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The South China Morning Post has announced an overhaul of its organisational structure to appoint a publisher who will oversee both editorial and business operations at Hong Kong’s English-language newspaper of record. Board chairman Joe Tsai on Monday said editor-in-chief Tammy Tam would take up the newly created position of publisher, while executive editor Chow Chung-yan would be promoted to take over from her as head of the newsroom. CEO Catherine So would be leaving the Post after 3½ years in charge of growing the company while tackling challenges facing the media industry, he added. Tsai is chairman of Alibaba Group, which has owned the Post since 2016. In putting veteran journalists Tam and Chow in charge, Tsai stressed the importance of editorial independence and excellence while ensuring “full alignment between the core news product and business”. “For the Post, our core product emanates from the newsroom, and therefore our journalists and editors are central to the commercial success and financial stability of our organisation,” he told staff in an email message. “This means that our editors will play an important role in the commercial success of the newspaper.” Tsai said the alignment of editorial and business strategy would be crucial for the Post’s commercial viability and financial sustainability. He promised Alibaba’s full resources and long-term commitment to achieving this goal. Tsai placed his full confidence in Tam, a 14-year veteran at the Post, and Chow, who has spent his entire journalistic career at the newspaper and currently runs daily newsroom operations. Tsai also thanked outgoing CEO So, who said it had been “a privilege and an honour” to lead the Post during a critical period of transformation, and was now looking forward to pursuing professional studies overseas.
