Award-winning journalist Gary Adshead is set to rejoin Business News after spending the past couple of years working in radio.
Award-winning journalist Gary Adshead is set to rejoin Business News after spending the past couple of years working in radio.
Adshead, 59, worked for Business News in 2022, covering politics and moderating the organisation's breakfast events.
He left to host 6PR's flagship Mornings show, making the switch to ABC's Drive program after a change of format at the commercial broadcaster.
Adshead, who has worked across newspapers, television and radio in a 30-year career, will produce exclusive reports for the Business News website and will be tasked with providing readers with the inside running on state politics and the machinery of government.
A four-time winner of the WA Journalist of the Year award, he will be involved in the entire suite of Business News products, from the fortnightly magazine to podcasts, events and bespoke newsletters.
Meanwhile, veteran business reporter Neale Prior has also joined Business News after 33 years at The West Australian.
Prior was the Perth correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers as WA Inc started to unravel in late 1987 and then worked for the SMH in Sydney for four years before returning home.
Business News executive editor Sean Cowan said Adshead and Prior would significantly add to the reporting talent at the organisation, which already included former editors Mark Beyer and Mark Pownall, deputy editor Jack McGinn and senior journalists Claire Tyrrell and Tom Zaunmayr.
“We have the biggest business-focused newsroom in Western Australia, so to be able to add Gary and Neale to our team will only bring more value to our subscribers," he said.
"I'm particularly excited about our plans for political coverage, which will bring a fresh new style that will provide information you simply won't find in other media."
Other recent changes at Business News include the appointment of McGinn as deputy editor, of Elisha Newell as head of data, and of Isabel Vieira as chief of staff.
Meanwhile, Nadia Budihardjo continues to drive the industry-leading coverage of local government issues, Sam Jones is taking on the growing defence round in addition to his groundbreaking reporting on tech, Justin Fris has added the sports round to his portfolio, while Ella Loneragan is helping to grow coverage of the property sector while also reporting on creative industries and not for profits.
The growth of the Business News team comes at a time when most commercial media organisations are cutting staff due to challenging revenue conditions.
Business News has tripled its subscription revenue base over the past five years by investing in unbiased journalism and sector-leading data projects.
Recent projects launched as part of the Data & Insights platform include the gathering of data on property leasing and sales deals and the addition of key WA ASX-listed companies' share prices on the homepage, while the upcoming second edition of the Rich 100 special publication will also be paired with a more interactive online presence.
