Journalists from Trinity Mirror’s regional papers are to get two-week work placements on the publisher’s national titles in a bid to strengthen links between its newsrooms.

Last year, “One Trinity Mirror” was created by combining the national and regional divisions of the publisher into a single structure.

As part of this, the company has now come up with a project which will see regional journalists involved in a rolling programme of two-week placements at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

Under the programme, which starts in May, there will also be exchange visits by staff at national titles to regional newsrooms, starting with a visit by senior Mirror executives to the Liverpool Echo and Post and the North Wales Daily Post.

The programme was announced to journalists in a joint editorial annoucement by Lloyd Embley, editor-in-chief of the national titles, Allan Rennie, editor-in-chief at Media Scotland and Neil Benson, editorial development director of the regional titles.

It also announced details of further initiatives, including an editorial forum launched by Allan on social media, a programme to help journalists understand how the commercial departments work and “Masterclass” programme with various speakers, such as Labour leader Ed Miliband and associate editor and columnist Kevin Maguire

The publisher has also started a new awards scheme, the Pride of Trinity Mirror, which will recognise journalism on its national and regional titles in 15 categories, which will be presented in December.

The announcement said: “As you may know, editorial executives from all areas of Trinity Mirror met in Birmingham at the end of last year.

“The message was loud and clear: To make the most of the One Trinity Mirror opportunity, we need to build strong, effective relationships between all of our newsrooms.

“In response, the senior editorial group have devised a programme to kick start the process.

“Over the remainder of this year, journalists from our regional offices will be involved in a rolling programme of two-week placements in the Mirror/Sunday Mirror/Sunday People newsroom.

“The programme starts in May with senior news and sports executives, who will be fully immersed in the Nationals operation, working alongside their opposite numbers in London.

“Simultaneously, we are launching a number of exchange visits by groups of Nationals staff to Regionals newsrooms.

“This starts with a two-day visit to Liverpool and North Wales by senior Mirror executives, who will see the new methods introduced under the Newsroom 3.0 initiative, including the live news blog and integrated multimedia working.”

Irish Mirror editor John Kierans kickstarted the exchange scheme with a visit to Media Wales, which includes the South Wales Echo and the Western Mail.