Make that two Guardian staffers who have followed former Guardian.com Editor-in-Chief Janine Gibson out the door.
Stuart Miller, who was previously head of news at The Guardian, is joining BuzzFeed to lead its UK news operation, British media outlet Press Gazette reported Tuesday.
In a comment to Press Gazette, BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith hailed Miller as “one of the world’s great news editors” and noted that BuzzFeed was planning to further expand its presence in the UK.
Stuart is one of the world’s great news editors. Janine, Luke [Lewis, executive editor of Buzzfeed UK] and I are thrilled to have him head up our news operation in Britain as we continue to build out our editorial team.
The departure of some top talent from The Guardian comes after months of intrigue surrounding the replacement of former Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger. Gibson was one of the frontrunners for the job, which eventually went to former Guardian U.S. editor Katharine Viner. Shortly after Viner’s elevation, Gibson decamped to become Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed UK and quickly brought aboard her colleague, special projects editor James Ball.
The additions of Gibson, Miller and Ball comes as BuzzFeed is looking to increase its news presence internationally. BuzzFeed’s British operation, which was established more than two years ago, has gradually become less of a satellite operation of the company’s New York newsroom and more of a standalone publication, as reported by Nieman Lab’s Joseph Lichterman in March.
