New Editor announced for Timaru Herald

A rising star in newsroom management has been appointed Editor of the Timaru Herald.

David King, assistant editor and digital editor at The Press, has been appointed to replace departing Timaru Herald Editor of 12 years, David Wood.

For the last 17 years, David King, 38, has worked as a business editor, news editor, chief reporter and a digital editor, including seven years in magazines and newspapers in London and Edinburgh.

For the past six years, David has been helping lead the news agenda at The Press, working lately as editor of press.co.nz and overseeing newsroom operations.

In an exceptional field of candidates, David King stood out for his strong news reporting and news gathering skills, said Timaru Herald General Manager Chris McAuslin.

“He has a great range of expertise from digital to print and brings considerable international experience to our talented team at the Timaru Herald.

“He’s also an adept people manager, having worked in various senior roles including supervising up to 25 journalists at a specialist business publication in Edinburgh and working as Business News Editor at The Scotsman.”

Chris McAuslin said the judging panel was impressed with David’s enthusiasm and commitment for championing the interests of the Timaru community.

“David is particularly focused on telling stories that our people want to read. We believe he’s the perfect fit for the considerable shoes David Wood has left to fill.”

The Timaru Herald is published by Fairfax Media, which oversees New Zealand’s largest team of newsbreaking journalists across the breadth and length of the country.

Fairfax Media Executive Editor Paul Thompson said David had already been identified as a future leader as part of Fairfax’s editorial leadership programme.

“We are thrilled that we can offer career development opportunities like these within Fairfax. David joins an already powerful news gathering team and brings with him a number of ideas for taking the paper to the next level.”

David King will take over the Timaru Herald editorship on 19 January 2009.