Bob (pictured) is Publishing Director (Newspapers) for Archant Anglia, where his duties include being responsible for editorial content in all newspaper titles including the Eastern Daily Press, East Anglian Daily Times, Norwich Evening News and Ipswich Star.
He replaces Anthony Longden, a senior editor from Newsquest, who stood down at the end of September.
Bob was nominated for membership by the Newspaper Society, the trade body for the regional and local press. Of the seven editors who sit on the PCC, two are drawn from the regional press with others coming from the magazine, Scottish and national newspaper sectors. This ensures that the Commission's deliberations are always informed by a cross-section of senior industry experts, while the Commission's independence is guaranteed by the fact that the further 10 members - a clear majority - are representatives of the public.
In welcoming Bob to his new role, Lord Hunt of Wirral, Chairman of the PCC, said: “I am delighted that Bob has agreed to serve as a Commissioner. It is especially important in these changing times that the voice of our regional media is fully represented on the Commission.”
Bob said: “I am delighted to be appointed a commissioner for the Press Complaints Commission. It does extremely valuable work. I am passionate about the press, in particular the regional press, and look forward to working with the PCC team to ensure reporting standards across the industry remain as high as possible.”
Bob is a former editor of The Peterborough Standard, The Hunts Post, Melton Times and Peterborough Evening Telegraph. He joined Archant in 1996 as editor of the Norwich Evening News.
During the past 16 years he has held a number of senior editorial and management positions, including MD of client publishing division, Archant Dialogue, at one stage ran half of magazines business Archant Specialist and was Editorial Director for Archant London. He also led the team that in 2001 launched Archant's first websites EDP24.co.uk and the pinkun.com, which today remain two of the company's most successful news websites.
