Nine Publishing has revealed a changing of the guard at The Australian Financial Review as James Chessell (above) returns to the company.
The move has been triggered by the departure of Michael Stutchbury as editor-in-chief.
Replacing Stutchbury at the national business daily is James Chessell. The former Nine managing director of publishing stepped away from Nine at the end of 2023. Chessell moved to corporate advisory firm Bespoke Approach where he was a partner alongside Ian Smith and Andrew Butcher.
Michael Stutchbury
A release from Nine detailed the changes:
Michael Stutchbury called time on his extraordinary 13-year leadership of Australia’s premier business, financial and political publication.
Managing Director of Nine Publishing, Tory Maguire, said Stutchbury, 67, was leaving the Financial Review in a powerful position and deserved enormous credit for building the masthead into arguably the most successful digital subscription publication in the country.
“Michael Stutchbury’s legacy at the AFR is immense, having led the newsroom through a period of ever-accelerating change in the way audiences consume and pay for journalism. He did this by ensuring the AFR is essential reading for anyone with an interest in corporate life, finance and politics,” Maguire said.
“Everyone in corporate Australia knows that to be in the conversation they need to read the AFR. You can see this when you look around at any AFR event and spot the countless decision makers in the room.
“Stutch’s fierce belief in what the AFR should be – high quality, relevant, fair and energetic – drove his approach to pushing the masthead to its full potential, including the development of the Financial Review’s highly successful Ventures events business. He is a giant of Australian journalism.”
How The AFR reported on its change of editor-in-chief
Stutchbury is the Financial Review’s longest-serving editor or editor-in-chief in the masthead’s seven-decade history. Along with his previous five and a half years as editor of The Australian, he is Australia’s longest-ever serving national newspaper editor or editor-in-chief.
After taking a break he will return to the Financial Review in a writing role as Editor-at-large later in the year.
Stutchbury said the Financial Review’s achievements rested on its reporters, photographers, artists, designers and editors, including former long-time editor Paul Bailey and current editor Fiona Buffini along with managing editor Cosima Marriner.
“After facing a potential loss just over a decade ago, the Financial Review has never been more profitable as it has built a business model around premium digital subscriptions,” he said.
“As the team has managed the shift out of print, the masthead has never had more paying subscribers. It has doubled its audience share compared to its national rival. It has been judged Australia’s most-trusted newspaper brand.
“This fundamentally rests on the Financial Review’s high-quality journalism that has never won more plaudits and awards than in the past year. This has been led by the story of 2023, the PwC tax leaks scandal, that is now being capped by the story of this year, the CFMEU investigation.
“It is not easy to walk away from the privilege of leading a newsroom that has delivered so much. But, after 13 full-on years, now is the right time for someone with fresh energy and new ideas to lead the Financial Review’s next phase of growth.
“As a Walkley award-winning former Europe correspondent and Business editor for the Financial Review, James Chessell is the ideal person to take on this exciting challenge. The Financial Review is his natural home.”
James Chessell was until January the managing director of Nine Publishing and prior to that executive editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He has also worked for The Australian and was part of Financial Review teams that won the 2014 Walkley Award for Business Journalism and the 2013 Citi Journalism Award for Excellence.
Maguire said Chessell’s experience, including editing two of Australia’s biggest mastheads combined with his time running the publishing business, makes him uniquely qualified to step into such an important role.
“Having worked for James for more than five years while he was both executive editor and managing director I know him to be the most energetic, talented and determined person to take the AFR on the next phase of its growth. He understands audiences and believes in storytelling of the highest standard.
“He also has the best contact book of any journalist in business, which is essential for the Editor-in-chief, and his love of being in a newsroom is boundless. The publishing team is incredibly lucky James is willing to return to Nine and lead the AFR.”
Stutchbury’s last day leading the Financial Review will be August 9 and Chessell will start on August 12.
“I’m very excited about taking over from Stutch who is the best editor I’ve worked for bar none,” Chessell said.
“He made the Financial Review sharper and smarter than at any other time in its 73-year history and I’m delighted he will be writing for the masthead for many years to come. The AFR has done an outstanding job exposing corporate and political profligacy under Stutch without forgetting its mission to champion authentic innovation, entrepreneurism and success.”
“The Financial Review has always been a critically important voice in the financial and political conversations that matter in Australia through rigorous news, analysis and public interest journalism. The current media landscape means the work is not without its complications but there is no better editorial team to face up to these challenges than the Financial Review newsroom.
“I’m also very excited to be reunited with Tory and the Nine Publishing team, who are the best in the business. I’m incredibly lucky to be stewarding a masthead in such great shape but there is still plenty of work to do and I can’t wait to get started.”