The Annual General Meeting of the Society of Editors, held on the last day of its three-day annual conference in Cardiff, saw Ed Curran – editor of the Belfast Telegraph – elected as the new President with Liz Page – editor of the York Evening Press – as vice president.

This means she is on target to become the organisation’s first woman president.

In his annual report, the Director of the Society – Bob Satchwell – emphasised the aims of the Society.

He said: “In essence we stand up for the freedom of the media. We support passionately self-regulation of the press and fight for the right of editors in print, broadcasting and electronic media to report and comment unfettered by over-bearing statutory controls. Related to that is our concern to maintain editorial standards and to remind the world at large that against a background of huge and increasing commercial competition, editors strive to satisfy the public’s right to know what is done in their name and with their money.”

Membership was expanding, he said, but more recruitment of members needed to be done to enable the society to be self-sufficient.

He also put on record his thanks to holdthefrontpage.co.uk for reporting on the society’s campaigns and successes.

To read Ed Curran’s speech as incoming president click here