Two editors have joined the board of directors at the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

Belfast Telegraph editor-in-chief Edmund Curran and Guardian managing editor Chris Elliott will be involved in steering the NCTJ’s development of journalism training.

Edmund (left) joined the Belfast Telegraph in 1966 as a graduate trainee reporter and worked his way up to editor.

He held the position for 12 years before becoming editor-in-chief and was also launch editor of sister paper Sunday Life.

Edmund said: “I’m really pleased to join the NCTJ board in this age of the convergent newsroom when demands on journalists have never been greater.

“The NCTJ is raising standards of training across the UK and that can only add to the quality of the publications we produce and benefit the people who read them.”

Edmund was the first editor from Northern Ireland to serve on the Press Complaints Commission and was also president of the Society of Editors between 2000 and 2001. He was awarded the OBE in 2006 for services to journalism.

Chris Elliott started his journalistic career with 12 years in local newspapers.

He joined the Sunday Telegraph in 1983 as a reporter before becoming its home affairs correspondent in 1985.

He went on to work as a reporter and then chief reporter for the Sunday Correspondent and then as an assistant news editor at The Times.

Chris joined the Guardian news desk in 1995 from where he progressed to the role of executive editor in 1998 and then managing editor in 2000.

He was part of the reporting team who conducted the investigation into former politician Jonathan Aitken.

Chris (right) said: “The life of the journalist has rarely faced a more radical change in the past 100 years than it does now – the fundamental role of the journalist to tell people things they otherwise would not know, has not.

“The NCTJ is vitally important in preparing the next generation of journalists for the changes that are happening, and are to come, while ensuring they still know how to ask the questions and communicate the answers in any medium.”

NCTJ chairman Kim Fletcher said: “We are delighted to have Ed Curran and Chris Elliott on board.

“Ed will be a huge asset to the board of the NCTJ – he is a great enthusiast and his appointment reflects our plans, as a result of demand from employers and students, to expand our accredited training and gold standard qualifications for journalists in Northern Ireland.

“Chris is a great journalist who has already made his mark at the NCTJ: he led the successful development of the new accreditation standard last year so his appointment to the board of directors is a natural progression.”