The Guardian is pulling together a heavyweight editorial roster ahead of its much trailed Australia launch. The latest big name to sign up to the left-leaning organ is David Marr.
A vocal critic of Fairfax's restructuring, Marr left The Sydney Morning Herald last July, on Friday the 13th. The date could be portentious for his former employers given his new paymasters.
The award-winning journalist and Media Watch presenter was never shy in criticising news outlets, owners and journalists. During his Media Watch stint the then-editor of The Daily Telegraph, Campbell Reid, sent Marr a dead fish.
A replica of it was turned into the Campbell Reid Perpetual Trophy for the Brazen Recycling of Other People's Work. Bearing the motto Carpe Verbatim, it is now awarded annually for journalism and plagiarism*.
Marr said he'd been reading The Guardian since the '70s and it was "one of the reasons I decided to become a journalist ... I'm looking forward to writing for one of the news organisations I most admire."**
The Guardian is set to launch this year, but nobody yet knows when. The outfit has claimed it has 1.2 million unique users here already, making it The Guardian's fourth largest market. Lenore Taylor has been hired as political editor and Katharine Murphy as deputy political editor under editor-in-chief Katharine Viner.
*Disclosure: this was lifted from another website. **Pasted from a press release.
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at brendancoyne@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.