Mark Hollands has resigned as the CEO of media lobby group NewsMediaWorks and a search for his replacement is underway.
Hollands, a long time journalist, last year became the first self-published author to be shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards, held annually by the Australian Crime Writers Association, for his novel Amplify.
“I’d like to thank my colleagues, who continue to make an important and enthusiastic contribution to our industry," says Hollands. "They share my love of this industry and respect for those who work so hard to deliver journalism to our nation every day. It has been a pleasure to work with them. The time is right to move on, however, as I have a number of personal interests in Australia and overseas that I wish to pursue.”
Under Hollands’ leadership, NewsMediaWorks undertook a series of initiatives to support Australia’s leading news media publishers and communicate the sector’s value proposition to advertisers, including the 2013 launch of the cross-platform readership metric emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) and implementing the News Media Index, which reports whole of industry advertising revenue.
NewsMediaWorks chairman Michael Miller says: “The board wishes to thank Mark for his important contribution to NewsMediaWorks as well as the wider news media sector. The industry body will continue to focus on helping create operational efficiencies for the benefit of all publisher members.”
Hollands will depart the organisation on February 28 and the board will conduct a search for a new CEO.
Amplify, a crime thriller set in the seedy world of the Sydney rock music business, shortlisted in the Best First Fiction category of the Ned Kelly Awards, introduces anti-hero Billy Lime, an entertainment entrepreneur who risks losing everything when the lead singer of a band he's promoting is murdered.