AddThis SmartLayers

New editor vows to put readers ‘at very forefront’ of decisions

Laura Collins 1A newly appointed regional daily editor has stated her aim to put readers “at the very forefront” of the newspaper’s decisions.

Laura Collins, who took over at the Yorkshire Evening Post last week, has shared her ambition to “reconnect” with the communities the newspaper serves in an editorial sharing her pride at taking up her role.

Laura, pictured, began her career as a trainee reporter on the YEP in 2007, and has served in newsdesk and management posts there for the past five years.

In the editorial, she recalled seeing the newspaper’s old office on Wellington Street, in Leeds, on the day she moved to the city to study.

Wrote Laura: “I vowed to myself and my parents that when I finished university I would end up working there. Journalism is in my blood. It’s the only profession I’ve ever wanted to work in.

“It still feels like only yesterday when I walked through the newsroom for the very first time as a trainee over a decade ago with a huge sense of pride that I had been chosen to report on the city I had fallen in love with and was proud to call my home.

“It filled me with an enormous sense of duty – I still have my first YEP front page on the expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport. Over the years I have become a familiar face and name to many readers as well as civic leaders, community organisations and the many, many people I was lucky enough to meet to help tell their stories.

“It’s an honour to help share the extraordinary stories of the seemingly ordinary people who make Leeds such a wonderful place to live and work.”

Laura, who succeeds Hannah Thaxter as editor, went on to add she was “incredibly proud” of the YEP, and that it was an “honour and a dream come true to be editor”.

She wrote: “We are lucky to have such a talented team of reporters, and it is my ambition to build on our reputation as the go-to, trusted source of breaking news in Leeds, as well as ensuring we deliver exclusive investigations, campaigns, insightful service journalism and showcase the lighter side of life in Leeds.

“But above everything else it is you, the reader, who has to be at the very forefront of all of our decisions. I want to reconnect with the communities we serve and really get under the skin of life in Leeds so we’re in tune with the city’s heartbeat.

“After all, you should expect nothing less from the brand that has been trusted to deliver the news for the city of Leeds since 1890.”

2 comments

You can follow all replies to this entry through the comments feed.
  • October 22, 2019 at 3:04 pm
    Permalink

    sounds like someone with real passion for people and journalism. I hope the management backs her. and doesn’t break her back. Good luck Laura.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(8)