The Editor-In-Chief of Aberdeen Journals Ltd has been appointed as a Visiting Professor at Robert Gordon University's (RGU) Aberdeen Business School (ABS).
Damian Bates, who has the substantive active role as Editor of the Press and Journal as well as editorial responsibility for its three sister titles – the Evening Express, Citizen and ScotsAds – is now a Visiting Professor in Journalism.
He said: “I’m really humbled and absolutely delighted to have been offered this chance to join RGU and provide any assistance I can to the next generation, not just of journalists, but anyone in Aberdeen Business School and beyond who might want to tap in to the experiences and mistakes I’ve made along the way.
“I’ve been blessed in life with wonderful opportunities in education and work and I genuinely want to give something back to the next generation. I’m really excited by this fabulous opportunity.”
Damian leads a team of 100 journalists and has an excellent record as both journalist and editor, winning awards for Aberdeen Journals and his own journalism. He is also immediate past chairman of the Editors’ Committee of the Scottish Newspaper Society and is also the Scottish representative on the Editor’s Code Committee which is the industry’s own code of conduct for its journalists.
Jo Royle, Head of Department of Communication, Marketing and Media at RGU's Aberdeen Business School, said: "We are delighted to welcome Damian as a Visiting Professor. He is keen to make an active contribution to the department and has some very interesting collaborative ideas which will benefit our students.”
Damian joined Aberdeen Journals in August 2003 as deputy editor of the Evening Express, he then became editor of the Evening Express in April 2006 before taking up his role as editor at the Press and Journal in 2011. In 2013 he was named as Editor-In-Chief.