PA appoints Steve Jones as Social Media Editor

18th February 2016: Steve Jones has been appointed Social Media Editor at the Press Association (PA), the UK’s leading multimedia news agency.

He takes up his new role on March 10th. An experienced social media and web editor, Steve joins the PA from ITV News online and has also held senior editorial roles at MSN UK.

Steve’s appointment reflects the PA’s continued commitment to putting social media at the heart of the newsroom. Reporting to Editor-in-Chief Pete Clifton, Steve will direct activity around the PA’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as content discovery, verification, copyright and newsgathering. In addition, he will look to further enhance the PA’s profile on existing and emerging social platforms. He will also take responsibility for social media training, working closely with editorial leads across News, Sport and Features.

Steve succeeds Darren Waters who joined the PA as its first Social Media Editor in December 2014.

Clifton said: “I am delighted to have someone with Steve’s experience and great ideas joining PA’s main news desk in London. We have made huge strides in this area over the past year and I know we will keep up that momentum with Steve on board.”

In his most recent role as a Digital Producer for ITV News online, Steve’s remit had a particular focus around breaking national and international news stories. He also worked extensively to find new ways of engaging new audiences on social media and mobile devices.

Prior to that, he held a number of roles at MSN UK, ultimately becoming Senior Editor of MSN News, a position which saw him setting the daily news agenda for the site. As Senior Editor of the apps and mobile team in the UK, Steve’s accomplishments included project-managing the successful global launches of new mobile sites, and an app for iPad. He was also heavily involved in the development of launch apps for Microsoft’s Windows 8.

Jones said: “I’m incredibly excited to be joining the PA – a top-class newsroom, buzzing with ideas, which has already proven social media to be at the heart of what it does. I can’t wait for day one to come around.”