Fairfax has appointed a new commercial director of the Australian Publishing Media (APM) just days after the APM announced it was set to slash up to 70 editorial jobs.
Tom Armstrong (pictured) is set to take on the role, commencing today, where he will be responsible for the commercial operations of APM, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
Armstrong will replace Ed Harrison who was recruited by Yahoo!7 to be the new CEO.
Managing director Allen Williams, who sent around the internal email to staff about the job cuts, said Armstrong will “help develop Fairfax’s commercial operations as we continue our transformation into a modern media company.”
“We have designed our sales structure with our eyes firmly on the future. At Fairfax we are committed to providing our advertisers with all opportunities to connect with our expansive, engaged and premium audiences,” he added.
“Tom’s understanding of cross-platform sales solutions will assist us to drive new revenue opportunities.”
Earlier this week the APM announced it would cut a number of jobs in the editorial and photographic sectors, which led to a 24 hour strike from journos in Sydney and Melbourne in response.
Fairfax said they were ‘disappointed’ with the actions its staff had taken.
