Paul Whittaker named as new editor-in-chief of The Australian as Chris Mitchell retires
New boss: Paul Whittaker
Daily Telegraph editor Paul Whittaker has been named as the new editor-in-chief of News Corp’s national broadsheet The Australian with longstanding boss Chris Mitchell confirming his retirement.
The move sees Courier-Mail editor Chris Dore move to Sydney to replace Whittaker, nicknamed ‘Boris’, with the moves set to come into effect on December 11 when Mitchell officially retires.
Mitchell has been in the top job at the last remaining national broadsheet newspaper since 2002, while Whittaker had a stint as editor of the paper between 2007-2011.
In a statement accepting the role Whittaker praised the work of Mitchell, and said added: “The Australian plays a vital role in the nation’s daily life and public debate. It rises above parochial self-interest, and speaks for and to the whole country; from the largest city to the most remote outpost. Its journalists are some of the most experienced and accomplished in the country.”
Last month Mitchell told Mumbrella he was close to retiring with the newspaper closer to being profitable again, after making substantial losses since the 2008 global financial crisis.
According to a report in The Australian he is set to write a weekly column, and received a note from News Corp co-chairman Rupert Murdoch reading: “Thanks to your leadership, The Australian has never been better than it is now, and today it is the embodiment of the hopes and ideals we had for the paper when we launched 51 years ago.”
In the official News Corp announcement a joint statement from new CEO Peter Tonagh and new chairman Michael Miller said: “Paul’s credentials as editor-in-chief are exemplary and his leadership will affirm The Australian’s place as the nation’s most significant newspaper.
“His previous experience on The Australian as editor, deputy editor and national chief of staff will ensure the paper maintains the momentum and journalistic excellence driven by Chris Mitchell.”
More to come.
The announcement:
Mr Whittaker, who has a long history with The Australian including as editor from 2007-2011, will succeed Chris Mitchell when he retires on December 11.
Announcing his appointment, Mr Miller and Mr Tonagh said: “Paul’s credentials as editor-in-chief are exemplary and his leadership will affirm The Australian’s place as the nation’s most significant newspaper.
“His previous experience on The Australian as editor, deputy editor and national chief of staff will ensure the paper maintains the momentum and journalistic excellence driven by Chris Mitchell.”
Mr Whittaker said: ”It is a tremendous honour and responsibility to lead The Australian, one of the world’s great mastheads.
“The Australian plays a vital role in the nation’s daily life and public debate. It rises above parochial self-interest, and speaks for and to the whole country; from the largest city to the most remote outpost. Its journalists are some of the most experienced and accomplished in the country.
”I know The Australian well, having worked under Chris Mitchell for almost five years as editor, and he has been both a mentor and a friend. Chris steps down with the paper in a strong position and he can take great credit for its unique position in the Australian media landscape. I am determined to ensure the quality of the journalism continues to be outstanding in all its forms.
”I would also like to pay tribute to my colleagues at The Daily Telegraph for their hard work, creativity and professionalism.”
During Mr Whittaker’s editorship The Australian won the News Awards’ Newspaper of the Year twice.
Prior to this appointment, he was editor of The Daily Telegraph since April 2011. During his leadership, he initiated the Fair Go For The West campaign to champion the western Sydney region, culminating in the Federal Government decision to approve the city’s second airport at Badgerys Creek; and established the Bradfield Oration to raise the debate about the city’s future.
Mr Whittaker began his career at the Gold Coast Bulletin in 1987. He later worked as chief of staff, news editor and associate editor of The Courier-Mail. He spent three years in Los Angeles as a US correspondent for News and also worked as a reporter at The Times and The Sunday Times in London.
Chris Dore
The appointment as editor of The Daily Telegraph is a return to Sydney for Mr Dore, former deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph and deputy editor of The Australian.
Mr Miller and Mr Tonagh said: “During his editorship of The Courier-Mail, Chris transformed the newspaper, in its print and digital channels, to reinvigorate a product that represents the vibrancy of Queensland.
“He has an innate understanding of Sydney – its politics, people and issues – and will lead the next evolution of the Telegraph in its role as the voice of the city.”
Under Mr Dore’s editorship, The Courier-Mail won the News Awards and PANPA Newspaper of the Year in 2014.
