When Luke McIlveen was asked in 2010 to name the journalists he most admired, the then-Murdoch editor said radio shock jock Ray Hadley was the “most influential and effective working journalist in this country”; and he mocked storied journalists David Marr and the now-late Liz Jackson along the way. At the time McIlveen was a rising star at News Corp and given his first masthead – the Manly Daily – to edit, and was keen to display his credentials as a no-nonsense leader with a passion for tabloid journalism.
This 14-year-old article in the Australian’s media section, “Ten Questions with Luke McIlveen”, was just one of the historical articles nervous journalists at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age were passing around last week when Nine Entertainment said McIlveen, also the founding editor of Daily Mail Australia, had been appointed executive editor. The unashamedly downmarket operator who revelled in mocking so-called worthy journalism was now in charge of the Herald and the Age.
