RobLawson

Rob attended Hillview Junior School, then Southmoor School, where he was Head Boy.
 
It was while at Southmoor that he decided he’d like to be a journalist. He enrolled on the National Council for the Training of Journalists course at Darlington, and on completion of the course started on his first paper, the Driffield Times, in East Yorkshire.
 
Rob later worked for the Ripon Gazette and Harrogate Advertiser before returning to Sunderland to work on the Sunderland and Washington Times.
 
Rob then joined the Sunderland Echo. After a year, he took a promotion and a move to the Hartlepool Mail, before returning to the Echo 12 months later. His next move was to the Shields Gazette, where Rob remained for ten years, five of which were as Editor.
 
He became Editor of the Sunderland Echo in August 2002 and Group Editorial Director in November 2007.