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Long-serving editor Keith Newbery retires

Keith Newbery, executive editor of the Observer group of newspapers in Chichester, has retired.

He had been editor of the Chichester Observer since 1992, and later also took overall editorial responsibility for the West Sussex Gazette, Petersfield Post Series, Bognor Guardian and the Chichester Journal as executive editor.

Keith (pictured) received an MBE for services to journalism in 2004, having spent his entire career in newspapers – starting as a junior reporter on the now defunct Isle of Wight Times in his hometown of Ryde in the mid-1960s.

He was also the founder-editor of the Isle of Wight Weekly Post and associate editor of the The News in Portsmouth.

During his time at the Observer, the paper won two awards for circulation increases, and he oversaw the launch of the Observer Magazine.

Keith, who won the Sports Writer of the Year title at the British Regional Press Awards a record four times, also re-lived his career in his autobiographical book of memoirs and anecdotes, ‘Hacking It': Tales of a Very Provincial Newspaper Journalist, which was published in 2003.

Keith’s successor as Observer editor will be Colin Channon, who is currently chief sub-editor at The News in Portsmouth. He takes up his new post on November 20.