Lisa Davies to step down as The Sydney Morning Herald editor

After leading The Sydney Morning Herald as editor since 2017, Lisa Davies has announced she will be stepping down from the role.

In a note to staff on Tuesday, Davies said “After almost five years in the best job in journalism, I have decided it’s time to move on. It has been an immense privilege to lead this newsroom, which is full of talented and passionate individuals wholly committed to delivering news our readers can trust - day in, day out

“The last two years in particular have tested us all in ways we couldn’t have imagined so as things return to a more even keel, the time feels right for me to look towards what’s next.”

Speaking about the news, Tory Maguire, executive editor of The Herald said “Over her five years as editor she led her team through the major disruption of the restructure, held the newsroom together during the biggest challenges of the pandemic, and was a crucial part of the huge team effort to ensure the long term success of The Sydney Morning Herald.

“I’m sure whatever Lisa does next will see her continue to make a big contribution to the fabric of Sydney life. The plan is to conduct a recruitment process for a new editor that includes internal and external candidates.”

Davies joined The Herald as a crime editor in 2012, and stepped into the editor role in 2017. In her almost five years leading the paper, Davies has overseen the 2018 merger of Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Co, and the coverage of national crises including the 2019/20 bushfire season and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Under her leadership, The Sydney Morning Herald’s audience has grown from 5.5 million readers to 8.4 million. 

Cosima Marriner will be filling in as acting editor until a permanent replacement is found.