Mel Cook was today named as the new editor of the Nottingham Post, six months after overseeing the Scunthorpe Telegraph’s switch from daily to weekly.
The appointment, announced by publisher Northcliffe Media this morning, follows Malcolm Pheby’s decision to retire after seven years in charge of the East Midlands daily.
Mel, pictured left, has been editor of the Telegraph for the past four years and has previously held senior editorial positions at the Hull Daily Mail, Derby Telegraph and South Wales Echo.
He will take up his new role on 8 May.
Said Mel: “I’m absolutely delighted to be appointed editor of the Nottingham Post. It is an incredible opportunity and I am looking forward immensely to working with and developing the talented editorial team at the newspaper.
“Retiring editor Malcolm Pheby has made a huge impact at the Post and is a very tough act to follow, but I am relishing the challenge.
“It will be a wrench to leave the team in Scunthorpe who have achieved so much in the past year, but opportunities like this do not come along very often.
Steve Hollingsworth, Nottingham Post publisher added: “I am delighted to welcome Mel to the Nottingham business. Mel is an editor of the highest calibre who will be bringing a wealth of experience to the editorial team at the Nottingham Post.
“He has an enormous amount to offer both the paper and the wider community. I’m looking forward to working closely with Mel in his new role.”
Mel began his career at the Pontefract and Castleford Express and prior to his current role was deputy editor at the Hull Daily Mail from 1999-2008.
Sign up for our free daily email bulletin
Follow HTFP on Twitter
Got a story? Email the Editor at
So that’s Nottingham next for weekly, is it?
Report this comment
Congratulations, Mel. Richly deserved.
Report this comment
Bound to go weekly because of this appointment isnt it John? What a muppet you are.
Maybe the point of the appointment is to have the opposite effect, but that wouldnt be in the mindset of the poster’s on this site.
Well done Mel, congratulations and we welcome you to Nottingham.
Report this comment
Well done Mel, and welcome back to the East Midlands!
Report this comment
Congratulations Mel – the Echo seems an age ago!
Report this comment
”It will be a wrench to leave the team in Scunthorpe who have achieved so much in the past year”
……or in other words: chance to work on a daily overrides staying on a weekly.
You see, Sparrowhawk – this how those of us left at the coal face see things in what’s left of the industry – -the spoils are divided up for those higher up the food chain
Report this comment
Great news, Mel. Well done.
Report this comment
Mel’s a nice guy and a top journo.
Report this comment
What a moaning, mean-spirited, cynical lot journalists are. Always ready to see to bad side, always there with a put down …
Far be it from me to suggest that newspapers have always been well managed, but would the moaners please face reality – newspapers are in decline, ad revenue has disappeared and won’t come back and sitting there wingeing and sniping won’t help in the slightest.
If you’ve been sacked, made redundant or screwed – get over it.
Report this comment
Is Mel really the chap to lead a regional paper currently in circulation freefall? Seems possible the Post may be heading for a weekly edition in the not-too-distant future then. Maybe I am wrong and he’ll be just what the paper needs. Hope so. It would be a shame to see the Post lose it’s daily edition. Would also be a massive failure for a paper based in one of the country’s bigger cities.
Report this comment
Congrats Mel. Those of you who are predicting negativity should give the bloke a chance for God’s sake. Too many glass half empty merchants out there! Times are tough, some corporate decisions are utterly crap and sell our industry down the river but I always found Mel an honest, up front bloke. I’m sure he has had some tough things to do but I can’t imagine he would do them with joy or malice.
Report this comment
Nice bloke. One of the more approachable editors with a realistic and sensible attitude to newspapers. Wish him all the luck he deserves.
Report this comment
Congratulations Mel. I’m delighted for you. A big job and an even bigger challenge, but I know you’ll relish it. Good news for the Nottingham Post and the communities it serves.
Report this comment
Blimey. Must be the first time in the history of language that the phrase “It will be a wrench to leave Scunthorpe” has ever been uttered.
Report this comment
@Enrico, Peterborough ”newspapers are in decline, ad revenue has disappeared and won’t come back” NS Sherlock!
I think we realise that old boy. That’s what the problem is – – those of us who snipe do more than those in ivory towers who roll the jewelled dice each day and then watch circualtions/revenues fall, shares balance and staff vanish.
PS ever been sacked, made redundant or screwed?
Thought not…………………..
Report this comment
Well done, Mel.
Many congratulations and best wishes in your new job.
Report this comment