A new editor has been appointed at a newspaper that switched from daily publication to weekly last year.
Current deputy editor of the Northcliffe-owned Torquay Herald Express Jim Parker, left, will step up to the position of editor with immediate effect.
He takes over the role formerly held by Andy Phelan, whose move to the Express and Echo in Exeter was announced last month following the departure of Marc Astley.
Jim was a key part of the team that turned the Herald Express weekly last July in a move that resulted in 16 job losses.
He joined Northcliffe in 1979 as a reporter and was appointed deputy editor in 2006.
Said Jim: “I am immensely proud and delighted to have been appointed editor of the Herald Express. We have a fantastic and passionate team here who are as determined as I am to build on the successful launch of our weekly publication and take the business to new heights for the benefit of all our readers and advertisers.”
Andrew Blair MD of South West Media Group said: “I am delighted that Jim has been appointed editor. As deputy editor he played a key role in the successful conversion of the Herald Express to a weekly title last year.
“I look forward to Jim leading the constant evolution of the title and the business to meet the ever changing needs of our readers and the South Devon market place. I am sure I speak on behalf of the whole team in Torquay when I say I look forward with relish to Jim’s editorship.”
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Virtually everything I know about reporting, news-editing and the general dynamics of journalism, I learned from Jim. He taught me the importance of contacts, of when to charm and when to cajole, and that humour is the glue that keeps the industry going. Congratulations and good luck.
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And the new deputy editor is?
Nope didn’t think there was going to be one!
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I wish the Hull Daily Mail would go weekly it is not worth 45p a day for so little news by second rate journos. I remember the circulation at 138k a night. Go weekly at £1.20 a week with plenty of local news and nibs. I’ll buy it then.
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Another decent decision made by SWMG. Good luck to Jim, a proper journo.
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Absolutely delighted for Jim. Good bloke. Good journalist. Best news editor I’ve ever worked with!!! The first decent editor the paper has had in 10 years – certainly since Jim Mitchell!
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Alex – as far as i can recollect this is the ONLY decent decision made by SWMG in its various guises over the past 15 years or so.
Anyways, best of luck JP, the role couldn’t have gone to a better chap.
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