INDUSTRY PROFILES

Cathy O'Sullivan - Media

Cathy O'Sullivan - Media
Q. Give us a snapshot of your career to date and an overview of your current role?
I was heavily involved in student media when I was at university in Ireland and learned a lot as editor of the student newspaper and as a producer for campus radio.
After my degree I spent some time working for a technology news website in Amsterdam where I became fascinated with digital media. I then spent a few years working for a daily newspaper in Cork before I moved to New Zealand - I was only meant to stay for one year!

After a few months backpacking around the country, I wrote to the editor of the Dominion Post in Wellington and he passed my details on to the editor of Stuff - I was hired within a couple of weeks. Back then in 2006, Stuff was only a handful of people working in a dark corner of the office and everyone thought we were IT service desk. Our audience grew hugely in that time and so did the team.
A few years later I was approached about a role within the NZ Herald digital team, and myself and my partner decided to make the move to Auckland. I spent four years at the Herald and learned a huge amount under Jeremy Rees, who has been an instrumental figure in my career.

In 2014, my former boss at Fairfax (owner of Stuff), Sinead Boucher, asked me if I would be interested in returning to Stuff and a few months later I was appointed Auckland Editor-in-Chief. I spent two years in that role during a time of huge transformation which involved a lot of cost-cutting. I learned a huge amount about myself and the challenges of the media industry in that time.

From there, I moved to Bauer to launch a new current affairs and culture website and also became responsible for a women’s digital lifestyle brand. It was interesting working for Bauer but I was seeking a more challenging role. As fate would have it, Newshub was looking for a Head of Digital. I got a call from the Chief News Officer at MediaWorks and within a couple of months I was in the role.
Q. What are you looking for from PRs – and what kind of pitch would get an immediate response?
Generally, I leave it to the team to deal with PRs. We have a fantastic bunch of digital producers and editors working on everything from news to travel, entertainment and lifestyle. I'm usually buried in spreadsheets or working on new initiatives rather than chasing stories.
It’s great when PRs think about the audience they are pitching to. What is interesting about the product or service you're spruiking? Think in headlines. If it’s unlikely you’d see that headline or a version of it on our site then it’s unlikely we’ll be interested in the pitch.
Q. If you weren't doing what you do now… what would you be doing?
Outside of work I’m a mentor for the charity Pillars and I also help run the Irish Business Network of NZ and the St Patrick’s Festival. If I didn’t have to work full-time I’d be keen to do more for the organisations close to my heart.
Q. Do you prefer email or phone pitches, and what is the best time of day/day of the week to catch you?
If a PR were to pitch to me I would generally prefer it’s done via email. Phone calls often come at the most inconvenient times and it's easier to keep track of things via email - or pass it on to the relevant person in my team.
Q. During your career, what has your experience been like working with PRs?
I’ve had great relationships with PRs and there are some fantastic operators in New Zealand, especially publicists who are either working for themselves or only have a couple of people on staff. Some of the best PRs I’ve dealt with are ones who have had experience working in newsrooms and understand what editors are likely to be interested in.
Q. Do you attend many media events and if so, what kind?
Not many any more. If it’s a launch for something I’d usually pass but if there’s likely to be interesting people speaking then I’m more likely to head along if I have free time. I quite like going to events about the media industry.
Q. What do you love about your job?
Newshub is the most fun, friendly and interesting newsroom I’ve worked in in my almost 20-year career in media. There’s a buzz in the newsroom from morning to night. In my job, I work with people from right across the business so I get to see how our team’s hard work translates into audience and commercial gains for the company.
Q. What's the downside?
There's never enough time to do everything.
Q. Describe a typical day:
From the moment I wake up I’m listening to news, checking our platforms and those of our competitors.
We have a morning news conference around 8.30am where senior leaders in the newsroom talk about the main stories of the day for TV bulletins, digital, radio as well as what The Project have planned.
After that there’s a digital team catch-up on what’s been big in the morning and who’s doing what for the rest of the day.
From then on I usually have a host of meetings with people from various parts of the business. I could be meeting with our digital delivery team on how our planned projects are progressing, talking to our integration team about sponsored content briefs or writing a report for the board. I spent a lot of time looking at our analytics and how we are tracking against our targets. I check in with my direct reports throughout the week and we have regular catch-ups on any issues we’re grappling with.

I try to make time every day to catch up on industry developments and look at new products. Digital never stops and there’s always more to do!