Junkee axes Punkee editor role in restructure

Gen Z-focused publication Punkee will no longer have a dedicated editorial head after a restructure that has seen the exit of editor Katie Stow.

In a statement to Mumbrella, Junkee Media editor-in-chief Alice Griffin said the operational decision was about having Junkee and Punkee sit closer together.

Punkee’s editor Stow led the social-first online publication from August 2023. She has now departed the business and announced she’s found a new role as social media manager for Temple and Webster.

Griffin told Mumbrella no other roles were impacted.

“Both Junkee and Punkee are overseen by myself as editor-in-chief, where I work with a team of 10 to oversee the editorial direction of both publications, focused on socially-led formats and more recently, long-form projects. Based on audience feedback and insights, how we work across both Junkee and Punkee has progressively become more integrated, leading to the operational decision to have both publications sit more closely under my role as editor-in-chief,” she said.

“As a result, the role of editor for Punkee held by Katie Stow was made redundant, with no other roles impacted. We are grateful for Katie’s incredible contribution and dedication and wish her all the very best for the future.”

In response to questions from Mumbrella about Punkee’s future, its editorial output, and how owner Racat Group’s editorial operation is faring since purchasing the business from Ooh Media, Griffin was optimistic.

“Punkee, which is a growing youth publication sitting alongside Junkee, is an instrumental new voice in the Gen Z landscape, continually evolving since its relaunch in December 2024,” she said.

“In 2025, we are focused on scaling our social-first ecosystem, while deepening our editorial offering by delivering longer-form commentary that leverages Junkee’s cultural fandom expertise and Punkee’s modern take on radical self care,” she added.

Stow is also optimistic about her future.

Katie Stow has found a new role

“So, there was a restructure at Junkee Media and my role of Punkee Editor was made redundant. That really sucks to type out, because I was so incredibly proud of what I achieved with my beautiful Punkee team and it was a seriously fun chapter of my career, but alas, the media scene is a tricky one and this is an unfortunate reality for me and so many of my talented pals,” she said on LinkedIn.

She added of her new role: “I am so excited to dive back into the world of ecommerce, champion social media and make beautiful content for a brand I am chuffed to now call home.”

Punkee was spawned in 2017, when Junkee Media rebranded The Vine as a mobile-first product, sold to market as “Junkee’s cheekier younger sister”. At the time, it primarily used Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram to house reactive satirical videos, illustrations, memes and GIFs.

It found particular success with its recap videos of The Bachelor Australia, which became appointment viewing for Punkee’s online audience.

“The recaps are amazing because they have created a new visual style. No one was really doing that style that Tom and the team created, which was kind of like overloading people’s senses,” former owner Tim Duggan said in 2018.

“That to us is the ad for Punkee. That’s how people find out about what Punkee is and we share it and we’ve had 45 million video views in 12 months, primarily of recaps.”

Junkee Media was sold to Ooh Media in 2016, in what was seen as a “surprise move”. At the time, the outdoor advertiser paid $11.05 million for 85% of the business.

In 2020, it was then merged into Ooh Media’s marketing and creative team, before it announced plans to sell the media operation in 2021.

By 2021’s end, Junkee Media had been sold to Racat Group. The commercial terms of the deal were not made public, but Ooh Media retained Junkee Studio. Junkee Media’s editorial, sales and implementation teams moved across to Racat as part of the transaction. At the time of the sale, Racat Group announced to the market that Junkee Media would be headed up by media entrepreneur Piers Grove, who was also a co-founder and publisher of satirical news site Betoota Advocate.

In late 2022, however, Grove sold his equity in Junkee to Racat Group and departed the business.

In recent months Punkee has launched a new website and verticals as part of a refreshed brand vision, and released a vodcast series exploring modern self-care.