Guardian Australia

Guardian Australia
Type Online Newspaper
Owner(s) Guardian Media Group
Editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor
Founded 2013 (2013)
Political alignment Centre-left to Left-wing, Social liberal, Green politics
Language English
Headquarters Foster Street, Sydney, Australia
Website www.theguardian.com/au

Guardian Australia is the Australian online presence of the global online publication and British newspaper, The Guardian. It launched in 2013, led by Katharine Viner. The current editor is Lenore Taylor. The Australian site followed the earlier Guardian US service which started in 2011. The Australian operation's head office is based in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills with bureaus in Melbourne and Canberra with 42 journalists in 2016.[1]

Before its launch, the British edition of the website was already popular with Australian audiences, ranked just outside the top 10 news websites visited in Australia. Australia was The Guardian's fourth-largest market with 1.3 million users per month.[2] Guardian Australia is routinely ranked in the top 10 most visited news websites in Australia.[3]

History

Guardian Australia was launched on 27 May 2013 in the lead-up to the 2013 Australian Federal Election.[4] It was launched with an investment loan from Graeme Wood reported to be worth nearly A$15 million.[1]

The British team was joined by local journalists, including some who previously worked at News Corp Australia and Fairfax Media, including Lenore Taylor, Katherine Murphy and David Marr.[5] The Guardian Australia has a Comment is Free section edited by Gabrielle Jackson which has opinion pieces from regular writers, politicians, other public figures and members of the public.[6]

In 2016, it was announced that the then political editor Lenore Taylor would take over the editorship following the end of Emily Wilson's tenure.[7]

Controversy

In May 2017, as part of a confidential legal settlement, Guardian Australia issued an apology to Noel Pearson over a story they published in January 2017, which made defamatory claims. The newspaper said it "accepts that the comments regarding Mr Noel Pearson in that article were false, [...] unreservedly retracts the statements made in the article regarding Mr Noel Pearson and apologises for the harm and distress caused to him"[8]

Financial performance

Guardian Australia has yet to make a full-year profit, posting losses in each year of its operation. In the 2013-2014 financial year it reported losses of A$7.5 million, despite revenue of A$3.79 million.[9] The following year, it made a loss of A$6 million loss, which rose to A$14 million loss in 2015-2016.[10]

Ownership

The Guardian Australia is controlled by Guardian News and Media (GNM). GNM is controlled by Guardian Media Group (GMG), which is controlled by the Scott Trust Limited, a limited company which aims to ensure the editorial independence of the publications and Web Sites of GMG.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Murrell, Colleen (1 March 2016). "The Guardian’s costly gap between traffic and profits". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "Guardian to launch Australian online edition". ABC News. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Chambers, Pippa (13 July 2015). "The Guardian and Yahoo7 shimmy up Nielsen news site rankings". Ad News. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  4. ↑ Sweney, Mark (27 May 2013). "Guardian Australia launches with promise of 'fresh and independent view'". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Guardian Australia primed and ready". B&T. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Christensen, Nic (27 May 2013). "The Guardian launches its Australian digital edition". Mumbrella. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Georgina (20 May 2016). "Lenore Taylor named new editor of Guardian Australia". Victor Harbor Times. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  8. ↑ Apology to Noel Pearson
  9. ↑ "Guardian Australia loses $7.5m, despite readership gains". NewsMediaWorks. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  10. ↑ Davidson, Darren (20 May 2016). "Guardian appoints new editor to loss-making Australian site". The Australian. Retrieved 22 December 2016.(subscription required)
  11. ↑ "Guardian Media Group". Gmgplc.co.uk. 2013-03-31. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
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