Seven will streamline its news operations to a national desk that will see high profile reporter Hugh Whitfeld return to Australia after a decade abroad.
Confidential can reveal the latest move by new Director of News and Current Affairs Anthony De Ceglie will see Whitfeld take the helm as Director of the 7NEWS National News Desk.
“The 7NEWS National News Desk will be home to a centralised team of journalists whose responsibility as expert editors in their round will be to deliver exclusive content beyond anything seen on television,” the email read. “The specialist rounds cover everything from Business and Aviation to Property and Asia.”
- National News Desk Director and Foreign Editor – Hugh Whitfield (NSW)
- Federal Politics – Editor Mark Riley, with Rob Scott, Isabelle Mullen, Ben Downie and Josh Martin
- Business Editor – Amelia Brace (NSW)
- Business Reporter – Jessica Page (WA)
- Investigations – Alison Sandy
- Health Editor – Jen Bechwati (NSW)
- Consumer Affairs – Georgia Holland (QLD)
- Tech Editor – Shaun White (NSW)
- Aviation Editor – Blake Johnson (Melbourne)
- Property Editors – Angelique Opie (NSW), Melina Sarris (VIC) m Anna McGraw (QLD), Jasmin Teurlings (SA) and Alice Murray (WA)
- Defence Editor – Rob Scott (Canberra)
- Asia Editor – James Carmody (WA)
- Entertainment Editor – Wenlei Ma (The Nightly)
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So they spend all this time axing and cutting what made their news service good, but then wastes resources and money on these meaningless titles and roles.
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No I’d say this is actually streamlining as they say. I would assume the idea is that (for example) all (more than one market) aviation stories are covered by Blake and not re-done by multiple reporters.
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Nah, this is cost cutting in disguise. Moving forward we will see more generic national reports replacing locally produced content.
It’s not a bad idea, the lack of integration across the various state-base bulletins has always been a bit bizarre at Seven.
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Mark Riley still on leave!!
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It will certainly give a more national feel to bulletins with fewer local stories and local reporters that regular viewers recognise.
Interesting that the headline reads “musical chairs”. Have to wonder how much work there is for an aviation editor and it some of these are part time made up positions.
Overall, seems like it will give Nine an edge if they can maintain more local stories and avoid centralisation. I think I’d rather have a Business reporter in Brisbane telling a story about Queensland business than someone from Perth.
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Good to see Mark Riley still in that list but no Tim Lester if he has been brought back from the US?
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Can there not be more than one person from South Australia? Could make someone like Deanna Williams (long serving Adelaide court reporter) as Chief Legal Correspondent?
Wonder if people with roles such as state political reporter, court reporter, etc will remain?
Also no sport roles?
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Incorrect, this is cost cutting. In short, Seven News will run similar to how we see ABC 7PM state based bulletins. More national based stories will be added to all local bulletins. This is the beginning of streamlining and centralising operations.
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Obviously not a massive amount… it’s the same as how Richard Quest is CNN’s aviation correspondent and yet he still hosts a daily business show.
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Is Dr Keith Suter still on the books for Seven, IIRC their longest serving ‘expert’ guest, going back 20 years with Sunrise
Melina hosts the Property Pulse segment on the Melbourne bulletin on Saturdays so this is just the extension of her role.
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Same with Jasmin Teurlings (presents the Selling SA segment on Saturday)
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Wenlei Ma is a great pick-up, fab film reviewer for news .com.au / News Corp for many years and has a social presence, though surprised veteran chief (HS/Melb based) Leigh Paatsch didn’t get an invite, maybe never guest on The Latest?
Is Gemma Acton still the Finance Editor? or is she now fully focused on her new Director Of News role?
Yes, he was there all weekend for the Trump business.
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What an absolute joke! This reads like something from TvTonight on April Fools Day…
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Out of all the recent announcements, this is probably the most sensible.
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That’s a big blow to 7 Adelaide, can’t see a natural successor.
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Most of those rounds are already done as national stories anyway, except from a reporter who doesn’t have a fancy title. The streamline changes are very overstated. When was the last time major business, health, or health had multiple versions in different markets? The only case would be if the story is city specific. Is the aviation editor really going to do a story about Perth Airport out of Melbourne?
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