Michael Stutchbury departs AFR as top editor
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The news: Michael Stutchbury has stood down as editor-in-chief of Nine Entertainment’s Australian Financial Review after 13 years in the role.
The context: Nine’s former managing director of publishing, James Chessell, will succeed Stutchbury after departing the company in January and advising the company on its deals with digital platforms. Chessell was formerly executive editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Stutchbury will continue writing for the newspaper as editor-at-large after taking a break, the company said in a statement Monday.
Stutchbury, 67, has led coverage of several business and political stories, including the recent PwC tax leaks scandal.
Stutchbury leaves Nine as its publishing division, led by managing director Tory Maguire, prepares to cut up to 90 jobs as part of a group-wide cost-cutting program.
What they said: “Having worked for James for more than five years while he was both executive editor and managing director I know him to be the most energetic, talented and determined person to take the AFR on the next phase of its growth. He understands audiences and believes in storytelling of the highest standard,” Maguire said in a statement Monday.
“He also has the best contact book of any journalist in business, which is essential for the editor-in-chief, and his love of being in a newsroom is boundless. The publishing team is incredibly lucky James is willing to return to Nine and lead the AFR.”
Stutchbury said the newspaper has done well to manage the shift from print to digital after facing a potential loss just over a decade ago. He said it’s never had more paying subscribers.
“This fundamentally rests on the Financial Review’s high-quality journalism that has never won more plaudits and awards than in the past year. This has been led by the story of 2023, the PwC tax leaks scandal, that is now being capped by the story of this year, the CFMEU investigation,” he said.
“It is not easy to walk away from the privilege of leading a newsroom that has delivered so much. But, after 13 full-on years, now is the right time for someone with fresh energy and new ideas to lead the Financial Review's next phase of growth.”
The source: Nine Entertainment statement
