Northcliffe announced today that Keith Perch is to be acting editor of its flagship Leicester Mercury following the departure of long serving Mercury editor Nick Carter.
Perch has been a leading player in Northcliffe's digital plans, as editor and managing director of Northcliffe Electronic Publishing and latterly as the company's digital development director.
It was announced three weeks ago that Carter was leaving after 15 years to become the first chairman of the Leicester and Leicestershire Economic Development Company, a new body aiming to drive economic growth across the area.
Perch was editor of the South Wales Echo from 1993-97 but was lured back to Northcliffe to edit the Derby Evening Telegraph from 1997-2001. The move lead to a Press Gazette story headlined: "Perch Poached".
Story via HoldtheFrontPage.
Right headline, wrong story Jon.
ReplyDelete"Perch Poached" was the Press Gazette's headline when Keith was lured down to Cardiff by Thomson Regional Newspapers to edit the South Wales Echo in 1993 when he was about to be made editor of UK News, the agency set up to rival PA by Northcliffe and other regional groups in the early 90s.
The story contained what I still think was one of the all-time great put-downs by the then Northcliffe editorial director Alex Leys. "We are obviously pleased for Keith, but disappointed for the many young executives in Thomsons who have yet again been passed over for a major editorial appointment in their own group." Class!
Dear Paul,
ReplyDeleteYou are right... and what makes it even more galling is that it was my headline.
Regards,
Jon S.
I actually enjoyed reading through this posting.Many thanks.
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