News Limited has restructed the senior management of its newsrooms, in what chairman & chief executive John Hartigan described as a move to meet the needs of multi-platform audiences.
The Australian editor Paul Whittaker will take over the editorship of fellow News Limited paper The Daily Telegraph, following the exit of Garry Linnell.
Whittaker has been with News Limited for 23 years, with the last four as editor of The Australian. He was formerly deputy editor and national chief-of-staff of The Australian, and has also served as news editor, associate editor and chief-of-staff of The Courier-Mail.
According to a statement from News Limited, Linnell has resigned to pursue other interests. Linnell was appointed editor of The Daily Telegraph in 2008 and was previously head of Nine Network's news and current affairs division. Prior to that, he was the editor of the now-defunct ACP title The Bulletin.
News Limited chairman & chief executive John Hartigan said: "Garry is one of the finest journalists in Australia, certainly one of the finest writers. He has been a popular editor among Telegraph staff and will be missed by his colleagues on the paper and elsewhere in the group."
The Australian deputy editor Clive Mathieson will take over from Whittaker at the national daily, reporting to The Australian editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell. Mathieson has been in the deputy chair since 2010 and previously served as business editor and deputy night editor.
In addition, Alan Oakley, group executive editor digital platforms, will take on the reins as editorial strategy director of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. Oakley has been charged with developing an editorial strategy for both mastheads across print and digital.
He will be responsible for creating a series of rolling editions and fully integrate staff with digital teams in the newsrooms.
"This is a new role for new times," Hartigan said. "The demand for different content on different platforms around the clock prompted us to closely examine how we structure the senior management of our newsrooms to meet the needs of the multi-platform audience."
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