Nine's Luke McIlveen hire met with trepidation on SMH, Age newsroom floors
In a 2010 interview, McIlveen said he was frustrated with the "dross" being published by the Sydney Morning Herald. Now he is the historic paper's boss.
Over the past week, a 2010 interview featuring Luke McIlveen has been circulating among rank and file journalists at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age after the former Daily Mail editor emerged in this publication as a contender for the top job at the mastheads.
In the interview, which ran in The Australian newspaper and was conducted by the News Corp title's then media writer James Chessell, McIllveen named 2GB talkback host Ray Hadley among his favourite journalists, and described the "dross" of former star Herald writer and Walkley winner David Marr as among his biggest frustrations in the industry at the time.
McIlveen was formally appointed executive editor of the Herald and The Age today, in one of the biggest shake-ups at the historic mastheads since Nine Entertainment took control of them following the 2018 merger with former owner Fairfax Media.
The shake-up was triggered by the resignation of McIlveen's former interviewer, Chessell, who unexpectedly stepped down as Nine's MD of publishing to move into corporate affairs consulting. Chessell's departure led to the elevation of Tory Maguire, with McIlveen now moving into Maguire's old role.
