Seven West Media has promoted Adelaide news director Chris Salter to fill the gap created by Shaun Menegola‘s exit.
Salter becomes director of news at Seven Melbourne after six years at Seven in Adelaide, as the network also announces a new executive producer for Spotlight: Gemma Williams.
“Chris has done an amazing job in Adelaide, where 7NEWS has been #1 for more than 13 years,” director of news and current affairs and Seven West Media editor-in-chief, Anthony De Ceglie, said.
“I’m really pleased that he has agreed to take this new role and I know he is going to make a huge mark on 7NEWS Melbourne as we endeavour to think differently about the future of our platforms.”
Salter added he “can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get to work alongside the many brilliant people who make up the Melbourne newsroom.
“We’ll work hard for the people of Victoria to produce broadcast and digital offerings that inform and entertain. We’ll be the true voice of Victoria.”
Salter’s Adelaide successor will be announced soon.
Veteran Menegola resigned recently, saying it was “entirely my decision and one I’ve been thinking about for a long time. It’s not one driven by anything else other than the fact that I’m looking to take a break.”
Menegola will “stick around for quite a while” to give a robust handover, De Ceglie told Mediaweek two weeks ago. “Anyone who knows Shaun knows that his dedication to the news means he won’t be taking his foot off the pedal at all.
“My gut feeling is there’s an excellent team around Shaun and an excellent team around the country. So there’ll be a lot of internal candidates for that. That’s obviously one of the most plum spots in Seven News. So we’ll run a process and make sure the best person possible takes on the job … we’re not wanting talent, put it that way.”
Williams, who was previously Sydney bureau chief for Nine’s A Current Affair, replaces Mark Llewellyn as EP at Spotlight, and will report to De Ceglie. Llewellyn left the program amidst its involvement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.
Williams has also been a producer for 2GB’s Ben Fordham, and assistant chief of staff at Nine News Sydney.
De Ceglie said Williams was “a next-generation talent and part of a strategy to recruit young leaders to Seven, setting up the news and current affairs team for the future.”
Williams said news and current affairs is her passion.
“It’s a great privilege to join such an experienced team who will continue to bring viewers unmissable major investigations and breaking news events from across Australia and around the globe,” she said.
Recently, De Ceglie told Mediaweek his ambition for his new role is to integrate The Nightly into Seven’s 6pm bulletins, and make the most of having “the best video in Australia”.
“In 2024, it’s about bringing all of that together into one unified voice across all our assets, especially digital. Right now, for example, everyone agrees that video is king. Well, Seven West Media produces the best video in Australia every single day and night.
“It’s about how we create synergies with that video across broadcast and digital, and when I say digital, I mean everything from our mothership 7news website to our TikTok accounts for certain shows or states or regions. There is no one that can beat us on video creation in the country. And that should be an advertiser’s and a marketer’s dream.”
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Top image: De Ceglie