View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. The Wire
  2. Job Moves
September 30, 2024

Standard managing editor Jack Lefley to replace Pete Clifton as PA editor-in-chief

Lefley's departure was announced the week after the Standard relaunched as a weekly paper.

By Bron Maher

Evening Standard managing editor Jack Lefley is leaving the now-weekly newspaper to become editor-in-chief of PA Media, the UK’s national news agency.

Lefley will replace Pete Clifton, who announced in July that he would be stepping down from the role after ten years.

Lefley has worked at the Standard for more than 18 years, beginning as a news reporter in 2006 before rising to head of news under then-editor Sarah Sands. He was the Standard’s acting editor and publisher for a year between the departure of Emily Sheffield and the arrival of current editor Dylan Jones.

He will continue at the Standard, which relaunched as a magazine-style weekly last week amid a cost-cutting restructure, until the end of the year, when he will start in his new role.

New editor Jack Lefley promises ‘digital transformation’ and more video services at PA Media

In an email to staff, the Standard said Lefley “has contributed a huge amount to our business across nearly two decades at the Standard…

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

“As well as being behind many of the Standard’s iconic front pages over the years, he has been a key figure in the digital transformation of the business, overseeing the integration of our print and digital operations as well as the launch of our new website and many of our digital products.”

Content from our partners
Unified solution offers publishers unrivalled print and digital efficiency
How DPG Media invested in print technology to help it focus on digital
How to make sure you are social media ready for job hunting

Jones paid tribute to Lefley in the email, calling him “indispensable” and “extremely difficult to replace”.

He said: “I’m incredibly sad to be losing Jack as he has been enormously helpful to me both personally and professionally during my time at the Standard.

“He is a consummate professional who for many years has been both the heartbeat and the glue of the company. He would have also advised me not to mix my metaphors.”

In the same email Lefley said that it had been “an honour to work with the Standard’s outstanding team over the past 18 years and I will always be immensely proud of the brilliant journalism we have produced together.

“The Standard has been a huge part of my professional life and I will miss the place and the people a great deal.”

In PA Media statement he said: “Throughout my career I’ve always been a huge admirer of what PA does and the editorial values of accuracy, impartiality and speed that it stands for. I’ve relied on PA’s journalism as a reporter, a news editor and editor and it’s a great honour to be invited to step into Pete Clifton’s considerable shoes.

“My focus will be on taking PA forward into a new era. That’ll mean accelerating digital transformation, maintaining the exemplary editorial standards that define PA, growing the outstanding video services and making the best use of data in our decision making.”

PA Media Group chief executive Emily Shelley said Lefley’s appointment followed “a highly competitive selection process featuring some outstanding external and internal candidates”, adding that Lefley’s “and Jack’s “track record and his vision for PA Media stood out.

“He brings together the traditional skills, strong editorial values and frontline experience needed for one of the busiest roles in news, and a detailed understanding of our customer needs.”

Outgoing editor Clifton said: “It has been an enormous privilege to lead PA through so much change over the past decade and maintain its reputation for fast, high-quality newsgathering.

“It’s the best role in journalism and I know Jack will do a brilliant job maintaining PA’s position at the heart of the media landscape in the UK, Ireland and beyond.”

Topics in this article : , ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network