Chris Dore resigns as editor-in-chief of the Australian blaming ‘personal health issues’
The editor-in-chief of the Australian, Chris Dore, has resigned suddenly, citing “personal health issues”.
The company declined to comment on the circumstances of Dore’s abrupt departure, not just from the newspaper but from the company.
In an email to staff, News Corp Australia’s executive chairman, Michael Miller, did not offer any praise of Dore’s 31-year career, which included four years leading the national masthead.
“Chris is also undergoing surgery this week and we wish him the best,” Miller said.
Dore has edited the Daily Telegraph, the Courier Mail and the Sunday Times in Perth and was deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph.
Staff said it was unusual for people who were unwell to leave the company entirely rather than take a break to recover.
Dore has been a powerful figure at News for 20 years including a recent role as chairman of the editorial board.
“I have asked Michelle Gunn to continue to edit the Australian,” Miller said in his note.
“Michelle, who also began her career as a cadet on the Australian, has been editor since May 2020 and previously was editor of the Weekend Australian for eight years.”
Miller went on to praise Gunn as having an “insightful understanding of the Australian’s audience and the issues and debates that interest them most, which are at the heart of the nation’s future”, without a word of praise for Dore.
Sources said Dore had recently returned from an extended visit to New York where he visited the US headquarters of the Murdoch empire. It is unclear if the visit was related to his departure.
In his own note to staff, Dore said Wednesday was his last day and he was “exhausted” and “can’t keep going on like this”.
“I have long-standing personal health issues I need to resolve and am leaving News to concentrate on restoring my health,” he said. “I will also be undergoing surgery this week, so will have to postpone farewells until a later time.”
As editor-in chief of the Australian since 2018, Dore was asked by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas to be the first in a series of editors to speak about his craft.
In his March lecture he said journalism was being tarnished by activist journalists who had “an irrational and tireless obsession with tearing down News Corporation journalism”.
He said some journalists were so “vain self-obsessed, craving, indulgent, needy” that they were “undermining their profession” and they should stick to reporting and not give their opinion.
“Too many journalists are inserting themselves into their stories or, worse still, into other reporters’ stories,” Dore said. “Some reporters are chasing the cheap, wild and ready-made approval of the in-crowd instead of chasing the more elusive yarn.”
Dore has defended his decision to create an online youth section, the Oz, after staff grumbled anonymously about the amount of people he hired to run it.
On Instagram and TikTok, where the Oz is targeting its younger audience, many posts are lucky to get a handful of likes.
Sources told Guardian Australia that subscriptions were few and traffic to the site was low.
“For a new brand, the Oz has already built a strong, loyal and growing audience across all platforms,” Dore said on 15 July. “The growth in audience is exceptional, well above expectations.”
In his note to staff, Dore said he had been “blessed” to edit four Murdoch titles.
“I am beyond proud that this year the Australian recorded its most profitable result in our near 60-year history, as Robert Thomson noted at the News Awards, 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,” he said.
Staff on the Australian were blindsided by Dore’s sudden exit.