Network Ten has confirmed the appointment of John Choueifate as its Network News Director, replacing News Directors in each state.
The decision comes after the recent departures of Ten’s New Directors in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane and the forced redundancies of numerous highly experienced staff.
John Choueifate better known in the industry as ‘Choof ‘ has been Network Ten’s Director of News in Sydney since joining the network in December 2013.
With the State News Directors gone Chaoueifate will be responsible for TEN Eyewitness News in each state and the national weekend bulletin, one senior Ten journalist told this website last night,
“That was clearly the plan from the beginning. Any suggestion the News Directors “quit” is PR spin. Losing our News Directors is awful, We’re essentially bureaus now, overseen by Sydney. We like Choof… But how the new model goes, remains to be seen.”
Ten confirmed last month that 150 staff would depart the network with many leaving this Friday and more going immediately after Ten’s commitment to the Commonwealth Games is completed on August the 15th. One Ten employee last night stated,
“The feeling at Ten in general regarding the job cuts is one of disappointment, but much of the staff is numb to the process as they have gone through it before, sometimes three or four times.”
A number of Ten’s ‘Chief of Staff’ mangers across Australia have also recently been made redundant meaning senior journalists will now be expected to control the newsroom. One senior journalist told me last night,
“We’ll be running around from pillar to post trying to cover everything. No one wants to see the bulletin suffer”
Choueifate will be working with Ten’s Executive Director of News and Current Affairs, Peter Meakin. Speaking yesterday Meakin said “I have worked with John at three separate networks and he thoroughly deserves this promotion. He is a fine journalist and an excellent manager.”
Mr Choueifate’s resume includes Chief of Staff and Foreign Editor at Network Ten; Executive Producer and State Producer at Seven Network; and Director of News and Chief of Staff at Nine Network Sydney. He is also a former Director of State Strategy for the NSW Government.
The editor of this website would like to talk with any Ten Network employee’s affected by these changes. All communication is strictly confidential.
