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Newsquest subbing hub chief quits to join PR company

Cliff MooreThe head of production at one of Newsquest’s subbing hubs is leaving the company to take up a new role in public relations.

Cliff Moore currently leads a team of 26 staff as head of multimedia production at the regional publisher’s Weymouth centre, responsible for the production of the Dorset Echo, Bournemouth Echo and Brighton Argus.

However he is now leaving to join a group of other former Echo journalists at the Bournemouth-based media and PR consultancy Deep South Media.

Deep South was started by the former Bournemouth Echo editor Gareth Weekes and with the addition of Cliff will boast ten former journalists on its books.

Cliff, pictured, lives in Poole and has held his current role at Weymouth since 2010. He will take up his new position on 16 March.

As well as the three dailies, he leads the production operation for two paid-for weeklies – the Salisbury Journal and Bridport News – 11 free titles, one weekly magazine, four glossy monthlies and various supplements, programmes and specials.

Cliff trained with Times-Herald Newspapers in Poole before becoming chief reporter, news editor and, finally, editor of the Advertiser Series in Dorset, a post he held for ten years.

In 1997 he was appointed deputy editor of the Dorset Echo and subsequently the paper’s head of production in 2007.

In his new role with DSM, Cliff will support Kay Sinclair, design director, on the design side as well as working as part of the PR team.

Joint managing director Andrew Diprose said: “We believe Cliff will be a huge asset for Deep South and greatly look forward to him joining our talented team next month.”

12 comments

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  • February 16, 2015 at 8:31 am
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    Am I imagining this or are “executives” starting to move on in ever increasing numbers? Maybe it’s not just the “workers” who are fed-up with their lot.

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  • February 16, 2015 at 9:21 am
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    The penny has dropped for 70pc galleyproof. Collective responsibility is a painful thing to have to deal with, along with often being misrepresented while both hands are tied behind your back. Lots of editors and executives do their very best to keep things going (yes, yes, I know… there are exceptions) but little can be done to stop the revolution we’ve be in for at least the last 25 years. Maybe that’s how it has to be. It started with editorial admin, moved on to subs, then photographers, then editors, and now… well…

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  • February 16, 2015 at 9:23 am
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    Yep, you are right 70pc – the “big beasts” left the industry around five years ago, now the beasts are going…leaving just the chicks left to run the place. Cheap cheap!

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  • February 16, 2015 at 9:44 am
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    The money’s always been better in PR and many have made this kind of move in the past. I guess the rate of defections will increase now that newspapers are declining so fast – and you can’t blame people for that. Even PR’s better than the dole.

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  • February 16, 2015 at 10:17 am
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    Good luck Cliff,
    I bet what you are now dong will be a darn sight less stressful and possibly more rewarding financially. A chance to reclaim your life.

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  • February 16, 2015 at 1:19 pm
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    Local papers have serious lack of experience, running on keen but green kids. The local where I used to live is so littered with mistakes I wonder if anyone checks copy. Guys like this are missed.

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  • February 16, 2015 at 2:46 pm
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    Old-time hacks used to ridicule PR as “not a real job.” Now it seems to be the only job.

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  • February 16, 2015 at 3:31 pm
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    Another nasty shock ex-journalists are going to have is the mistaken belief a) that PR is a safety net just waiting to catch them; and b) that it pays far better. Both used to be true. Not any more, though. Journalists have been flooding that particular market for years, and salaries have come down. Because of the lack of investment generally, those journalists’ knowledge has also become out of date with regard to savvy use of social media and other modern technological tools. It doesn’t mean you can’t make the transition, just don’t think it’ll be a breeze…

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  • February 16, 2015 at 3:54 pm
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    Too true ‘Onthefence’. Although I was never as illustrious as an editor, I trod the same path from regional newspapers to freelance/PR just over 5 years ago and haven’t regretted it for an instance.
    It’s pretty much the main game in town these days!

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  • February 16, 2015 at 4:04 pm
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    Any job is real now. That is why the desperate hang on in jobs they hate on newspapers. Kids to feed, houses to pay for. PR no worse than hacking .

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  • February 17, 2015 at 12:35 pm
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    The irony is that without PR puffs and photos from professionals and amateurs many newspapers would struggle to fill their pages. I worked in local print and broadcast journalism for 30 years, then in PR for a further 15 years. So I can spot a regurgitated PR handout every time. I bought a weekly paper in the Midlands published by one of the more notorious companies recently and counted the number of so-called stories clearly from PR sources. When I got to 100-plus I was bored and gave up. Even the mediocre sports pages included sponsored and syndicated material about horse racing and motor sport.

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  • March 6, 2015 at 9:42 am
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    Could it be that the Weymouth hub will soon be a thing of the past and its work also moved to Newport?

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