After attending a Wall Street Journal event in Laguna Beach, California, last month, where Rupert Murdoch’s top executives were in attendance, Christopher Dore lost his job as editor-in-chief of the Australian.
Dore edited four mastheads for Murdoch throughout his 31 years at News Corp and was the most important editorial officer in his Australian company.
Lachlan Murdoch, the co-chairman of News Corp. who served as publisher of the Australian and general manager of Queensland Newspapers in the 1990s, was a close friend of his.
Dore edited the Daily Telegraph, the Courier Mail, and the Sunday Times in Perth in addition to serving as editor-in-chief of the Australian for four years and serving as deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph.
He resigned on Wednesday, claiming “personal health issues,” but neither the Murdochs nor the company’s top executives offered their congratulations.
Breaking: The Australian’s editor Chris Dore lost his job after attending News Corp event in California https://t.co/g1ia9twHvn
— amanda meade (@meadea) November 18, 2022
According to sources, Dore chaired the News Corp Australia editorial board meeting on Wednesday afternoon, and shortly afterward, an email was sent to the staff informing them that Dore was departing the organization. Even the editors in charge at Holt Street were taken off guard by the information.
Dore attended the WSJ Tech Live conference in California, which was held at Laguna Beach between October 24 and 26, three weeks earlier. Dore attended the conference with News Corp.’s global chief, Robert Thomson, and executives from Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal.
Hailey Rhode Bieber, a model and skin care entrepreneur, and Sam Bankman-Fried, the embattled crypto king, were among the speakers.
Dore attended the event, according to confirmation from Guardian Australia, and was seen mingling with top executives at one of the several cocktail parties that took place there.
According to sources, News Corp management instructed Dore to take a long leave after observing his behavior.
He never came back to the business.
Sponsors, advertisers, and executives from News Corp around the world attended the WSJ Tech Live conference. Almar Latour, publisher of the WSJ and CEO of Dow Jones, and Thomson served as the event’s hosts.
On the specifics of Dore’s unexpected resignation from the newspaper and the firm, News Corp declined to comment.
Chris is also having surgery this week, and we wish him the best, said Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, in a note to workers.
Miller’s note stated, “I have requested Michelle Gunn to continue editing the Australian.”
“Michelle has been editor since May 2020 and previously served as editor of the Weekend Australian for eight years. She also started her career as a cadet on the Australian.”
Without mentioning Dore, Miller went on to compliment Gunn for having an “insightful awareness of the Australian audience and the issues and debates that are at the heart of the nation’s future.”
Dore acknowledged in a note to the staff that he was “exhausted” and “can’t keep going like this.”
I am quitting News to focus on regaining my health since I have ongoing personal health difficulties that I need to address. I will have to put off saying goodbye because I will be having surgery this week.
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Dore claimed in a memo to the staff that he had been “fortunate” to edit four Murdoch books.
As Robert Thomson noted at the News Awards, “I am beyond proud that this year the Australian recorded its most profitable result in our nearly 60-year history and has transformed into a genuine digital powerhouse, built on the biggest subscriber base of loyal, passionate readers and a group of innovative and adventurous journalists, photographers, designers, and editors.”
The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas asked Dore to be the first of several editors to speak about his craft in March.
In his talk, he claimed that activist journalists who had “an illogical and unrelenting preoccupation with knocking down News Corporation journalism” were tarnishing the reputation of the media.
He claimed that certain journalists were “undermining their vocation” because they were “vain self-obsessed, hungry, indulging, and needy,” and that they should stick to reporting and refrain from expressing their opinions.
Dore claimed that “too many journalists are putting themselves into their stories or, worse yet, into the tales of other reporters.” Instead of pursuing the more elusive yarn, “some reporters are chasing the cheap, crazy, and ready-made approval of the in-crowd.”
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