Stewart Purvis, former editor and chief executive of ITN, will deliver the 2004 Society of Editors lecture at its annual conference in Newcastle in October.
Purvis, now professor of Television Journalism at City University, will be the first broadcaster to give the prestigious lecture which will be delivered at the opening of the annual conference on Sunday October 17.

Government officials have apologised for refusing to provide The Western Mail with information about a high-profile murder case, citing the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act.
Foreign office information manager Heather Yasamee e-mailed the paper to say: "I hope you will appreciate that, for such consular cases, we have a duty of care and client confidentiality to the subject's family and do what we can to respect their wishes.
"In this case there is information that we hold which is already in the public domain and we should have given this to you when you made your initial inquiry. I am sorry for any inconvenience that may have been caused to you."

The Evening Express has surveyed 152 public playparks in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, grading them for playability, safety, state of the equipment, state of the surroundings and whether they are vandal-free.
They have been given an overall ratings and the reviews will appear in the paper during the next few days, to be followed by the local authority's own annual study.

A new report from the World Association of Newspapers' Shaping Future of the Newspaper project is seeking the definition of successful newspaper design.
The report New Designs, New Formats examines new compact editions, the front page revolution and other format and design changes, both editorially and in advertising.

The Belfast Telegraph is reviving its Save Our Railways campaign to counter a renewed threat to the Londonderry and Larne lines.
The original campaign attracted more than 12,000 signatures from readers and a railway review group report to the Government has placed a question mark over the railway's viability.

Hannah Whitworth has taken over as the business reporter of the Frome and Somerset Standard and Somerset Guardian.
She replaces Ingrid Sofrin who is now working on the new Warminster and Westbury Standard.

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