Jemima Khan appointed Associate Editor of The Independent and i

Jemima Khan is to join The Independent and its sister paper, i, as Associate Editor. As part of her role, the activist and human rights campaigner will write interviews as well as contribute to both papers’ comment and features pages. She will also take on some commissioning duties.

Jemima is already an ambassador for i, featuring in the concise daily’s first TV advertising campaign, which broke in January. She starred alongside comedian Dom Joly as well as a collection of readers extolling the virtues and benefits of i.

She has been back on TV for i recently in a reworked version of the original ad created to promote i on Saturday, which launched on 7 May.

To much acclaim, Khan guest-edited the New Statesman in April this year. This special issue focused on freedom of information and free speech and, in it, Khan interviewed the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, about life in the coalition government and his relationship with David Cameron. It also featured a powerful piece by the actor Hugh Grant on phone hacking.

Simon Kelner, editor-in-chief, i & The Independent, said: ‘Anyone who knows Jemima will know that she is a forceful character with strong views. And anyone who saw her issue of the Statesman will have seen that she has an editorial flair. I am looking forward to her bringing these qualities to The Independent and i.’

Jemima Khan said: ‘I am thrilled with the opportunity to be Associate Editor of The Independent and i. I am a huge fan of both papers and am very excited to be able to work with a talented team of writers and editors.’

i, the UK's first quality daily newspaper to launch in 25 years is designed for readers who want a concise, quality daily paper for just 20p. With a latest ABC figure of 161,000, the combined circulation of i and The Independent is now bigger than that of The Guardian. In March it was awarded the ‘Best New Launch’ at the ACE Press Awards 2011. i also won the Platinum Award at the 2011 Newspaper Awards in May for its innovation and creativity.