The editor of Guardian.co.uk, Janine Gibson, is to move to New York to oversee the group’s new digital operation in the US, it was announced today.
Gibson will be joined by Guardian.co.uk news editor Stuart Millar, who will be deputy editor. Other journalists making the move include sports blogs editor Steve Busfield, blogs editor Matt Wells and Guardian senior reporter Karen McVeigh.
Gibson said in a statement today: “We’re immensely proud of Guardian.co.uk and how its global audience has grown, especially with our coverage of WikiLeaks and the Middle East over the last few months.
“We’ve learned a lot about what digital journalism can do, and now we want to build on that to cover America better and cover the world better for our American users.
“To do that, we’ll be mixing the journalistic ambition, trust and long history of the Guardian with the energy and innovation that comes from being a start-up in the world capital of digital media.”
According to Comscore, the Guardian had eight million unique users in the US in February, about a fifth of its total global audience. Guardian News and Media editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger announced earlier this week that the group was looking to expand its US operation.
Rusbridger said today: “The Guardian, which is owned by the Scott Trust, has attracted a very considerable audience in America in recent years.
“We believe there is real demand for the sort of open, internationalist, digital journalism which we have been pioneering. Janine Gibson has been at the heart of our web operations and is the ideal person to lead our new team in the US.”
Steve Howe, a former Wall Street Journal and Financial Times executive, was last week appointed by Guardian News & Media as its new chief revenue officer in the US.
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