Reach has named the launch editors for its expansion of the Mirror and Express websites into the US.
The editor of the Mirror US will be Alex Wellman, who has been group deputy head of showbiz at Reach for the past three years, leading content for the Mirror, Express and Star websites. He has previously worked as deputy news editor at The Sun.
Wellman said: “We are incredibly excited to bring the Mirror’s unique brand of journalism and values to the US. We’ll be looking to continue to highlight the issues that matter to our readers on both sides of the Atlantic while also giving them a space to get the best news, sport and showbiz.”
Current Express executive editor Karl Holbrook will become Express US editor. He joined the brand last year from editing the Northern Echo, while he previously led The Bolton News.
Holbrook said: “The Express has come a long way in recent years and this giant leap into the US market is indicative of our ambitions to continue that growth and development. In almost 20 years in journalism, I can honestly say this is the most exciting project I’ve had the privilege to work on.”
Also joining the Express US team will be: Express deputy news editor and science editor Callum Hoare as head of news, influencer editor Emily Hodgkin as assistant editor, deputy video news editor Claire Anderson as deputy news editor, deputy TV editor Alex Davies as showbiz editor and Mirror showbiz journalist Harry Rutter as assistant showbiz editor.
At the Mirror US, Wellman will be joined by current online features editor Zoe Forsey and deputy head of news Joshua Taylor as deputy editors, online deputy features editor Rosaleen Fenton as news editor, Daily Star showbiz and TV editor Chloe Stewart as showbiz editor and Mirror assistant features editor Kyle O’Sullivan as deputy showbiz editor.
Belfast Live editor Ryan Smith has already been appointed as US editor at the Irish Star, which is also getting an expansion across the Atlantic with a focus on chasing the “sizeable” Irish American population using dedicated correspondents in New York City, Boston and Pennsylvania.
His team will include Laura Colgan, Ciaran Bradley, Katie Gallagher, Jane Corscadden, Brian Dillon, John O’Sullivan and Laura Grainger, who have all been seconded internally, Maria Flannery joining from RTE, San Francisco-based Martha Brennan who has joined from the Bay Area News Group and Fionnuala Boyle who has been seconded from the Daily Record in Scotland.
Reach said it would be launching a US-based recruitment drive in the coming weeks to recruit American journalists to the sites. It is expected that staff on the US sites will ultimately number about 100 by the end of this year.
The publisher has previously said more bespoke US-focused stories will begin to be published on its UK sites in early 2023 before the actual sites, at the domains the-express.com, themirror.com and irishstar.com, go live.
The US recruitment drive has not been hit by plans for 200 redundancies across the group as Reach has said it is “confident that this will drive more sustainable growth for the long term”, as will its strategy for user registrations.
[Read more: The British are coming: Fleet Street’s ‘digital landgrab’ on US news sector]
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