Staff at The Australian’s youth title The Oz have been redeployed across the wider business after its website was rendered inactive this week, just nine months after it launched.
Some producers and journalists were briefed on the decision individually last week, Crikey understands. They were then slotted into new jobs, mostly across desks at The Australian, before the news broke publicly. Each member of the team has been offered a new role, sources said.
The wind-back was first reported by Guardian Australia on Wednesday and comes less than a week after News Corp veteran Michelle Gunn was appointed The Australian’s editor-in-chief. Former editor-in-chief Christopher Dore left the paper in October after an alleged incident at a function for The Wall Street Journal in California.
Some of the The Oz’s former editorial staff said they were disheartened by the decision to axe the title given the amount of work put into the site’s launch.
Among other staff at The Australian, the decision was welcomed with open arms. One said its launch was an “embarrassing” personal project of Dore’s that was often criticised within the paper, where some reporters said they felt “insulted” by having to do more with dwindling resources while the youth arm got “anything they wanted”.
But The Oz’s footprint isn’t set to disappear entirely. It will keep posting content to its social media channels, a News Corp spokesman told Guardian Australia, where the brand will continue to play an “important role”, even after failing to make a commercial impact.
The move to disassemble the publication emerges as Gunn’s first major change since taking the top job. She has had previous stints as editor of The Australian over the past two years, and was editor of The Weekend Australian for eight years before that.
News of Gunn’s promotion was accompanied by the announcement of a new editorial board last week, which will be led by Sky News Australia CEO Paul Whittaker, who has spent the past three years transforming the network into a prolific firebrand of conservative Australian opinion.
In a statement on Wednesday, News Corp carefully stipulated that Gunn would report to executive chairman Michael Miller, even if Whittaker’s new board would provide an “active forum” through which The Australian would develop its “editorial direction”.
Gunn said: “I am delighted that Paul Whittaker, a friend and colleague for 20 years, has agreed to chair The Australian’s new editorial board which will provide guidance to our coverage, collaboration and strategic decisions.”
Whittaker said he and Gunn “share a deep affection” for the newspaper, and are “equally passionate” about strengthening its global footing: “In recent times we have developed strong collaboration between The Australian and Sky News Australia in talent sharing and groundbreaking content creation that has brought record readership and viewership.”
