Steve Auckland, Group Managing Director of Northcliffe Media wrote:
“In April, John Meehan (pictured) informed me he’d like to step down from his role as Editor of Mail News & Media later in the year. We agreed that this would happen when other changes in the Hull business had been worked through. I can now announce that John will leave Northcliffe Media on Friday, 14th October.
John is Northcliffe’s longest-serving daily newspaper editor, with 14 years’ service as Editor of the Express and Echo in Exeter and then the Hull Daily Mail.
In addition to being Editor of the Hull Daily Mail, John has been Regional Editorial Director of the North East for the past five years. John felt that, when the Publisher position in Hull was advertised, this was the best time for a change of direction in his career.
Under his leadership, the Hull Daily Mail has been crowned Yorkshire Daily Newspaper of the Year in five of the past eight years and Daily Newspaper of the Year in the 2008 Regional Press Awards and Multi-media Publisher of the Year in the same awards in 2008 and 2009. The paper also took the Regional Press Awards prize for Front Page of the Year in 2005 and 2008. In addition, his drive towards multimedia earned the Hull Daily Mail the joint award for Publishing Innovation of the Year in the 2006 Regional Press Awards and the accolade of Innovative Newspaper of the Year in the 2007 Newspaper Society awards.
So not a bad haul of trophies and accolades for the Hull centre.
His position will be taken by Neil Hodgkinson, currently Editorial Director at Cumbrian Newspapers Media Group. Neil worked with me at Preston and Leeds, where he was Editor. He also worked with Mike Pennington, the newly appointed Hull Mail News and Media Publisher, during his time in Leeds. Neil will report into Mike.
Neil began his career in 1979 with the West Lancashire Evening Gazette in Blackpool, rising from a reporter to deputy news editor. He moved to the Lancashire Evening Post as news editor in 1987 and later became Deputy Editor.
He moved to the Yorkshire Evening Post as Deputy Editor in 1992. He became the Editor of the Lancashire Evening Post in Preston in 1996 and was later made North West Regional Editor for UPN before returning as Editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post in 1999. He took up his current role as Editorial Director for CN Media Group in 2006.
During his time he has led his various teams to 20 industry awards, including Newspaper Society UK Daily Newspaper of the Year (2011) Regional Press Awards UK Daily Newspaper of the Year (2009), Regional Press Awards UK Weekly Newspaper of the Year (2007 and 2008) and the Regional Press Awards UK Evening Newspaper of the Year in 2001.
So get ready for some more awards in Hull!
Neil will join Northcliffe at the end of September.”
