Rowan Dean takes over as editor of The Spectator but signals end to AFR marketing column
Conservative commentator and former adman Rowan Dean is to give up his regular weekly column in the Australian Financial Review after taking on the editorship of The Spectator Australia magazine.
Dean is a former executive creative director of Euro RSCG (now Havas Worldwide), who since departing the agency in 2010 has become a regular political commentator across The Financial Sky News, Ten, Radio 2UE, the ABC and other media outlets.
“The spectator has always been a provocative magazine, interesting, quirky and relevant ideas on politics and culture,” said Dean, who replaces Tom Switzer in the role. “They are very big shoes to fill. Tom has done an amazing job with The Spectator.”
Dean also confirmed that as part of the move he would give up his weekly column on marketing, run each Monday, in the financial newspaper.
Nice one Rowan. Quite the Cameleon my friend. Adam x
*chameleon
You could switch to the left and make it interesting.
Congratulations.
Booker
Nice one Rowan, another exciting change, but i’m sure they’ll be a lot of people who will miss your Monday morning column.
Ironic that the Spectator would hire someone whose experience and core skills are in persuading people via the use of artifice and exaggeration. It might be funny though.. given Rowan’s last appearance on Q&A which was hilarious.
Dean said ‘The direction of the magazine is very much the direction Tom set and I will be pushing that forward.” Would that direction always be to the neoliberal right?
Tom Switzer is a good journalist, but is restricted by his very right wing political leanings. It held Spectator back. The magazine will always struggle while the readership is limited to a small section on the public. If Rowan Dean wants to increase circulation he will need to move the magazine more towards the political middle.
I found this article while researching the spectator (how had I not heard about this for the last three years?)
Dean’s column in the AFR is possibly the biggest waste of space in that newspaper. Even more so than the Lexus ads. He’s kidding himself if he thinks he is funny or has any creativity left, and consistently fails to make a point
Please Rowan, give the space up to someone else who actually has the skill, time, or maturity, and breadth of perspective to make a column interesting.
Anyone who says they enjoyed what you wrote either hasn’t read it or wasn’t actually able to parse most of the words. I dare you to ask the next person who says they enjoyed it to name their favourite recent topic. WHEN THEY STUMBLE… DON’T FINISH THEIR SENTENCE FOR THEM!
Continue the good work Rowan.
I get so frustrated that with all the anti political correctness that you and Ross Cameron talk about, nothing ever changes and the minority seem to have their way all the time.How can we get our point across and stop this craziness that is effecting our wonderful democracy.Honestly, it makes me so mad.!!!