Wills, currently Vice President, will succeed Southern Daily Echo Editor-in-Chief Ian Murray at the close of next week’s annual conference in Southampton, subject to the approval of its annual meeting at the start of the conference on Sunday. He is the unanimous nomination of the board of directors.
Doug began his career as a reporter with Thomson Regional Newspapers going on to several regional titles before working for The Observer, The Mail on Sunday and the Mirror Group. Doug held a number of executive positions with the Evening Standard and was appointed Managing Editor in 2005 and then Group Managing Editor in 2011. He is also chairman of the London Press Club.
Outgoing president Ian Murray, Editor-in-Chief of the Southern Daily Echo said: “Doug’s wide experience in both regional and national newspapers and his involvement with local TV in London makes him an ideal candidate for the presidency. We are confident that he will take the Society forward at a time of rapid change across the industry and for the organisation itself.”
Doug Wills said: “I am looking forward to the challenges of continuing to develop the Society. It has members in all sections of the media and has established a powerful reputation as the voice of the industry as pressures mount both commercially and in terms of restrictions on our ability to inform the public.”
The Society of Editors conference will be held from 9-11 November in Southampton. The annual SoE lecture will be delivered on the evening of Sunday November 9 by Sir Alan Moses, chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation. It will also be addressed by BBC news chief James Harding and Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will deliver a keynote speech at the end of the conference on Tuesday November 11.
