On Tuesday Michael Miller the executive chairman for News Corp Australasia announced a series of senior executive and editorial appointments which reflects the companies focus on digital and growth areas. These changes will be effective from June 1.
Some of the key changes include:
• Julian Delany promoted to chief technology officer, data and digital
• Emma Fawcett appointed managing director, commercial product & platform and is expanding her role to include both News Xtend and News Connect
• Fiona Nilsson promoted to managing director, food and travel
• Richard Skimin appointed managing director, news.com.au, Kidspot and Whimn
• Michael Ford the new chief financial officer, will take over strategy and M&A responsibilities.
• Lou Barrett the managing director, national sales, will take the leadership of all direct sales functions.
• Jason Scott is chairman of a new publishing board for the state and national commercial publishing operations
• Neil Monaghan has been appointed managing director, business services group
• Peter Blunden takes the new role of national executive editor
• Kate de Brito, editor-in-chief of news.com.au, will now report directly to Michael Miller
• Mick Carroll has been appointed national weekend editor
• John McGourty has been appointed national editor, community masthead network
Note: Some of these roles are in conjunction with their current roles at News Corp which can be seen below
For more detailed information on these new roles and promotions see below Miller’s official announcement:
Today, I am announcing senior executive and editorial appointments and changes to accelerate News Corp Australia’s focus on being a more digital, growth-orientated company.
These changes – effective from June 1 – will strengthen our market-leading position as Australia’s premier consumer and commercial content company.
They will make our structures simpler and more nimble, less complex for commercial partners to leverage and will prioritise increasing earnings in our digital and subscription businesses.
In recent weeks we have been undertaking a review of our Australian portfolio and structures and have had discussions with the most logical acquirer of our regional and community titles.
Those discussions have not resulted in a transaction and we are now considering alternative structures to best focus News Corp Australia on maximising digital and growth opportunities.
As part of this strategic direction, the new appointments I am announcing today will position us to be more effective in driving further success in the growth areas News Corp is excelling in such as travel, food, digital advertising products and solutions, and digital subscriptions.
Additionally our new significant editorial changes will embed a collaborative way of working to maximise our sport and news coverage, hyper local digital subscriptions and drive the success of our all-important weekend editions.
I know you will join me in congratulating the executive and editorial leaders we are appointing today:
Julian Delany has been promoted to the new position of chief technology officer, data and digital. This new role, which will report to me, reflects the importance of these areas to our business growth success in his leadership of News DNA.
Emma Fawcett has been appointed managing director, commercial product & platform, and is expanding her role to include both News Xtend and News Connect as we transform News Corp into a world leading advertising services company and data provider.
Fiona Nilsson has been promoted to the new role of managing director, food and travel, reflecting the important growth opportunities these two pillars represent.
Richard Skimin has been appointed managing director, news.com.au, Kidspot and Whimn, as well as e-commerce to drive the growth of these increasingly important areas.
Michael Ford, our new chief financial officer, will expand his responsibilities to include Strategy and M&A responsibilities.
Lou Barrett, our managing director, national sales, will now take on the leadership of all our direct sales functions.
Jason Scott will add to his role of managing director, Queensland and NT, the chairmanship of a new publishing board representing the state and national commercial publishing operations reporting to Damian Eales. The board will comprise Ish Davies, managing director, South Australia; Peter Zavecz, managing director, Victoria and Tasmania; and Nicholas Gray, managing director, The Australian, NSW and Prestige Titles.
Neil Monaghan has been appointed managing director, business services group, to drive efficiency and effectiveness across our entire publishing business services and operations.
Peter Blunden, our most senior editorial leader, will take on a new role as national executive editor to lead a national sports operation, an elite reporting network and our new internal news wire. Peter will continue to chair the Editorial Board.
In other editorial changes:
Kate de Brito, editor-in-chief of news.com.au, will now report directly to me, reflecting the success and growing importance of news.com.au to our business.
Mick Carroll will add the role of national weekend editor to his editorship of The Sunday Telegraph. Mick will have oversight of the vital weekend lifestyle, entertainment, magazine, journalism big hits and service information that drive weekend audiences and subscriptions.
John McGourty has been appointed national editor, community masthead network, an appointment that acknowledges his success in establishing digital only local news mastheads and driving editorial subscriptions through hyper local news.
Mel Mansell, in his role as group director, editorial transformation and strategy, will continue to work with all editors to achieve best editorial practice and efficiency across our newsrooms.