News Corp Australia today announced senior changes to its publishing operations in NSW and to its national editorial network.
Michael Wilkins, has been appointed managing director, NSW. Wilkins, currently executive general manager of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, will take on the additional responsibilities of NewsLocal community publishing.
In his expanded role, Wilkins will lead the operations of all of News Corp Australia’s publishing assets in NSW, incorporating the Telegraphs, dailytelegraph.com.au and The Sportsman plus the 20 mastheads under the NewsLocal banner.
John McGourty has been appointed publisher, commercial and operations, NewsLocal. In this role McGourty will be responsible for driving the editorial transformation of News Corp Australia’s community publications while managing the commercial and operational areas of the NewsLocal business.
Kathy Lipari has been appointed executive editor, News 360. Lipari will lead all senior national and international correspondents as well as the additional responsibility of working with the News Corp family of companies to drive the integration of great storytelling opportunities, be it a new Foxtel drama series; a HarperCollins book; a Sundays network investigation or a Vogue or GQ activation – across all publishing assets. News 360 will be the real-life model of dynamic cross-company collaboration.
News Corp Australia chief operating officer, publishing, Damian Eales said: “These changes will see the NewsLocal community business become part of our overall NSW business, mirroring the operating model in Victoria, Queensland and Adelaide.
“As we have done in those states, this new model for NSW will better align our commercial leadership to our local communities and advertisers whilst building shared capabilities.”
Campbell Reid, director of corporate affairs and editorial management at News Corp Australia, said: “With our current editorial network being remodelled as News 360, we are creating a storytelling centre of excellence that will ensure all our great stories are told with maximum impact across all News Corp Australia’s platforms, channels and companies.
“Our aim is to ensure our talent in content creation and innovation are well positioned to meet the evolving needs of our business and our consumers.”
