The venerable Australian Women’s Weekly is in talks to appoint a new
editor, with the highly respected Lisa Green expected to sign on the
dotted line within days (if she hasn’t already). Green is on maternity
leave from her current employer Fairfax (who apparently has no idea how
to use her considerable talents) and has been in deep dialogue with the
Weekly’s editor-in-chief Deborah Thomas over recent weeks, including at
least one public tete-a-tete at the ACP house canteen Bambini Trust. An
offer is believed to have been made.

Apparently
the plan is that Thomas, who’s been at the helm since 2000, would
concentrate on the corporate big picture, while Green would take on the
task of reversing the Weekly’s falling circulation. The 71-year-old
‘grande dame’ of Australian magazines (that’s the Weekly, not Thomas)
has watched its circulation slide from 1.1 million in 1993 to 679,000
in the last circulation audit. But it’s still a major money-earner for
the Packers, hauling in an estimated $47 million in revenues in the
past year, with a profit number believed to be around the $15-20
million mark.