Ramona Depares has been appointed head of news and Diana Cacciottolo will assume the new role of digital content manager in an editorial revamp at Times of Malta.
Ramona joined Times of Malta editorial staff on a full-time basis in 2011, but has formed part of the media house’s team of freelance writers since the mid-1990s.
She was awarded the national journalism award twice, in 2015 for her contribution to cultural journalism and in 2014 for her opinion column.
For the past years she has occupied the role of assistant editor with The Sunday Times of Malta and editor of the monthly Sunday Circle magazine. The magazine has been consistently named Malta’s favourite lifestyle publication in independent surveys.
Ramona, a graduate in law from the University of Malta, is also passionate about creative writing and will be releasing her debut publication, Beltin, in November.
Diana is a former BBC News journalist who moved to Malta from London last year. She was deputy editor of Social News for the BBC News, overseeing some of the largest social media accounts in the world and managing a global team with hubs in London, Washington and Singapore.
She was involved in the corporation’s strategy to attract younger and female audiences to the BBC and also worked with the digital video and online teams.
Prior to that she was a political correspondent with the Irish News in Belfast.
Diana, who is from Co Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, said: “I’m delighted to join the Times of Malta at this exciting time and look forward to helping to shape its digital content to attract new audiences."
Matthew Xuereb, who previously served as head of news, will take on the role of assistant editor.
Times of Malta editor in chief Herman Grech said: "It is not enough to sit back knowing Times of Malta remains, by far, Malta’s biggest news organisation. We are lucky to have a team of talented individuals, and I’m optimistic our new appointments will help elevate Times of Malta to the next step, especially in the ever-growing digital field.”