Ed Walker
Media Leader, Editor and Consultant
Ed Walker is an experienced media leader, editor and entrepreneur. He is currently an audience development and editorial consultant through Alma, the consultancy he founded in 2023. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience across hyperlocal, regional and national journalism, he advises clients on audience growth and engagement strategies across digital media and beyond.
He spent much of his career at Reach plc, the UK’s largest multimedia commercial publisher, where he played a key role in its digital transformation. Ed led newsrooms in adopting new ways of working, edited several regional titles, and held senior editorial roles across multiple locations, including Wales, Liverpool, Birmingham, Reading and Newcastle. He was also the first Editor-in-Chief of InYourArea, Reach’s hyperlocal news platform, which he helped grow into one of the UK’s top 20 news websites and the third most downloaded news app in the country. The platform also received an AOP award for Best Social Good Campaign.
Alongside this, Ed founded Blog Preston in 2008 after completing his journalism studies at University of Lancashire. The platform has become one of the UK’s leading hyperlocal news sites. He now serves as a non-executive director, having spent more than a decade reporting on the city of Preston and supporting the development of future journalists through its partnership with University of Lancashire. He has also helped raise more than £150,000 for the city’s homeless shelter through the Big PNE Sleep Out events, organised in partnership with Preston North End.
Ed has a long-standing relationship with University of Lancashire. Since 2019, he has served as a Leader in Residence within the journalism department and is part of the visiting faculty for the Journalism Leadership and Innovation Programme, which he completed in 2022. He works closely with participants on journalism innovation strategies and new product development.
