-minded paper… But now there is very little time given to investigative work.”
Ian Mean, the newly appointed editor-in-chief of Northcliffe Media‘s Gloucester titles, has promised more online news development in the coming months.
Mean, who remains editor of The Citizen, also takes overall control of the Echo and Forrester titles.
He told Press Gazette there would be ‘massive’development online and that it was a ‘key area’for the group.
At another big regional paper, Ian Savage has been appointed editor-in-chief of The Bolton News. Bolton-born Savage moves from the Bury Times series, where he had been editor since 2005. He was previously Bolton Evening News deputy editor.
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