Staff of the Guardian and Observer have voted in favour of Katharine Viner, the current editor-in-chief of Guardian US, in an indicative ballot on who should be the next editor-in-chief when Alan Rusbridger steps down after 20 years this summer.
Some 53% of those who voted backed Viner with a first-choice vote of 438. In second place was Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and a non-executive director of Guardian-owner the Scott Trust with 188 votes. Janine Gibson, editor-in-chief of theguardian.com, was in a close third place, with 175 votes. Wolfgang Blau, GNM’s director of digital strategy, received 29 votes.
All core editorial staff at GNM – which publishes the Guardian and Observer newspapers and theguardian.com, Guardian US and Guardian Australia websites – were able to vote in the union-organised ballot, whether or not they are union members, including freelancers who earn the bulk of their income from the newspaper group.
In all, 964 people were given the opportunity to vote using the single transferable vote system and the turnout was an impressive 87%. The vote makes the Guardian one of the few newspapers around the world to allow its staff any sort of say in who does the top job.
The successful candidate is guaranteed a place on the shortlist of three that will go forward to the next round of interviews conducted by the Scott Trust, the ultimate owner of the Guardian. The appointment will be announced later this month.
Following the vote, Brian Williams, father of the chapel of the National Union of Journalists, said: “The journalists have had their say, now the ball is in the Scott Trust’s court. However, we are confident they will recognise the importance of the editorial staff’s opinion and give full weight to our choice.”