Chris Paine has been appointed head of premium content, a new role that will see the next evolution of subscriber engagement through expanding the quality digital presentation, audio and video journalism at Nine mastheads The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and WAToday.
Leading the presentation, video and audio, explainers and data teams, highly respected Paine will drive recent investments in these editorial sections to ensure the mastheads offer the highest quality premium experience for readers. He will report to executive editor Tory Maguire, starting on Monday November 15.
“This new head of premium content role brings together all the incredible work already done by our presentation, video and audio, and explainer teams with the new investments being made in those areas, and puts them at the centre of our newsroom operations,” said Maguire.
“Chris’s job will be to make sure all parts of our mastheads get the premium content treatment, and he will be crucial to turbo-charging our subscriber strategy. His combination of experience, creativity and leadership make him the perfect person to step things up, ensuring our subscribers are rewarded with even greater value for money.”
Paine has a stellar digital media background, most recently as head of digital news at Fox Sports Australia and, before that, as editor of HuffPost Australia. He joined ABC News in Brisbane in 2006 as a digital producer, later progressing his career at news.com.au where he was appointed afternoon editor. He joined Daily Mail Australia’s founding editorial team as assistant editor in 2014, before moving to HuffPost Australia in 2015 as news Eeditor, then editor.
“I am delighted to be joining Nine’s Metro Publishing team at an exciting time for some of Australia’s most trusted and innovative brands,” said Chris Paine.
“I can’t wait to work with Tory Maguire and her team on helping to deliver world-class journalism and tell compelling, engaging and important stories that audiences expect from the Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times and WAToday.”
Paine’s appointment comes after recent announcements by the mastheads, and The Australian Financial Review, of significant investments into journalism, with the expansion of editorial teams.
