Laura Collins confirmed editor of Yorkshire Evening Post
Laura Collins has been confirmed as editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post following a successful stint as interim editor at the Leeds-based daily. It’s the latest chapter in a relationship which began 17 years ago…
I can still remember, as a student arriving in the city 17 years ago, driving past the famous clock tower of the YEP’s former home on Wellington Street for the first time. My dad was flustering as we kept getting trapped in the city centre’s one-way system and I told him that I was determined to work in that newsroom.
Journalism is in my blood and being named the interim editor of the title I care so passionately about, in the city I love, was a dream come true last year. I’ve spent the last 13 years dedicating my life to the title and now I’m absolutely delighted to be named the YEP’s editor.
I am incredibly proud of the YEP and our talented team of journalists — the biggest investment in journalism in Leeds from any publisher — and have wasted no time in working hard to help make sure the city of Leeds shares my pride in the title.
Over the last few months, our reporters have been focused more than ever on getting under the skin of the topics that matter to Leeds as we reach out into the heart of our communities. We’ve launched our own brand of Impact Journalism to ensure the voices of our readers and their stories are front and centre of everything we do.
Campaigning is in our DNA — we’ve raised more than £3m for our city’s hospices, questioned the prime minister on social inequality, called for an end to the nightmare that is travelling across Leeds and scrutinised local leaders with our Your Right To Know series.
The YEP also spearheaded the call to secure the Freedom of the City to Leeds United’s legendary Revie team — the first time the honour had been bestowed upon a team. And we’re tackling the scourge of abuse on social media with our agenda setting Call It Out campaign.
We know just how much Leeds United means not only to our readers but the city of Leeds as a whole.
And it has been nothing short of a privilege for the Yorkshire Evening Post to be right at the heart of telling that story from the birth of the club over the last 100 years right through to the club’s incredible promotion this summer.
The reaction from our readers to our coverage has quite simply blown me away. It means so very much to know we have got the city — and a truly global fanbase — behind us as we look to sinking our teeth into Premier League coverage.
A real highlight has been to see the title highly commended by the Society of Editors in the Regional Press Awards this summer. The judges said: “The YEP shines out as an example of how to do it right.”
And now I am looking forward to further building on these foundations to champion Leeds and make our city rightly proud of a title that has served it since 1890.
