Dave Whaley (pictured) will be going back to his roots when he takes up his new job as deputy editor of the Oldham Chronicle.

Mr Whaley (39), assistant editor of the Birmingham Evening Mail, will be teaming up again with the Chronicle’s recently-appointed editor, Jim Williams.

As news editor in 1979, Mr Williams hired Mr Whaley as a trainee reporter on the Oldham title.

Father-of-two Mr Whaley hails from nearby Middleton, and his wife, Angela, is from Oldham.

He will take up his new post in June.

After a spell on the Chronicle sports desk, he moved to the Lincolnshire Echo as football correspondent and joined the Birmingham Evening Mail nine months later, in 1985.

He held various positions, including sports editor, features chief sub-editor, editor of the weekly Sports Argus, and news editor before being appointed assistant editor in September, 1998.

He was chosen from a shortlist of six for the Oldham job.

“There were some really excellent candidates,” Mr Williams said. “We were highly impressed with the standard of people out there. It was a real pleasure to find so many committed people in the business still.”

Mr Williams was promoted from deputy editor in March after 35 years at the paper and told HoldTheFrontPage at the time that he would be ringing the changes.

Picture sizes have been increased and there is now a clear lead on each news page.

Also, for the first time in the paper’s 146-year history, reporters’ bylines have been introduced on news stories.

“I feel that it has lots of benefits in terms of the reporters themselves and also for the readers, in letting them know who’s written the story and who to contact if they have a follow-up,” Mr Williams said. “There’s also a thought that it makes reporters more accountable.”

Further changes are planned but they will be “fairly gentle and step-by-step.”

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