Nine Entertainment’s James Chessell quits as managing editor of publishing

The media company has announced to staff that the head of its publishing arm is departing his role after two years and he will be replaced in the new year.

James Chessell is standing down as publishing boss at Nine Entertainment. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Nine Entertainment’s publishing boss James Chessell has quit his role, which oversees the company’s major mastheads including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.

In a staff announcement from Nine’s chief executive officer Mike Sneesby sent to staff on Friday, he said Chessell will leave his position as the company’s managing director of publishing and he will be replaced by executive editor Tory Maguire as the interim publishing boss.

“James Chessell has decided to step down from his role as managing director publishing at Nine in the new year,” Mr Sneesby said in the staff note.

“James will continue to work with us in a new capacity leading our engagement with government and with our digital platform partners.

“These areas are a high priority for our business – ensuring we have the right regulatory settings in place to support the future of local media and developing strong commercial partnerships with the global digital platforms.”

Nine’s full-year net profit in the 2022-23 financial year slumped 38 per cent to $194m, as costs increased and advertising revenue fell, while annual earnings dropped 16 per cent to $591.2m from $700.7m in the previous financial year.

The company’s publishing arm’s revenue was $575.2m, down 4 per cent, while earnings fell 8 per cent to $164.7m.

Chessell will remain at Nine over the new year period and he said in a note issued to staff he will continue to work with the media company in the future.

“While I look forward to working with Nine on an ongoing basis, today’s announcement represents a big change for me in the new year,” he said.

“I’ll miss being a direct part of the most important public interest journalism machine in the country.”

He admitted to staff there can be “not-so-good days” but working in the media is the “best job in the world.”

He said Nine’s mastheads had refined a business model “increasingly based around recurring digital revenue earned from subscribers who value our content as well as our best-in-class products and technology.”

Chessell is part of Nine’s 12-person management team headed up by Mr Sneesby.

Chessell was appointed as Nine’s publishing boss in 2021 and prior to that he was group executive editor – Australian metro publishing – for three and a half years, and also national editor of the SMH and The Age.

Chessell was contacted for comment but he did not respond.