A former newspaper editor has been promoted to a new group-wide audience engagement role with a regional publisher.

Ben Green has been appointed to the post of group engagement editor at JPIMedia, which will see him lead a team of four to develop best practice in audience engagement, newsletter production and interactive content.

Ben, pictured, had been head of digital at Sheffield daily The Star for the past five years, and was editor of the Worksop Guardian before that.

JPIMedia says the move aims to help the company “develop deeper engagement with readers and maintain the high levels of trust in the JPIMedia brands”.

Said Ben: “I’m looking forward to playing a leading role in shaping how we engage with our audiences in a positive way, so that we can build trust and loyalty to our brands.

“I firmly believe that communication with our readers should be a two-way street and I am excited to see the new ways in which we will be able to build relationships with our audiences in the future.”

Alice Ogles has also joined JPIMedia as a data analyst, based in Sheffield, and will focus on helping editorial teams now working under the company’s Digital Acceleration programme, which has so far been introduced at its titles in the North-East of England, Scotland and the North Midlands and South Yorkshire.

She is the second data analyst to join the editorial structure of JPIMedia, following the appointment of Roxanne Capitani in 2018, and she will also be working closely with the existing data ream.

Alice said: “I’m looking forward to contributing to the DA programme as a data analyst.

“While I am only two weeks into my role, I have been impressed with the passion my colleagues have for the industry.

“I am keen to develop meaningful analyses for different areas of the business and to see how these efforts help JPIMedia stay ahead of the competition.”

Martin Little, JPIMedia director of digital content, added: “I’m delighted to welcome Ben and Alice into our growing central digital powerhouse team.

“Their new roles are pivotal to providing greater data, insight and direction to our newsrooms. They will help us get closer to our audiences, publishing the content our readers want, when they want it and in the way they want to receive it.”