This was published 4 years ago
Veteran AAP executive Emma Cowdroy to lead newly formed newswire
By Zoe Samios
The consortium of investors and philanthropists expected to buy Australian Associated Press' newswire will appoint long-standing executive Emma Cowdroy to the helm of the organisation.
Industry sources said AAP chief executive Bruce Davidson is expected to lead what is left of AAP - Mediaverse, Medianet and Pagemasters - while Ms Cowdroy will be appointed chief executive of the newswire once the sale is completed.
AAP group general counsel Emma Cowdroy with chairman Campbell Reid after announcing the newswire's closure in March.Credit: AAP
Ms Cowdroy, who is currently AAP's group general counsel and has worked with the company for almost 20 years, has been involved in discussions relating to the potential sale of AAP. Peter Tonagh, who is leading the consortium, declined to comment.
Mr Davidson confirmed to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that the AAP board had asked him to look at leading the parts of the business that would not be acquired by the consortium.
“The appointment of a CEO and any other leadership [of the newswire] is for the new owners of the consortium," Mr Davidson said.
Long-standing editor-in-chief Tony Gillies is also expected to leave the business. Mr Gillies told staff on Thursday he could not expect the newly-formed newswire to support an executive of his level.
"As I reflect on my 16 years as your editor in chief, I feel nothing but pride for all we have achieved - news coverage to the highest standard, cutting edge projects, and the people we have attracted and developed," Mr Gillies said.
AAP's newswire is expected to be sold for $1 as early as this week to investors and philanthropists, including Samuel Terry Asset Management managing director Fred Woollard and Australian Impact Investments managing director Kylie Charlton, who are being publicly fronted by Mr Tonagh. The consortium and the AAP board, which includes representatives Nine Entertainment Co and News Corp, agreed on commercial terms earlier this month and have been working to formalise a transaction.
The hived-off newswire will provide up to 75 editorial jobs and about 10 roles in management, IT and support and is expected to cost the consortium more that $10 million to fund. There are about 140 editorial staff that remain at the newswire, as some staff took redundancies in March after major shareholders Nine (publisher of this masthead) and News Corp first announced plans to close the wire.
A sale, should it proceed, will result in at about 60 editorial redundancies at the organisation and will not operate with more than $10 million in funding that it previously received annually from its major shareholders.
Nine and News Corp, under Mr Davidson's leadership, will retain the Medianet, Mediaverse, Pagemasters and Racing businesses. Pagemasters is expected to be a smaller operation once News Corp brings subediting and production in-house later this year. The remaining businesses could still be sold, but there are no imminent plans.
Mr Davidson told staff on Wednesday that any formal transfer of the newswire operations, should the sale proceed, will not occur until July 31. All staff entitlements, including those moving to the new company, are expected to be funded by Nine and News Corp.
Plans to close the newswire after 85 years were revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in March. But the closure process was put on hold later that month after a number of bidders expressed an interest in buying parts of the organisation. The consortium led by Mr Tonagh made a bid for the newswire late last month.
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