Sarah Whitehead, director of newsgathering and operations at Sky News has been announced as the new president of the Society of Editors.
Whitehead, who joined Sky in 2011 and has held numerous positions including head of international news and head of home news before being appointed director of newsgathering in May 2023, was unanimously elected at the Society’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 4 December and takes over from Kamal Ahmed, director of audio at The Telegraph. Joy Yates, regional editor at Newsquest Cumbria was elected as vice-president of the Society.
Announcing her appointment, Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society said: “We are delighted that Sarah Whitehead, a highly respected news leader at Sky, has been elected as our President for the year ahead. A strong supporter of media freedom and open justice, Sarah has contributed significantly to the vital work of the Society over many years and, as we set out our priorities for the months ahead, I look forward to working with her to further advance the Society’s work as a strong, cross-industry body fighting to protect media freedom and high editorial standards.”
Accepting the role, Whitehead said: “It is a huge honour to be elected President of the Society of Editors and I’m excited about the year ahead and what as an organisation we can do.
“The Society of Editors offers a fantastic space for people running news organisations across the country to get together and I believe that, together, we are stronger and can push on some of the biggest issues in our industry. From the questions surrounding AI, disinformation and the continuing concerns around SLAPPS, to ways to promote and sustain local journalism and look after the safety and freedom of journalists to do their jobs. The world we’re living in is very demanding but the Society of Editors is a place where, as an industry, we can work together on shared issues and strive to drive change.”
Keep up-to-date with publishing news: sign up here for InPubWeekly, our free weekly e-newsletter.
