News Corp restructure: Sunday Telegraph editor departs – ‘Goodbye, it’s been a privilege'

Mick Carroll has departed The Sunday Telegraph...but he hasn't left the building.

Mediaweek recently reported that News Corp Australia’s Pippa Leary is to become managing director of the free news and lifestyle division, spanning news.com.au, the NCA newswire, and lifestyle digital brands. Mick Carroll, until yesterday, The Sunday Telegraph‘s editor, becomes editor-in-chief of the division.

Carroll noted his Sunday Telegraph departure on his “Mick’s Picks” page which generously gives the editor a tabloid page to recommend what’s on offer to readers.

Mick Carroll's final page 1 of The Sunday Telegraph

Carroll started his Sunday guide in usual fashion:

It's Origin Week and we are jam-packed today with everything you need to know to get you in the mood for Wednesday's Game 2 blockbuster in Melbourne.

But he soon got down to his farewell note:

Today is my final edition as editor of The Sunday Telegraph. After 12 years editing Australia's most-read newspaper and its digital platforms, and four years of editing its sister publication The Saturday Telegraph, I am changing gigs.

This has been a dream job.

Carroll details the brand's proudest moments

Not only have we tried to make sense of the biggest news stories in the world for you, but we have also led some public interest campaigns that have changed this country. Our proudest moments have been our ongoing pro-vaccination campaigns, No Jab, No Play/ Pay, which lifted the level of childhood immunisation; Can We Talk, our long commitment to encouraging the community to talk about mental ill-health, especially in young people; and our Bone Dry drought campaign which raised billions of dollars in relief funding. We couldn't have done any of that without you.

Politicians and business leaders listen to us because we listen to you - and there are a lot of you.

They know if they don't do the right thing, you will make sure there are consequences - and for that we will be forever grateful. In a world in which information is coming at you from every which way, and from so many unreliable sources, we have tried to curate news that was important, told you what you need to know, and also, hopefully, made you laugh.

It has been a privilege being part of your weekend routine, and I am sure my team and their new editor, Anna Caldwell, will continue to tell stories that matter to you. Thanks for giving me your time, I've really enjoyed your company.

Cheers, Mick

Carroll has been national weekend editor since May 2020 with oversight of lifestyle, entertainment, magazine, news specials and investigations to drive weekend audiences and subscriptions. He has been editor of The Sunday Telegraph since 2012 and before that, was deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph and editor of the Townsville Bulletin.

In January last year, Carroll was also appointed the new chair of the News Corp Editorial Board which oversees strategic decisions for the broader group of News Corp titles in Australia.

At that time, News Corp Australia executive chair Michael Miller said: “Mick is an acknowledged editorial leader with vast experience across regional and national publishing and a commitment to journalism that reflects our audiences’ passions and concerns. I look forward to his contribution as chair of News Corp’s Editorial Board as we intensify our focus on meeting the information needs of Australian families.”

Anna Caldwell

Who’s the new editor of The Sunday and Saturday Daily Telegraph?

As Carroll mentioned in his final editor’s letter, the weekend paper’s new editor is Anna Caldwell. She has recently been deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph. Prior to this, Caldwell was the paper’s state political editor. She joined The Daily Telegraph in 2017 after two years as News Corp’s US correspondent based in New York. Caldwell covered federal politics in the Canberra press gallery during the Gillard/Rudd era. She is a former chief of staff at Brisbane’s The Courier-Mail.