New Pedestrian chief executive named following mass redundancies
Nine’s youth publishing brand Pedestrian has appointed a new chief executive, following a transition out of its current brand licences which resulted in a large number of redundancies.
Mason Rook joins Pedestrian from The Guardian, where he held the position of commercial director, and played a pivotal role in the Australian arm’s growth. He also brings experience from ARN, the Daily Mail, and Nine, where he was sales director.
As the new CEO, Rook will diversify the youth publisher’s commercial base, lead strategic initiatives to enhance the quality of its content, and leverage Pedestrian’s suite of assets to better connect brands with Aussie youth.
Mason Rook
“We are delighted to welcome Mason back to the Nine business in his new role with Pedestrian,” said Alex Parsons, Nine’s chief digital officer and chair of Pedestrian.
“Mason’s impressive track record and forward-thinking approach makes him the ideal leader to guide us through the next, exciting phase of our growth. He is without doubt one of the most talented media operators I have worked with.”
Of his appointment, Rook said he looks forward to leading “such a dynamic and impactful organisation”.
“I’ve been a personal fan of the business for many years and I look forward to working with the talented team to deliver exceptional content and connect Australia’s best brands to these audiences in new and exciting ways,” he said.
Rook replaces Matt Rowley, who departed earlier this month, as Pedestrian announced the “tough decision” to transition out of its current brand licences, resulting in a number of job losses.
Dozens of staff across Refinery29, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Vice Australia and Lifehacker Australia were made redundant, as the local operations – which were licenced under Pedestrian Group – were forced to close as part of the restructure.
In a note to staff, seen by Mumbrella, Rowley said: “As a result of this change, I will also be leaving Pedestrian Group and Nine following a transition period.”
Rook takes on the role effective Monday, July 29.
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@huh and others
They’ve gone from 7 titles to 1 and by the sounds of it dramatically reduced the number of people there. A substantive change to role also triggers a redundancy
The prior ceo left, the role wasn’t redundant.
So wait, they made the CEO (and everyone else) redundant, but then hired a CEO to replace him a week later? Literally redundancy is a companies saying that a role no longer is needed within said company. The job itself, not the person, is no longer required by the business, you can’t make someone redundant then the next week appoint someone new to their role surely?
C suite redundancies in 2024 eventually eventuate to another, but on less money.
@Huh
Anyone above the high income threshold has no unfair dismissal protection.