Lucy Cousins appointed editor of Dolly and Cleo
Cousins
The battle for a single editor-in-chief to oversee newly merged magazine titles Cleo and Dolly has been won by Women’s Fitness deputy editor Lucy Cousins, Bauer Media Group has confirmed.
Her appointment comes as a surprise as Dolly editor Tiffany Dunk and Cleo editor Sharri Markson were thought to go head to head in competition for a single editor-in-chief role.
Matthew Stanton, CEO Bauer Media, said: “There has been a lot of interest around this role and we have received many applications from staff here at Bauer as well as other media companies. I am pleased that we have found this outstanding candidate within our own ranks and congratulate Lucy on her appointment.”
Markson, whose experience includes reporting hard news as a political reporter for News Corp’s Sunday Telegraph and Channel Seven, pulled out of the race on Wednesday. Today was her last day at Bauer Media.
And Dunk, who joined ACP Magazines in 1995 and has edited Dolly for the last four years, was expected to be given the new role.
However the position was opened up within the group and Cousins has landed the job.
Bauer Media Group announced the merger last week as part of a cost-cutting measure expected to cut around half of the staff from the young women’s lifestyle titles.
Newly arrived publisher Sebastian Kadas is overseeing the merger said by Stanton to be a more efficient and effective way to run the business.
In a live video Hangout with Mumbrella, Stanton said: “They are two very iconic brands and it’s not just about printed products, we are multi-platform brands, so it is very different from the way we would have done printed products in the past.
“We have teams, resources, etc, across different genres, and they have to manage online, social, mobile, as well as the printed product, so the model we are going with Cleo/Dolly makes perfect sense.
“And the magazines pretty much stagger, they don’t come out monthly at the same time, so it’s not as if you’re getting a jam through for the editor, and the team we have is very strong below.”
The merger will see more content sharing from Bauer’s German titles with Cleo expected to take content from German title Joy and Dolly to have increased copy from German equivalent Bravo.
It has been speculated Markson will join Channel Nine as a producer on 60 Minutes or return to News Corp’s Holt Street office where she was a political reporter for the Sunday Telegraph. Markson also worked as a news editor for Channel Seven before she joined Cleo in January and relaunched the title with less sexual content in April.
Dunk joined ACP Magazines in 1995 and spent five years in a junior role at Cleo magazine before moving onto NW magazine and TV Week before she became the editor of Dolly four years ago. Neither Dunk or Markson applied for the new position.
I know media love to requote media however that often results in inaccuracies being repeated. So just to clarify a couple of points:
1. Sebastian Kadas is Hungarian not Russian, however he was in charge of publsihing in Russia for Bauer before coming to Australia.
2. Like all global media companies there will be content sharing across the Group including relevant content from the UK ( where Bauer owns the former EMap business with many like-minded products and shared titles) as well as other territories including the USA. There will also be plenty of locally generated content for both magazines as well.
3 Dolly and Cleo will not be an extension of any other title with both brands retaining their unique Australian place and perspective, original content and ethos.
4. Tiffany Dunk also decided NOT to apply for the position and to leave the company of her own accord after 18 years.
We value mumbrella coverage, as witnessed today with our CEO Matthew Stanton’s interveiw with Tim, so pls feel free to call Bauer if you have any queries.
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