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Weeks on, and we’re still learning new details about Lenore Taylor’s sudden exit from Guardian Australia. Now, On Background can report that the resignation followed months of tension between Taylor and her most senior colleague in the country.Taylor’s resignation on Tuesday afternoon two weeks ago, announced via email when she wasn’t even in the office, caught most staff off guard. But it followed a year when the relationship between Taylor and local managing director Rebecca Costello had deteriorated significantly, four sources with knowledge of the decision not authorised to speak publicly said.
It is not uncommon in media organisations for there to be tension between the editorial and commercial divisions, both of which are trying to advance causes that can sometimes be at odds. But in this case, it appears to have escalated beyond run-of-the-mill professional differences.
There’s certainly plenty in the background to cause tension, not least several missed quarters of sales targets, in spite of record readership figures.
There had been talk of Taylor, who had entered her tenth year as editor, stepping down for some time, though internal sources say the UK head office had begun to think the time was nigh for renewal.
After the relationship between Costello and Taylor went downhill, the editor resigned, catching global editor-in-chief Katharine Viner and international chief executive Anna Bateson, who had a planned trip to Australia the following week, off guard.
The Guardian advertised for the role externally last week. That surprised staff, who were shocked the publication would defy convention and look externally for the editor.
Among the internal contenders, rumoured contender and one of two Australian deputy editors, Patrick Keneally, looks like he may be ruled out. His partner, Bonnie Malkin, the outlet’s international editor, has accepted a posting at The New York Times’ South Korean bureau. Congratulations to Malkin.
The question now is, what kind of operation will the new Guardian Australia editor inherit? It made some of its first redundancies last year as part of a minor restructure. And attention and investment has shifted to its rapidly growing US newsroom.
A bolstered American newsroom has also helped drive the outlet’s local rise in the Ipsos rankings over the past year amid the crazy first year of a second Donald Trump presidency.
In response to a series of question from On Background, a Guardian spokesperson pointed to Taylor’s statement from the day of her resignation where she said building the editorial team had been an “honour, a challenge and a lot of fun”.
“I’ve been musing on this decision for some time. But there’s always been another challenge, another big story or another reason to defer it. There’s always the next thing in a job that is so utterly exhilarating and all-consuming. But it is also utterly exhausting.
“Ten years is a long time to work at this pace. It leaves little time to care for yourself or for those you love. So, for many reasons, I have decided it’s time to pass the baton.”
Rob Lake