Former Guardian head of media Jane Martinson has joined City University as a professor of Financial Journalism and will lead a course for masters’ students from April this year.

Martinson has been appointed as the new Marjorie Deane Professor of Financial Journalism and will lead the MA Financial Journalism programme.

Her appointment follows the departure of Guardian media writer and former Daily Mirror editor Roy Greenslade who steps down as professor of journalism at the university in March.

Martinson said: “The world needs dedicated, diverse journalists more than ever in an industry under attack from fake news and more.

“City was an important training ground at the start of my career and I am excited to have this chance to play my part in supporting the next generation while continuing to practise.”

Martinson completed her postgraduate diploma in newspaper journalism at City University in 1991, beginning her career at the South Wales Echo before going on to work at the Financial Times.

She held a variety of roles at the FT, including companies and markets reporter and investment correspondent, and later joined the Guardian in 1999 as its US business editor in New York.

Martinson spent 18-years at the Guardian, working as news editor for City coverage, women’s editor and media editor. She was head of media at the paper from 2014 to 2017 and continues to write about the industry as a columnist.

Professor Suzanne Franks, head of the department of journalism at City, said: “We are delighted that someone with Jane’s breadth of experience is joining us as the new Marjorie Deane professor.

“She will be a brilliant ambassador for City’s journalism department and a great role model for our students.”

The MA Financial Journalism programme is supported by the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation, which renewed its backing of the course in 2017 with a grant worth £550,000 over three years.

The money supports up to four student scholarships each year, summer schools in New York and Shanghai and a professorship in financial journalism.

Martinson replaces Professor Steve Schifferes, who led the masters course between 2009 and 2017.