Fairfax restructures lifestyle division, with two senior editors to depart
Fairfax Media has confirmed the departure of two key managers in its lifestyle division, Lisa Hudson and Lauren Quaintance.
Hudson was general manager of food & wine while Quaintance, general manager of travel. The departures are effective immediately.
Life Media director Melina Cruickshank told staff in an email this afternoon the restructure was driven by the need for the company to meet “cost commitments” made at last week’s investor day.
Cruickshank wrote:
(The cost commitments) are important to ensure we move Fairfax forward as a profitable business in a very challenging market.
The Life Media vertical will be restructured to ensure we deliver those savings. I want to move on our contribution quickly to ensure you can continue to work at the highest level.
Our share of cost efficiency will be focused on management layers within Life Media and as a result the General Manager roles will no longer be required as we move forward.
Hudson is a Fairfax veteran who has served as the CEO of Fairfax Magazines, Editor of the Good Food Guide, Good Weekend and the(sydney)magazine.
Quaintance has been Managing Editor of Fairfax Magazines and has also worked across a numerous of publications including editor of Good Weekend.
Cruickshank also paid tribute to the their contribution to company telling staff.
There is no doubt they have contributed an enormous amount to Fairfax Media while here and I’d like to thank them for their skill, effort and contribution.
I’d like you all to know how appreciated your work and effort is as you deal with the day to day issues and responsibilities that result in the production of high quality journalism. These changes will allow us to move forward and build this division into a nimble operation, with less management layers.
Their positions will be temporarily filled by Ardyn Bernoth and Anthony Dennis.
Nic Christensen
So many changes at Fairfax, the unstability factor must be an issue, let alone morale.
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Yeah. About time. Nice one.
She has balls.
On you Fairfax. She’s one to watch, clearly.
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Melina has the digital smarts. Interesting Fairfax. .
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Having worked closely with all 3 of these women
(Edited for legal reasons). Fairfax are losing 2 talented leaders with the skillset they need to
Transition to the digital future, another sign
That common sense no longer prevails in pyrmont.
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This is a step in the right direction. It will be interesting to see what Melina has planned but she is clearly someone that is capable of managing digital assets which is ultimately where Fairfax needs to focus.
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An alarming and short-sighted decision taken by Fairfax to eject two of the most talented and innovative brand builders in the business. Fairfax will feel the loss.
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Extraordinary talent loss. Where will Fairfax get the depth in the area of lifestyle and food journalism that has been such an important contribution to the mastheads and the revenues. This will mark the beginning of the slippery slope for these verticals. The reader, the food industry and the mastheads have lost the experience and the knowledge that has created successful food and magazine brands.
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A shocking decision by Fairfax. Why on earth would you let go of your best talent? Lisa Hudson has proven herself to be a leader with vision and a great understanding of the business. Terrible mistake.
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We’ve worked with fairfax and Lauren quaintance
On several massive projects in the last 2 years. She
Is always the smartest person in the room, and it’s a big room.
Their loss will be someone else’s big gain.
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I’m sure that Lisa Hudson and Lauren Quaintance were on bloody good salaries, which may be the only reason why they were axed – in order to bring the books back into balance while ‘streamlining’ the flowchart etc. But geez, FFX, it’s not as if they were just sitting around twiddling their thumbs, they would both have been working pretty solidly, so who is now going to pick that up? Not their temporary replacements, who have their own already-arduous jobs and packed schedules to attend to. This really seems very short-sighted, but sadly, oh-so-typically Fairfax.
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I’ve little doubt Lisa Hudson will be snapped up soon by someone. From what I’ve seen her knowledge of and experience in the food & wine, leisure and luxury industries is second to none and the professional way she engages with stakeholders to get things done is all too rare nowadays
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Isn’t Fairfax still in the content biz? Digital is a method of delivery pure and simple – just like the newspaper used to be. These two recently departed actually know how to create that content and connect with advertisers. Fairfax now have lots of people who know how to build websites and shiny new platforms, but no one at executive level with the strategic or journalistic ability to do anything with them.
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We’re these positions only created at year ago? And now they’ve been eliminated? Is the person responsible for creating the restructure that is now being restructured also going to be held accountable?
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Fairfax has been busy making changes for some time now. Has anyone noticed one improvement?
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(Edited for legal reasons).
These individuals were never going to keep surviving in the new digitally focused, lean Fairfax.
Thumbs up from plenty of us WHO WORK HERE.
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Mumbrella, we understand these two Editors dismissed and ridiculed Cruickshank’s idea – Daily Life- two years ago. Its now booming while their beloved magazines close and print continues to tank. There are plenty of us who are pleased that layer can go.
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@ Yank and James
If you believe their efforts were focused on putting out print titles then you must be too junior to understand what they actually did. I worked in a senior capacity for both of them before I left Fairfax. You won’t find two more driven, capable, digitally focused executives than these two. That Fairfax would allow them to be the victim of a blatant power grab is a sure sign that it’s a company in freefall. I’d advise you both to get out while you can, although I’m sure jobs at your level are relatively easy to come by. And as for Daily life, if you dig a little deeper you’ll see it isn’t half the success it’s trumpeted to be.
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It’s not a great day for women at Fairfax – or indeed executive women in general – when two of the company’s most senior women managers are felled in one act. As the Australian says today both Lauren Quaintance and Lisa Hudson were well incredibly respected and had many decades of lifestyle experience between them. As for the embittered snipers above who have clearly been passed over for promotion by one or both of these women in the past, you’d be better to say: “There but for the Grace of God go I.”
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