News Corp Australia chief executive Peter Tonagh today announced the appointment of Lachlan Heywood (pictured above) as editor of The Courier-Mail and Ben English (pictured Below) as editor of the Townsville Bulletin.

The pair will take up their new roles in the new year.

Heywood returns to Brisbane after four years as editor of the Townsville Bulletin during which time the newspaper published innovative products to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary, the North Queensland Cowboys’ first NRL Premiership and drove a high-impact campaign to address post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by the area’s military community.

The Bulletin’s success was marked by the newspaper winning Regional Newspaper of the Year at this year’s News Awards.

Tonagh said: “Lachlan is a dynamic editor and journalist with a deep understanding of the forces that drive Queensland from the South East corner to the Far North.

“He has the professional and personal experience to excel in the role of leading The Courier-Mail which is Queensland’s most enduring and influential media voice.”

Heywood joined the Bulletin in 2011 from The Sunday Mail in Brisbane where he was deputy editor. Prior to that he worked as The Courier-Mail’s chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, Canberra-based national political reporter and City Hall reporter.

Heywood said:  “The editorship of The Courier-Mail is one of the great jobs in Australian journalism and I am thrilled and humbled to have been offered the opportunity.  The paper has rarely been more dynamic and influential than it is now and I look forward to working with its great team.”

Ben English, the current deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph in Sydney will move to Townsville to edit the Townsville Bulletin.

English has extensive journalistic and editorial experience including stints as a specialist reporter covering state politics and as national Olympics editor. He was a standout foreign correspondent in London and held a number of roles at The Daily Telegraph including chief of staff, business editor and sports editor, before being promoted to his current role of deputy editor in November 2012.

Tonagh said: “Ben will bring to Townsville an extraordinary suite of journalism and editing skills.  I am delighted he has accepted this new challenge.”

English said:  “The opportunity to edit a paper as deeply connected to its readers as the Townsville Bulletin is a great honour. I admire its energy and the things it has achieved and I look forward to being part of such a unique community.”