Diarmuid MacDonagh, currently group editor of West Dorset and Cornwall has been appointed to the newly-created role which includes responsibility for daily titles the Dorset Echo, the Bournemouth Daily Echo and the Southern Daily Echo.
The appointment comes as Gordon Sutter, currently group editor for Southampton and Bournemouth announced his retirement after 31 years of service at Newsquest.
Gordon said: “After 36 years in the regional press it is time to look forward and enjoy retirement.
“Throughout my career I have been fortunate to have benefited from some incredible support from colleagues and management past and present.
“It has been a privilege to have been the editor of both the Daily Echo Bournemouth and the Southern Daily Echo and I am certain that under the new team they will continue to go from strength to strength in the future.”
Diarmuid said: “I am delighted to be appointed in this new role as Regional Group Editor. Our titles in Bournemouth and Southampton are among the best in the country with enormous audiences that are the envy of the industry and I can’t wait to get started.”
Newsquest editorial director Toby Granville said: “I’d like to thank Gordon who has steered the ship superbly through very challenging times and certainly deserves his forthcoming well-earned retirement spent on a beach in Bournemouth! I’m thrilled that Diarmuid – who has done an incredible job transforming the Dorset Echo into a digital powerhouse - has now been given this wider brief to take these titles to the next level.”
To assist in the transition Katie Clark, regional digital audience and content editor (ACE), will assume responsibility as acting editor for the Southern Daily Echo on a six month secondment and will report into Diarmuid.
Vicky Nash will step up to support Diarmuid as deputy group editor for the Dorset titles.
Vincent Boni, managing director of Newsquest Dorset, Hampshire, Salisbury and Cornwall said: “These significant appointments ramp up our already highly digitally focused newsrooms to meet the opportunities for further growth.
“With more than a staggering 15 million page views a month the three Dorset and Hampshire daily titles offer unparalleled penetration of the market.
“This investment in a cocktail of new talent will drive this number skyward over the next few months. This is just the start… watch this space.”
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