Add Category
Updated
The editor of the West Australian, Brett McCarthy, has quit after almost 10 years at the helm of WA's only metropolitan newspaper, on the same day Channel Nine's Perth newsroom was rocked by the departure of its news director.
Key points:
- Mr McCarthy said it was the "right time" to leave after nearly 10 years
- He transformed the newsroom to incorporate Channel Seven and The Sunday Times
- The MEAA says his replacement needs to maintain quality in the newspaper
Seven West Media WA chief executive Maryna Fewster said Mr McCarthy had recently been planning changes to the newsroom operations which had prompted him to consider his own future.
McCarthy has been editor of the daily paper since March 2009, and was recently elevated to the position of senior editor overseeing both The West Australian and its Sunday stablemate, The Sunday Times.
"After nearly 10 years in this very demanding role, I decided it was time for a break before I look for new challenges," Mr McCarthy said.
"I really feel now is the right time for me to move on. I appreciate [Seven West chairman Kerry] Stokes and Ms Fewster allowing that to happen quickly so I can enjoy the holidays with my wife and children before looking to the future."
Mr McCarthy worked at a number of newspaper publications over his 30-year career, and moved to WA in 2001 as editor of The Sunday Times.
Mr Stokes paid tribute to Mr McCarthy's work at the paper.
"Brett has proved himself a great newspaper editor over many years," he said.
"He has led The West with integrity and deepened the paper's connection to the community, I have always respected his judgment."
Menegola quits as boss of Nine News Perth
Hours after Mr McCarthy's resignation emerged, it was revealed the news director at Nine News Perth, Shaun Menegola, was stepping down after five years in the role.
Nine Perth managing director Clive Bingwa confirmed Mr Menegola's departure in an email to staff.
"I would like to take the opportunity to thank Shaun for his guidance of news across his tenure," he said.
"Michael Dalton will be stepping into the role of acting news director as of Monday."
Mr Menegola worked at both the Seven and Ten networks in the city prior to joining Nine Perth.
Newspaper vs the Opposition
Under Mr McCarthy's leadership, The West Australian newspaper earlier this year became embroiled in an escalating war of words with WA's Liberal Party Leader Mike Nahan.
The dispute erupted when Dr Nahan made comments downplaying the relevance and influence of traditional media, and pointed to The West Australian's falling ratings and circulation.
"In Darling Range [for the June by-election] they weren't reading The West Australian, listening to the TV or listening to 6PR or 720 [ABC Radio Perth]," Dr Nahan said in August.
The argument prompted an angry response from The West Australian and its political reporter Gary Adshead, which declared Dr Nahan would "be extinct long before" the newspaper.
It called for Dr Nahan to be replaced as leader and refused to send any journalists to Liberal media conferences.
McCarthy attended Brisbane Grammar School and began his journalism career straight out of school as a cadet journalist in Brisbane in 1984.
He went on to work for News Corp for almost 15 years, including six of those as the editor of Perth's Sunday Times, before it was purchased by Seven West Media.
He is also a former deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph in Sydney, and assistant editor and day editor of Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph.
Challenges for new editor: union
WA regional director of journalists' union the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), Tiffany Venning, said Mr McCarthy had a significant career at The West Australian during a period of major upheaval.
"He's overseen some significant things that have happened in Western Australia's media landscape," she said.
"The move to digital that all companies have faced and had to grapple and deal with; the decline in revenues through traditional print advertising; obviously the purchase of the Sunday Times [and] integrating that newsroom into their newsroom; along with … bringing the Channel Seven newsroom onto that floor as well."
Ms Venning said upheaval in the media landscape was far from over, and whoever replaced Mr McCarthy would face significant challenges.
With Seven West Media owning WA's only major daily paper and only Sunday newspaper, along with the Seven broadcast newsroom, Ms Venning said it was more important than ever for a new editor to maintain quality in the paper's journalism.
"We would be hoping for someone who has a great understanding of, particularly, Western Australian matters," she said.
"I think all editors bring their own personal stamp to some degree to the role, so it's an incredibly important one.
"Also the staff out there have gone through quite a lot of senior management over the years, whether it be the CEO, chief financial officer, HR managers and things like that.
"So I think they just need some certainty going forward."
New editor likely a local
Curtin University journalism professor Joseph Fernandez said the replacement editor would almost certainly be a local.
"A good employer seeking to fill a vacancy at that level would need to cast their net as widely as possible, but one thing I think is inescapable in setting out the criteria there is a need to have a deep appreciation of Western Australia as a state, it's politics, it's conditions," he said.
"And I don't think parachuting someone in who takes the team by surprise is going to work very well.
"Any change at that level is very disruptive. Long relationships and alliances and loyalties would have been built around that current editor and the new person will need to try and ensure a smooth transition and win the confidence and support of the team.
"Ultimately media organisations rely very, very heavily on teamwork and that person will need to ensure that he or she will be able to bring that about."
Dr Fernandez said declining readership would be high on the new editor's to-do list.
"The media world is being wracked by uncertainty, and audiences are not as loyal to one platform as they used to be many decades ago," he said.
"Readership has not been going gangbusters, so whoever takes over the helm will continue to face pressure from stakeholders to do more with less."
Topics: media, print-media, business-economics-and-finance, perth-6000, wa
First posted