Memo: David Walmsley replaces John Stackhouse as Globe and Mail editor-in-chief
David Walmsley will become editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail, effective March 24. He will take over from John Stackhouse.
Here is the Globe and Mail memo from publisher Phillip Crawley:
I am pleased to announce that David Walmsley will become Editor in Chief of The Globe and Mail, effective March 24, 2014.
David returns to The Globe after 20 months as Director of News Content at CBC News and Centres, responsible for all coverage on broadcast platforms, including TV, radio and digital. David is rejoining The Globe and Mail at a pivotal time for our industry. David is known for his passion for journalism, his open style of leadership, and his ability to adapt to a fast-changing news environment. He will provide a new perspective, as we evolve our business.
He succeeds John Stackhouse, who has been Editor in Chief since May 2009. John spearheaded our rapid transition towards delivering more Globe content on digital platforms after the successful relaunch of the newspaper in October 2010. Following this, he was also instrumental in the introduction of Globe Unlimited, our digital subscription product. While at The Globe, John became a five-time National Newspaper Award winner for feature writing, business reporting and international coverage and his guidance as Editor helped lead an extraordinary run of National Newspaper Awards, including 14 nominations announced this week. Before becoming Editor, he led the Report on Business for more than five years. I wish John well in his future endeavours, and on a personal note, I thank him for his many years of dedicated service to The Globe and Mail.
David is a familiar face having spent six years at The Globe between 2006 and 2012. He was successively National Editor and then Managing Editor. David also brings extensive experience of different editorial and business cultures from his time spent in senior roles at the National Post, the Toronto Star as well as the CBC. Prior to coming to Canada, David worked for Daily Mail in the UK, as well as the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Record, and the Belfast Telegraph. He is a dual citizen of Canada and Britain, and lives in the GTA with his wife Jennifer and their two sons.
As Editor in Chief, David will continue to strengthen The Globe’s reputation for outstanding journalism. This will include continuing to attract and grow great talent and inspire innovative thinking.
Please join me in welcoming David and recognizing John’s contributions.
Phillip
Here is the CBC memo from general manager and editor-in-chief Jennifer McGuire:
It is with mixed emotions that we pass on the news that David Walmsley has decided to leave CBC News.
There is regret because David has spent close to two years as the Director of News Content, expertly guiding the network assignment operation, and working with reporters, programs and platforms to increase the breadth and quality of our original journalism. Along the way he also found time to break some big stories himself. We will certainly miss him.
But we are also extremely happy for David as he returns to The Globe and Mail, and a new challenge as the editor-in-chief.
This was David's second tour of duty at CBC News, working previously as the Executive Producer of Newsgathering and I know you will all join me in thanking him for his contributions here, and wishing him all the best at The Globe and Mail.
As of Monday, as an interim step, Jonathan Whitten will assume David's duties in addition to his own.
Best of luck David.
Here is the memo from outgoing Globe and Mail editor-in-chief John Stackhouse:
Dear friends and colleagues
As was announced this morning, I have left the Globe to help make way for new leadership to guide the editorial department in the years ahead.
I wanted to take this chance to thank everyone for making the Globe such a special place to work, learn and grow, where journalism still thrives, and for supporting, guiding and inspiring me as editor over the past five years. There's no better group of journalists I know anywhere, and you should feel confident in where you're going. There's a reason you've led the National Newspaper Awards in nominations for three years running, with 14 more announced this week. There's a reason you have been recognized internationally for online news, multimedia and a print redesign that changed Canadian newspapers. There's a reason the newsroom-driven paywall model is being studied far and wide. None of that is the work of one person; it's the result of a thriving corps — all of you — whose journalistic spirit and integrity will be a standard for years to come.
David is superbly qualified to lead the Globe from here, all the more so with a clean break that will allow everyone to move by leaps and bounds.
Thank you again for all we've shared, for your remarkable strength in challenging times, and most importantly, for the courageous work, at home and abroad, that will always define the newsroom and inspire us as Canadians.
It's been a privilege to work with you. It will be a pleasure to continue to read you.
John
Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.