Mediaweek editor Dan Barrett departs after five months
Dan Barrett
Mediaweek editor Dan Barrett has been sacked after five months in the role, as owner Vinyl Group works to hit its break even target by the end of the year.
Mumbrella understands that Barrett was let go before his six-month probation period ended. It is also understood there is no immediate proposal to fill the role.
Barrett’s predecessor, editor-in-chief Emma Shepherd, suffered a similar fate, departing before she had completed six months in the job.
According to sources, the move leaves Mediaweek’s full-time editorial staff at just one person.
Vinyl recently shed several roles, including head of publishing Tahlia Phillips, in a restructure it described as a “small adjustment following acquisitions” that affected “around 10%” of its workforce. Phillips had been promoted to the role in May and was made redundant in September.
Another casualty was Mediaweek’s former editor-in-chief James Manning who was sacked late last year after 25 years with the publication.
The pace of staff change and turmoil at Vinyl Group has been considerable in recent times.
The group includes Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Variety Australia, Concrete Playground, The Music Network, Tone Deaf, and Refinery29 as well as Mediaweek on the “Media” side of the business. Jaxsta, Vampr and Vinyl.com sit within the “Platforms” division.
When contacted by Mumbrella, Barrett said he was “disappointed that this has gone the way that it has“.
“I don’t feel that I was given the best framework to properly succeed in the role and to deliver a product worthy of the Mediaweek brand.”
In a presentation to investors last week, Vinyl CEO Josh Simons said the company was on track to break even by the end of this calendar year, thanks in part to a plan to radically increase content output through the use of AI.
“This isn’t about replacing editorial, it’s about empowering and supercharging productivity,” he said.
