MediaWorks head of comms Charlotte McLauchlan to depart

Charlotte McLauchlan, group head of communications at MediaWorks. Photo / MediaWorks

Another executive staff member at MediaWorks is heading for the exit door.

MediaWorks group head of communications Charlotte McLauchlan resigned from the business last week, the Herald has confirmed.

"What can I say, it has been a wild ride," McLauchlan told the Herald today.

"I am proud of everything the team have done and whilst this has been a hard decision, the time is right for me. I am looking forward to seeing what's on the other side."

She has agreed to a lengthy notice period and will depart the embattled broadcaster in December.

This announcement comes off the back of the recent departure of chief content officer Andrew Szusterman, who left after 17 years with MediaWorks.

These departures come amid other cost-cutting measures, which have included the scrapping of marquee TV production Love Island NZ and a staff hiring freeze.

McLauchlan first joined MediaWorks in August 2015, following the departure of her predecessor Rachel Lorimer.

She entered the business at a challenging time under the leadership of then-chief executive Mark Weldon.

Weldon departed in May 2016 and was replaced by current chief executive Michael Anderson, who has resided over a more stable period for the media company.

This year has however proven more challenging, with senior staff departures, a difficult advertising market and the increasing threat of Google and Facebook casting long shadows over the business.

These challenges are, of course, not limited to MediaWorks. Earlier this month, MediaWorks news director Hal Crawford wrote a scathing piece on Newshub outlining what he saw as some of the major problems facing New Zealand news media. He didn't hold back, taking aim at his competitors, including NZME (publisher of the NZ Herald) while expressing concerns about the future of the industry.

"The market can't support the newsrooms we have right now, and already we are probably failing to cover what we need to cover," Crawford wrote.