Guardian to make its move Down Under

 
p16 p17 diary Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman and CEO, attending day four of the Allen & Company's 30th Annual Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley Idaho, USA. Reports on 21 July 2012 state that Rupert Murdoch has resigned as director of News International, the UK operation of News Corporation. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT
EPA
17 December 2012

Watch out, Rupert Murdoch. The Guardian, which has led the way exposing the phone-hacking scandal in the Murdoch empire, is expanding in his own backyard, with a Guardian Australia news operation.

Glamorous deputy editor Katherine Viner, seen as a frontrunner to succeed editor Alan Rusbridger, is set to go to Oz to lead the team.

The Australian expansion plan will be controversial at Guardian HQ in Kings Place as the paper is having to make up to 68 staff compulsorily redundant to stem losses running at £44 million a year. The Guardian has already spent significant sums on Guardian America. But the paper is apparently not having to spend a huge amount on the adventure Down Under because it is planning to collaborate with an Australian investor, Graeme Wood, a philanthropist who has set up The Global Mail, an independent not-for-profit news website.

There has been speculation that The Guardian might consider a print edition in Australia but that is not considered a wise move by Rusbridger, who has adopted a “digital-first” strategy. Viner is understood to be going to Oz for an extended period of time, which will be a loss to the newspaper, where she is the most senior female news executive and the editor of the Saturday Guardian, the best-selling print edition of the week.

Being sent to Australia could be a smart move for Viner because she may avoid some of the blood-letting set to happen in Kings Place. “As the Guardian’s reach grows it’s natural we continually explore a wide range of opportunities and partnerships,” says a Guardian spokesman, who adds that 40 per cent of its online users are from outside the UK.

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