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Award winner rejoins daily as news editor after nine months in PR

Paul BerentzenAn award-winning journalist who left a regional daily earlier this year to work in PR has returned as its news editor.

Paul Berentzen, left, has rejoined Blackpool daily The Gazette, nine months after he quit the newspaper for a role with Lancashire’s police and crime commissioner Clive Grunshaw.

In July 2014, Paul scooped three out of the four awards available for performance for those taking the National Qualification in Journalism – the Ted Bottomley Award for media law and practice, the Esso Award for news report, and the Society of Editors’ Award for news interview.

In the same year, the National Council for the Training of Journalists, which runs the NQJ, awarded him its Trainee Reporter of the Year title, as well as the Pamela Meyrick Award for the best NQJ candidate of the year working on a newspaper in the North of England or North Wales.

Before joining The Gazette while still a trainee in August 2013, Paul worked for the North West Evening Mail.

He started his new role last Monday.

Other recent job moves in the regional press include:

  • Richard Browne has joined the Somerset County Gazette as a sports reporter. Richard will also work across the Bridgwater Mercury, Chard & Ilminster News and Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News.
  • Johnston Press has appointed Alex Evans as head of social media for its Yorkshire titles, including The Yorkshire Post.  Alex was previously night editor at Sheffield daily The Star.
  • Fiona Pringle has joined the Edinburgh Evening News as a reporter. She was previously a reporter at the Fife Free Press group.
  • Denis Wall has left The Leader after 16 years as its Chester football reporter.  His successor is Charlie Croasdale, previously a sports reporter at the NWN Media-owned title.
  • Regional publisher Newsquest has appointed Morgan Stevenson as director of SME Solutions. Morgan joins from Trinity Mirror where he was digital innovation director, and has previously worked held positions as commercial development director at Local World and head of display at Johnston Press.

On the move yourself?  Share your good news by emailing us at [email protected].

5 comments

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  • November 22, 2016 at 9:55 am
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    Given that the Gazette is only today reporting the weekend attack on Strictly’s Gorka Marquez (scooped by The Sun who splashed it yesterday), perhaps this award-winning journo – trainee to newsdesk in three years! – should keep his head down.

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  • November 22, 2016 at 11:39 am
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    Toddy: A quick Google search shows the paper first reported the Gorka story on its website shortly before 11.30pm on Sunday.

    Congratulations to Paul.

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  • November 22, 2016 at 11:43 am
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    I saw this story on The Gazette website late on Sunday night after a link was posted on its Facebook page. They also did numerous updates yesterday (Monday) on police involvement and the attack victim’s Twitter post. Long before Toddy claims. Perhaps it is he who should keep his head down, preferably beneath the rock he appears to have crawled from.

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  • November 22, 2016 at 12:00 pm
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    Because The Gazette has the same resources, staffing level and contacts within the BBC as a national newspaper, right…?! I imagine the fact this assault wasn’t reported to the police made it a little more difficult to pick up.
    And it was in fact reported on The Gazette website on Sunday night.

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  • November 22, 2016 at 4:48 pm
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    That must have been an awful job for him to return to our insane world of post-journalism non-journalism, Good luck all the same.

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