In brief
Seven West Media WA announced four editorial appointments: Christopher Dore will lead West Australian Newspapers and The Nightly as Editor-in-Chief; Sarah-Jane Tasker will edit West Australian Newspapers while continuing to lead The Nightly until a successor is named; Jessica Page will become The West Australian’s State Political Editor; and Adrian Lowe will edit The Sunday Times. The release also reported audience growth across its publications, citing IPSOS iris and Roy Morgan Research data. The Nightly’s reported July audience was 2.62 million, while West Australian Newspapers’ combined print and digital readership exceeded 3.91 million over a four-week period. Seven West Media said the appointments support its news brands and shared further readership figures for its titles.
Key takeaways
- Christopher Dore was appointed Editor-in-Chief of West Australian Newspapers and The Nightly.
- Sarah-Jane Tasker will edit West Australian Newspapers and remain Editor of The Nightly until a successor is appointed.
- Jessica Page was named State Political Editor of The West Australian; Adrian Lowe was appointed Editor of The Sunday Times.
- The company reported audience growth for The Nightly and its Western Australian publications, citing external research data.
August 23, 2024 -- Seven West Media WA today announced a series of senior editorial appointments designed to build on the success of its news brands.
Christopher Dore has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of West Australian Newspapers and The Nightly. He has been Acting Editor-in-Chief for the past three months.
Sarah-Jane Tasker has been appointed Editor of West Australian Newspapers. She will continue as Editor of The Nightly until a successor has been appointed.
Jessica Page has been appointed as The West Australian’s new State Political Editor, joining from 7NEWS Perth where she was a Senior Reporter. Adrian Lowe has been appointed Editor of The Sunday Times.
Seven West Media WA Chief Executive Officer, Maryna Fewster, said: “Chris is without doubt Australia’s most accomplished Editor-in-Chief with unrivalled experience in digital and print publishing, having worked across the country as a journalist and in many senior newsroom and executive roles, including as Editor of The Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph and The Australian.
“He is universally recognised as a leader in our industry, and has an exceptional record for driving standout, groundbreaking journalism and producing incredible newspapers. Chris is also known for digital innovation and transformation, so it is exciting to have him join us at such an important time for the media generally, and for our business as we continue to evolve and forge a strong future.
“Sarah-Jane is a brilliant Editor. She is a trailblazer, becoming the first female Editor of The West Australian, which is such a great achievement. She has done a magnificent job launching The Nightly, no easy task to build such an incredible product from scratch and has led the team to exceptional results in its first sixth months,” she said.
New data from IPSOS iris shows the unique audience for The Nightly, the national news website that features a digital-only newspaper, jumped by 14% in July, adding an extra 322,000 readers for the month.
The Nightly reached an audience of 2.62 million for the month, compared to 2.3 million in June. The Nightly also recorded a significant increase in page views, with 6.6 million for the month of July, a 32% increase on June.
Readership of The West Australian and The Sunday Times is surging, with each masthead recording a remarkable, market-leading increase in audience according to new Roy Morgan Research data.
The West Australian’s weekday readership grew by 10.5% in the June quarter, while the Saturday edition increased its audience by 11.5%. Over the same period, The Sunday Times grew a remarkable 26.2%.
The official Roy Morgan figures also reveal that audience growth for West Australian Newspapers measured across combined print and digital products has grown faster than any other major news outlet in Australia over the past year.
Cross-platform readership, combining print and digital audiences over a four-week period, raced past 3.91 million for West Australian Newspapers, up 4.7%
Two-thirds of West Australians read either a print or online version of West Australian Newspapers’ main brands each month, a reach unmatched by any other news outlet in Australia.
For further information, please contact:
Neil Shoebridge
M: 0417 511 012
E: [email protected]
Andrew Knowles
M: 0449 510 357
E: [email protected]
About Seven West Media
Seven West Media (ASX: SWM) is one of Australia’s most prominent media companies, reaching more than 19 million people a month with a market-leading presence in content production across broadcast television, publishing and digital.
The company owns some of Australia’s most renowned media businesses, including the Seven Network and its affiliate channels 7two, 7mate, 7flix and 7Bravo; the digital platform 7plus; 7NEWS.com.au; The West Australian; The Sunday Times; PerthNow; The Nightly; and Streamer. The Seven Network is home to Australia’s most loved news, sport and entertainment programming, including 7NEWS, 7NEWS Spotlight, Sunrise, The Morning Show, The Voice, Home and Away, Australian Idol, My Kitchen Rules, SAS Australia, Farmer Wants A Wife, The Chase Australia, Better Homes and Gardens, RFDS, The 1% Club and the TV WEEK Logie Awards. Seven Network is also the broadcast partner of the AFL, Cricket Australia and Supercars.
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Questions around this news
Who was appointed to the senior editorial roles?
Christopher Dore was appointed Editor-in-Chief of West Australian Newspapers and The Nightly. Sarah-Jane Tasker was appointed Editor of West Australian Newspapers and will remain Editor of The Nightly until a successor is named. Jessica Page became The West Australian’s State Political Editor, joining from 7NEWS Perth, and Adrian Lowe was appointed Editor of The Sunday Times.
What audience figures did The Nightly report for July?
The release says The Nightly reached a unique audience of 2.62 million in July, compared with 2.3 million in June. It also reports 6.6 million page views for July, an increase of 32% from June. The audience figures are attributed to IPSOS iris data.
What does cross-platform readership mean?
Cross-platform readership combines audiences who use a publication’s print and digital offerings. It gives a broader view of readership across formats than a print-only or digital-only measure. The way the audience is measured, including the time period and whether people who use both formats are counted once or more than once, depends on the research methodology.
What does a page view measure?
A page view is a count of a page being loaded or displayed in a digital product. It is not necessarily a count of distinct people: one person may generate multiple page views by visiting different pages or returning to the same page. Audience measures and page views therefore describe different aspects of digital use.
