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Editor quits hometown paper after four years

The editor of a Northcliffe-owned weekly in West Wales has become the latest senior editorial executive in the group to quit her role.

Cathryn Ings has announced she is leaving after four years as editor of her hometown paper, the Carmarthen Journal.

She becomes the ninth Northcliffe editor to leave the business in the past year.

Other recent departures from the group include Bath Chronicle editor Sam Holliday, Western Morning News boss Alan Qualtrough, North Devon Journal editor Andy Cooper and the Nottingham Post’s Malcolm Pheby.

A Welsh-speaker, Cathryn began her career at Northcliffe in 1989 as a trainee reporter with the Llanelli Star and has worked at a number of regional titles, including the Western Mail in Cardiff and the Evening Post in Swansea.

In 2010, she oversaw the Journal’s 200th birthday celebrations and launched the Carmarthen Journal Bicentenary Community Awards aimed at celebrating unsung local heroes.

Said Cathryn: “It has been an absolute honour and a privilege to be editor of the Carmarthen Journal, the newspaper of my hometown.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my four years as editor. In this time I have done my best to promote and support the local communities and the Welsh language and culture which are so close to my heart.

“Leaving the Journal wasn’t a decision I took lightly, but after much thought I feel the time is now right for me to move on and pursue other interests.

“I intend to stay in Carmarthenshire so I’m sure I’ll continue to see all the good friends and contacts I have made over the years. All that remains is for me to wish my successor and the Carmarthen Journal all the very best for the future.”

Spencer Feeney, editor in chief of South West Wales Media added: “Throughout her time as editor, Cathryn has ensured the Carmarthen Journal has been at the heart of the community it serves.

“I am very grateful to her for all that she has achieved, and wish her every success in the future.”

Cathryn leaves the business a week today and the process to appoint a successor will begin immediately.

5 comments

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  • May 9, 2012 at 2:00 pm
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    Will the last editor out of Northcliffe please turn out the lights….?

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  • May 9, 2012 at 4:28 pm
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    Three of them are now running their own media consultancies – John Meehan (ex Hull Daily Mail) at http://meehanmedia.co.uk/, Jon Grubb (Lincolnshire Echo) at http://www.grubbstreetmedia.co.uk/ and Marc Astley (Express and Echo) at http://www.astleymedia.co.uk/

    Keith Perch (Leicester Mercury) is head of corporate communications at Leicester’s De Montfort University and is also doing some journalism lecturing.

    Not sure about the others but some of them (eg Sam Holliday, Malcolm Pheby) are still working their notice periods.

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  • May 10, 2012 at 4:33 pm
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    those hapless powerless creatures called content editors (all the knocks and no authority) seem to be a new fad a pal on Midland newspapers tells me.
    might see more of them methinks.

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  • May 16, 2012 at 4:09 pm
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    I’m concerned that something is coming down the pipeline for Northcliffe employees which they are not going to like (presumably above and beyond the endless redundancies, tighter deadlines, weekly editions etc).

    Are Northcliffe preparing to have “regionwide executives” instead of editors or what?

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