IPC Media has announced Abigail Blackburn as the new editor of celebrity weekly Now, replacing Helen Johnston who quit in December.
Blackburn will start her new job on 10 March and will be leading an editorial team of 42 at Now, reporting directly to publishing director Andrew Sumner.
Blackburn is currently deputy editor of IPC stablemate Woman, having joined IPC in November 2005 to work on the 2006 relaunch of the mature women’s weekly. Before joining IPC she spent time on the Daily Mail’s Female and celebrity weekly Reveal, as well as TV Week, Vogue Living and New Woman in Australia.
She said: ‘I am thrilled to be taking the helm at Now, the original celebrity news weekly. The woman’s weekly market is my true passion, so the chance to edit such a fantastic brand and lead one of the most talented and experienced teams in this sector, is an absolute honour. I can’t wait to get started.’
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IPC Connect managing director Evelyn Webster said: ‘Having seen first hand Abigail’s enthusiasm, creativity and focus over the last two years, I know she’s the perfect candidate to lead the magazine’s award-winning editorial team onto the next stage of Now’s evolution.”
Sumner said ‘Editing Now is, without doubt, one of the biggest jobs in magazines and in Abigail we’ve got an editor with a profound understanding of the women’s weekly market, who’s brimming with ideas to take the brand to the next level across all platforms.”
Now delivered an ABC of 470,290 for the second half of 2007 down 12.9 per cent year on year. Former editor Helen Johnson quit IPC in December seven months after arriving at the magazine, to work on a secret project elsewhere in the publishing industry.
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