Five weekly papers owned by Johnston Press have been left without an editor after their news chief moved to a new role and will not be replaced.
Chris Burton left his role as editor of the Worksop Guardian and four sister titles last month to take up a position as assistant editor of the Sheffield Star.
A company insider said staff at the Guardian had been told he would not be replaced, leaving deputy editor Ben Green in charge of the day-to-day running of the titles, overseen by Derbyshire Times editor James Mitchinson, who is group editor of 18 weeklies in the East Midlands.
The Guardian titles are also understood to be without a news editor after the previous post-holder accepted voluntary redundancy.
Chris tweeted on 26 July from his @Crz_Burton account, saying “So long Guardian. Great paper, great people, great memories.”
He was appointed to become Guardian editor last July, in a role which also saw him at the helm of paid-for titles the Dinnington Guardian and Gainsborough Standard and free weeklies the Worksop Trader and Retford Trader.
Chris was previously also in charge of free papers the Dinnington Trader and Gainsborough News, but these titles no longer exist.
He originally joined the Worksop Guardian series in 2002 when the late George Robinson was at the helm, rising to become news editor before leaving to become deputy editor of the Gainsborough Standard newspaper in Lincolnshire.
Chris returned to the Guardian as assistant editor in 2008, before going to work for other newspapers including the Sheffield Star, where he was a production editor.
He is the latest editor to leave JP titles in the East Midlands after Matlock Mercury editor Amanda Hatfield, who was also group editor for five other titles, stepped down in June after more than 20 years in senior roles, with James also overseeing the titles she managed.
James was previously the editor in Worksop, after joining as a trainee in 2002 and rising through the ranks at Johnston Press to be appointed to his current position in March.
Johnston Press has not responded to requests for a comment.
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Chris doesn’t seem to stay long in the one place.
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Thanks, HTFP, for giving me a Monday morning smile with this further example of how ludicrous JP is.
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What is even more ridiculous is that JP got rid of the editor of the Sheffield Telegraph, and the deputy editor of The Star. Now they have an assistant editor what looks like is in their place. What were wrong with the other extremely talented other two?
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From editor of freesheets to assistant of one of the biggest evening papers in the country? And after they made people at the Star redundant?
Anyone know how JP actually works these days?
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Loss of proper local editors combined with fewer reporters doing a lot more non-writing work, silly price hikes in a recession and confusing new design with pointless “furniture” adds up to one thing…
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It seems to be a continual downward spiral at JP with more offices closing each quarter, long serving editors leaving and group editors being forced to take on more active roles for ever declining local papers and news content. I worked for more than 25 years for the old guard at JP when award winning news was encouraged and appreciated by the readers. My old patch in Matlock now seems to be another forgotten patch in the ever expanding JP wilderness with the loss of another vital community office. When reading about all these constant cuts it reminds me of the old Beeching axe on the railways in the 1960s when equally important outposts were chopped without any regard for public interest. I can also recall the comment made by one management favoured advertising manager, who once boastfully claimed – ‘journalists are only there to fill the gap between adverts – and the fewer gaps the better.’ RIP community news!
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