Trench returns to Times Media where he first began his career with the Sunday Times in 1995 as a reporter, later to become the title’s London Bureau Chief. Trench was the editor of the Eastern Cape title, Daily Dispatch, as well as DispatchOnline prior to joining Media24 in 2010.
An award-winning journalist, Trench has won or led teams who have won the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism, the Mondi Shanduka Award for Investigative Reporting, as well as numerous others. In 2009, Trench received the Vodacom Online Journalism Award while at the Daily Dispatch.
Andrew Bonamour, CEO of Times Media says, “Andrew is an editor we have had our eye on for some time and is the most respected digital content leader in the country. We are thrilled that he has decided to join our team, which is highly focused on a digital future for all our top brands.”
Trench follows a number of high-profile digital appointments at Times Media which include Lisa MacLeod as head of digital, Riaan Wolmarans as head of audience development, Percy Goetsch as head of product, and Dan Calderwood as head of multimedia. Calderwood has also recently been included in the #Kellman20 list of 20 Influential Millennials to Watch.
These appointments, along with various editorial appointments in the business, mark the start of an exciting year for Times Media which is in the process of reinvigorating all of its products to ensure that they are positioned for both a contemporary print and increasingly digital future.
Times Media is also redesigning its newsrooms and operating model to reflect the modern requirements of a progressive media organisation. This year will see the implementation of a new multi-platform content management system, which will support a digitalfirst approach to content.
Times Media has seen steady growth in web traffic on all of its news websites. In January 2016, TimesLIVE recorded 2.9-million unique browsers, 42% growth since January 2015. According to Effective Measure statistics, this makes TimesLIVE one of the fastest growing news websites in South Africa.
“We are very excited about the growing popularity of all our online platforms, and believe that Andrew [Trench] will boost the momentum of our success,” says MacLeod.