Kevin Booth, editor of The Evening Telegraph, Peterborough, is to be the new editor of the Evening Press, York, succeeding Liz Page.
Booth has been editor at Peterborough for the past three years. Under his editorship The Evening Telegraph has put in a strong sales performance at a time when daily regional newspapers have struggled to keep up circulation.
He will take up his new role at the start of September.
As well as the four-edition Newsquest-owned Evening Press, Booth will also take overall editorial responsibility for the Star series, the website www.thisisyork.co.uk and other publications, including the YO1 magazine.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent and a staunch Stoke City supporter, Booth began his career on weekly papers in Staffordshire. After working for the Cheadle & Tean Times and the Leek Post & Times, he joined Northcliffe’s Sentinel in Stoke where he was crime reporter.
After a brief spell at the Evening Mail in Birmingham he returned to Stoke as chief reporter and then became deputy sports editor. He moved within Northcliffe to the Derby Evening Telegraph where he was deputy news editor, news editor and then assistant editor. He moved from Derby to be assistant and then deputy editor of the Bristol Evening Post.
He said: “It will be a wrench to leave the Evening Telegraph after three extremely enjoyable and successful years. I feel I leave the paper in a position of considerable strength, with a good sales performance and an extremely capable and dedicated editorial team to whom I am very grateful.
“However, the chance to join the Evening Press was too great an opportunity to miss.”
Booth was recently in the news after his paper successfully fought off a prosecution for allegedly identifying a young criminal even though his face had been pixelated. A judge ruled the publisher of the Evening Telegraph had no case to answer. The paper is part of Johnston Press.
Page, who has been made publisher of the York & County Press, said: “Competition for the job has been intense, with some excellent candidates, but Kevin edged ahead of the rest. He is an experienced evening paper editor who has lots of ideas for developing the Evening Press while retaining its community focus. I am sure Kevin will do a first-class job.”
By Jon Slattery
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