Mamamia hires Alyx Gorman to edit secret new website
Gorman
The Mamamia Network has hired former editor of The Vine Alyx Gorman to edit a yet to be revealed new website set to launch later this year.
Publisher Mia Freedman said Gorman had been in her sights for “some time” and was well placed to lead the launch of the new vertical alongside Mamamia.com.au and iVillage.com.au.
Gorman was fashion editor and then editor of youth orientated website The Vine for three years before she went to Bauer Media Group as features director of its glossy fashion magazine Elle, which launched in September. She will join the Mamamia group in mid-March.
Freedman
Freedman said: “I had my eye on her for a couple of years, since she started editing The Vine, and we have a new launch coming up so she’s going to be working with us in a senior editorial capacity, editing that new site. She’s got a lot of digital expertise.
“She’s got a really great tone in her writing and she’s just the perfect person to work at Mamamia in terms of our company culture, she’s dynamic and ambitious and smart.”
Freedman refused to answer further questions about the new website but said plans have been in the works for some time.
“It’s something we’ve been working on for quite a while and we’ve just been looking for the right editor,” she said. “So she’s an absolutely integral part of that puzzle. More news on that shortly.”
Freedman said Gorman will also write for the Mamamia site, edited by Jamila Rizvi, who took on the role as Freedman took a step back from the day to day operations in March last year.
“We are always looking for people who can work across our sites, and our writers have quite a fluid way of working so Jamila and I are really looking forward to having Alyx contribute on Mamamia as well,” Freedman said. “Her voice is particularly great for Mamamia.”
Mamamia and its sister website iVillage claims to reach more than 4m unique browsers and generates upwards of 28m page impressions a month.
Gorman said in a statement: “Mamamia speaks to women in a way that no one else does – and you can tell from their stats that everyone is listening.
“In addition to having a whole lot of heart and chutzpah, Mamamia’s digital cred is peerless. They’re so far ahead of the game, and I can’t wait to start using the technology they have access to.
“Not just navigating, but innovating digitally is one of the biggest joys of working as a journalist today, and I’m looking forward to experimenting, and pushing myself as hard as possible in this area. I couldn’t be more proud that I am joining the team.”
As editor of The Vine, owned by Fairfax Media, Gorman revealed an offer from Naked Communications asking for free advertising and tailored editorial in exchange for an interview with Kevin Rudd.
Megan Reynolds
in her ‘sites’? Play on words or bad copy editing?
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Does that mean Gorman is leaving Elle already?
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She’s leaving Elle?
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Great, another website for Mia Freedman to push her own agendas on.
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I’ve been a fan of Alyx G for a while. Never understood why she left TheVine to move into magazines. But this is just incredible. Completely disappointing
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Excellent- so another website to recycle old stories and generally copy xojane.com?
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“Mamamia speaks to women in a way that no one else does”
And thank god for that. Unless you love being judged and condescended to by people who can barely spell.
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Congrats Alyx! Rad news!
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Buzzfeed meets HuffPost meets every other site they can rip content from. Oh Mia, remember when journalism was all about creating something other than clicks?
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Surely this headline should have been “5 ways you won’t believe what Mia Freedman’s next BuzzFeed rip will be!”
Luckily the world will be sick of link bait content by ‘later this year’, so this will probably never see the light of day.
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Wow.
Good thing there’s no sign of jealousy among the comments here.
The wonderful thing about the Internet is that anyone can set up and become a successful publisher – if they have the talent, drive and a bit of luck.
C’mon fellas, not everyone needs an Uncle Rupert to validate them…
Good on Mia. I happen to think she’s a great writer. Of course, she’d never have been let into the old Journo’s Club, with the beer and the form guide in the back pocket. The good old blokey club. Sheilas, eh?
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if its so secret why are they talking about it?
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Hope she gets paid more than the $50 Mias other contributors get per article.
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Every week we’re told that their audience has grown but another couple of hundred thousand yet every week there are fewer and fewer comments.
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Those statistics are clearly ridiculous. Nielson have Mamamia down for a unique monthly audience of 477000. Ivillage is much smaller than that.
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Clickbait pays.
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