Andrew Jaspan
Andrew Jaspan, (b. 20 April 1952)[1] British-Australian journalist, is the editor of The Conversation, an independent not-for-profit website of analysis, commentary and news from the university and research sector .[2]
Between 2004 and 2008, Jaspan was the Editor-in-Chief of Melbourne’s The Age and The Sunday Age, a job from which he was later sacked following a massive newsroom revolt in which 235 journalists accused him of "degrading their ability to produce independent journalism."[3]
Career
Prior to this, he edited The Observer in London, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, and Sunday Herald in the UK. Under Jaspan's editorship, the Sunday Herald won numerous internationally recognised SND awards. He also worked at The Times and Sunday Times and is also a former Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Big Issue.
Jaspan is the Asia-Pacific Director of Innovation Media International, on the Board of the RMIT Global Cities Research Institute, a speaker and participant in the Australian Davos conference, and was an observer in the 2020 Ideas Summit.
He is Adjunct Professor in School of Media and Communication, RMIT, Melbourne; Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Engineering and Infrastructure, University of Melbourne.
Jaspan joined The Age as Editor-in-Chief in October 2004. Throughout his appointment as Editor in Chief at The Age, circulation, readership and online figures increased.
Digital Journalism
After being sacked from The Age in 2008, Andrew started working with the higher education sector on The Conversation project.[4] The website is based upon the idea of sharing the expertise of academia directly with the public and thus turning the university sector into a giant newsroom. Content is written by academics working in collaboration with professional editors using a custom built collaborative publishing platform.[5] Andrew raised $9M from the university, government, corporate and research sector and launched The Conversation in early 2011.[6] The project launched with the ambition to transform the research and analysis of leading universities and research bodies into a journalistic product that was freely accessible to the public.[7]
In May 2013, The Conversation expanded with a launch into the UK,[8] into the US[9] in 2014, and into Africa[10] and France[11] in 2015.
Controversy
In April 2008, Age journalists unanimously passed a motion accusing him of undermining their ability to report without fear or favour.[12] In August 2008, Jaspan was sacked from his position and was replaced immediately as editor by senior deputy, Paul Ramadge. The move came a day after Fairfax announced 550 jobs would go from its Australian and New Zealand operations.[13]
The Conversation, Jaspan's latest venture, has been described by Quadrant Magazine online as "one-sided," "lavishly-funded," and "staffed by left-leaning refugees from commercial news organisations' withered operations."[14] Furthermore, right-wing website the commentator.com perceives it as being an outlet for radical left-wing politicians, such as the Syriza Party, which came to power in Greece on an anti-austerity and mildly pro-Marxist economic platform.[15]
References
- ↑ "Weekend birthdays", The Guardian, p. 59, 19 April 2014
- ↑ Jaspan, Andrew (18 April 2012). "A year of Conversation". Mumbrella. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ Simmons, Margaret (11 April 2008). "Andrew Jaspan? 235 Age journalists can't be wrong". Crikey. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ Quinn, Karl (25 March 2011). "Fairfax Media". The Age, Victoria. The Age. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ Baker, Simon (6 October 2011). "In the virtual newsroom scholars tell the story". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ Trounson, Andrew (30 March 2011). "Getting the news out". Higher Education. The Australian. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ Carney, Shaun (26 March 2011). "Look who's contributing to the Conversation". The Age, National. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/aug/17/andrew-jaspan-website-the-conversation-com
- ↑ "The Australian, Sun never sets on Andrew Jaspan's global academic conversation".
- ↑ "The Conversation to launch in Africa with funding from Bill Gates foundation - mUmBRELLA". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
- ↑ Delcambre, Alexis. "The Conversation se lance en français". Le Monde.fr (in French). ISSN 1950-6244. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
- ↑ Simmons, Margaret (11 April 2008). "Andrew Jaspan? 235 Age journalists can't be wrong". Crikey. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ "Age editor sacked from his position". The Age, National. Fairfax Media. 27 August 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ Thomas, Tony (14 Feb 2014). "A Rather One-Sided 'Conversation'". Quadrant. Retrieved 28 Sep 2014.
- ↑ Gallagher, Tom (5 Feb 2015). "Greek crisis foreshadows new European order". TheCommentator.com. Retrieved 5 Feb 2015.
External links
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Magnus Linklater |
Editor of The Scotsman 1994 - 1995 |
Succeeded by James Seaton |
| Preceded by Jonathan Fenby |
Editor of The Observer 1995 - 1996 |
Succeeded by Will Hutton |
| Preceded by New position |
Editor of the Sunday Herald 1999 - 2003 |
Succeeded by Richard Walker |
| Preceded by Michael Gawenda |
Editor of The Age 2004 - 2008 |
Succeeded by Paul Ramadge |