Mr Dore said: “I have mixed feelings about leaving the brilliant bunch of journos, photographers and staff at The Courier-Mail. We have produced some amazing newspapers, published award-winning journalism and photographs in the paper and online, broken every major story in the state, had a lot of fun and hopefully helped a few Queenslanders along the way.
“There is no more important news brand in NSW than The Daily Telegraph, which proudly stands up for, represents, informs and entertains readers in every suburb of Sydney and in each town throughout the state.”
Mr Dore started his career in Sydney at The Australian and held a range of senior roles during his 19-year tenure with the paper, including covering federal and state politics, acting as Pacific Correspondent in New Zealand, and Victorian editor.
In 2009, he joined The Sunday Telegraph as deputy editor and in 2012, moved to Perth to become editor of The Sunday Times.
The announcement of the new editor of The Courier-Mail will be made in the coming weeks.
No new editor has yet been named for the Courier-Mail.
Announcing his appointment, Mr Miller and Mr Tonagh said: “Paul’s credentials as editor-in-chief are exemplary and his leadership will affirm The Australian’s place as the nation’s most significant newspaper.
“His previous experience on The Australian as editor, deputy editor and national chief of staff will ensure the paper maintains the momentum and journalistic excellence driven by Chris Mitchell.”
Mr Whittaker said: ”It is a tremendous honour and responsibility to lead The Australian, one of the world’s great mastheads.
“The Australian plays a vital role in the nation’s daily life and public debate. It rises above parochial self-interest, and speaks for and to the whole country; from the largest city to the most remote outpost. Its journalists are some of the most experienced and accomplished in the country.
”I know The Australian well, having worked under Chris Mitchell for almost five years as editor, and he has been both a mentor and a friend. Chris steps down with the paper in a strong position and he can take great credit for its unique position in the Australian media landscape. I am determined to ensure the quality of the journalism continues to be outstanding in all its forms.
”I would also like to pay tribute to my colleagues at The Daily Telegraph for their hard work, creativity and professionalism.”
Chairman *Michael* Miller
Hi CM,
You’re not wrong – despite speaking as one they’re not morphing into one just yet.
Cheers,
Alex – editor, Mumbrella
ABC Terrorism front pages on the cover of a national paper.
The newspaper game is not going to end with a whimper but rather a spectacular enfilade. It will be…..interesting, probably not edifying.
The Tele under Paul Whittaker: Embarrasingly sycophantic adulation of Tony Abbott; a 1950’s vision for Sydney that involved motorways, a mega casino, and tax cuts for horse racing at the expense of decent infrastructure, schools and hospitals; attacks on the disabled; a demented 4-year obsession with Clover Moore; totally missing the Obeid/ICAC stuff until it was too late, then getting revenge by campaigning unsuccessfully against ICAC, an institution vital to NSW. Oh, and falling circulation and an unpopular website.
i went to look enfilade up but got shot down
Droll Mr. O’Really 🙂
They say that you can do anything with numbers. News Corpse announcements on staff appointments prove yet again that you can do anything with words … everyone is brilliant, everything is going gangbusters … what about those 50 hacks pushed out the backdoor on the redundancy conveyor belt week? Umh, move on please – nothing to see here.
Mitchell clearly didn’t want to go. So the push is intriguing. Maybe Whittaker is besties with Lachlan? Or has Thomson finally acted on his dislike of Mitchell? We can only wonder what sort of obsessions will come next.
Whittaker isn’t known to be a caring and sharing kind of guy. Word is there was a power struggle between him and long time Foreign Editor, Greg Sheridan – both of them of Rupert’s far right perspective, of course – over who would get the job. Paul Kelly, the ex-editor who has been there since Adam was a boy – he gets rolled out on every anniversary of the Dismissal to regurgitate even more words on it – backed Sheridan in the ensuing rumble but his man lost. Will Whittaker now be gunning for Kelly? Self-important late middle-aged men in suits doing what self-important late middle-aged men in suits do best.
Sheridan has spent years in journalism, but not one day involved in the production of a newspaper, so it is hard to understand how anybody could think of him as a possible editor of any newspaper. Whittaker is a clever journalist who is without understanding of how the world operates. Unless he is moved on quickly he will be the last editor of The Australian.