Changes at The Courier-Mail

The editor of The Courier-Mail, David Fagan, has become editor in chief of the Courier and Sunday Mail; Michael Crutcher has become editor of the Courier and Scott Thompson will be Sunday Mail editor. Sunday Mail editor Liz Deegan will fill an unspecified new senior role at News Ltd. The changes were announced by CEO John Hartigan in a staff memo hailing a "new era" at the papers. In the memo, Hartigan said:

“Our Queensland titles are poised to enter a new period of growth through the development of paid content and truly integrated multi-platform publishing that will result in the full convergence of our print and digital publishing operations and greater collaboration and cooperation between The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail.
“While the Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail will very clearly remain individual mastheads in their own right, this new editorial structure will allow us to develop coordinated strategies for the growth of print, online and other digital applications seven days a week in a way that allows each title to contribute to the success of the other.
“I am delighted that David Fagan, Michael Crutcher and Scott Thompson have agreed to their new roles.
“I am also looking forward to Liz Deegan taking on a new role for the group. Liz has transformed The Sunday Mail in her three and a half years as editor and the newspaper is now significantly better positioned for growth as a result of the wide range of improvements she brought to the paper.
“Liz is one of our finest journalists. She has been an outstanding investigative reporter and one of the best European correspondents the company has had."

The changes follow the establishment last year of the News Central sub-editing operation, circulation losses for the print editions - the Sunday Mail has lost 100,000 sales in the past five years - and the recent announcement by News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch that his papers will begin charging for online content.