New leadership team at The Australian announced
News Corp Australia’s The Australian has made some changes to its leadership team, led by MD and publisher Nicholas Gray and editor-in-chief Michelle Gunn.
In a bid to develop its next phase of commercial growth, Sophie Raptis has been appointed general manager, commercial for The Australian and Prestige titles.
The portfolio includes The Australian, Wish, The List, Travel + Luxury, The Weekend Australian Magazine and the Conde Nast International titles – Vogue Australia, Vogue Living and GQ Australia.
Raptis returns to Australia from UK-based technology and data platform Ozone, where she was director of client sales. Prior to that, she spent over seven years total with News UK, and four with The Wall Street Journal.
Sophie Raptis
In her new role, she will be responsible for driving revenue growth and partnerships across The Australian and Prestige titles portfolio. She will work closely with Lou Barrett, managing director of client partnerships at News Corp.
Suz Rolfe, head of subscriber experience, has moved into a new role of general manager – marketing, audience and digital development. She will be responsible for driving growth in the digital space, and leading digital product management.
Chrissie Bell has been appointed general manager – subscriber data, platforms and growth, tasked with optimising revenue growth and enhancing subscriber experiences through platforms, data, pricing strategies and consumer operations.
Meanwhile, current general manager of tech platform partnerships, Helen McMurdo, will continue to lead the strategy and execution for content licensing and partnerships.
“These roles are key to building on our relationships with commercial clients, growing subscription and marketing capabilities, and deepening our global connections to deliver the greatest impact for Australia’s largest media portfolio reaching and engaging with affluent and invested Australians,” Gray said of the changes.
“Our ambition is to craft first-class journalism for our audiences and subscribers and great business results for our clients.”
The Australian also plans to increase its global collaboration with The Wall Street Journal and The Times.
The newly minted leadership team under Gunn include: Kelvin Healey, editor of The Australian; Edwina McCann, editorial director and publisher, Prestige and Conde Nast Titles; Darren Davidson, managing editor and commercial director; Petra Rees, deputy editor; Georgina Windsor, deputy editor; Christine Kellett, head of digital; Claire Harvey, editorial director; Perry Williams, business editor; and Johnathan Barhoumeh, head of video.
Raptis will begin the new role on July 15.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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It’s like that Oprah meme … general manager titles all round. Never known a company hand out that title so freely to a layer of middle management
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Has the Australian ever made a profit
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