Michael Wilkins, managing director of national sport brands, and Marcus Hooke, general manager of print production, will exit News Corp as part of its ongoing restructure.
According to the AFR, the redundancies also include “several sales team general managers”. On Monday, News Corp Australia’s head of sales – NSW independent agencies and major direct, Michael Desiere, announced he was leaving the business after 22 years. Desiere’s last day will be next Friday 14 June.
The changes to News Corp’s structure – which sees its editorial teams streamlined into three divisions spanning free, mastheads, and prestige – follow Meta pulling out of its deals to pay for news.
Two of the first high-profile staff members confirmed to be exiting were Lisa Muxworthy, the editor-in-chief of news.com.au – the most popular news website in the country – and John McGourty, the Editorial Innovation Centre’s group director.
Under the new structure, Nicholas Gray will lead the prestige division, and The Australian‘s editor-in-chief Michelle Gunn will have magazines added to her remit.
Mark Reinke will head the state and community mastheads division, which will capture The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, Courier Mail, and Advertiser, plus regional and community publications.
Pippa Leary will become managing director of the free news and lifestyle division, spanning news.com.au, the NCA newswire, and lifestyle digital brands. Lou Barrett will lead client partnerships and the sales team.
Mick Carroll, the Sunday Telegraph‘s editor, becomes editor-in-chief, and The Daily Telegraph editor-in-chief Ben English will step into a bigger role leading the national reporting team.
The Herald Sun’s Sam Weir will add the Hobart Mercury and Weekly Times to his responsibilities.
Jason Scott, the current managing director of news in Queensland, will be executive director of the sport network. Current national executive editor Peter Blunden will move to a part-time advisory role and remain on the board.
News Corp’s executive chairman Michael Miller is due to speak at the National Press Club later today, the first time he has taken to the Press Club podium since 2019.