Toronto Star appoints former National Post leader Anne Marie Owens as editor
Posted March 24, 2021 3:23 pm.
Last Updated March 24, 2021 3:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY — The owner of the Toronto Star newspaper is bringing in new newsroom leadership with the appointment as editor of Anne Marie Owens, a former editor-in-chief of the National Post.
Torstar Corp. says the current editor, Irene Gentle, has been appointed vice-president of inclusion and strategic partnerships effective April 26.
In the new position, Gentle is to evaluate media opportunities and oversee inclusion and diversity initiatives for the company, reporting directly to Torstar co-owner Jordan Bitove, who is also the publisher of the Star.
Gentle was the first woman in the Star’s 129-year history to serve as editor when she was named to the position in 2018. She had previously held several other senior editor positions at the Star since joining the newspaper in 2011.
Owens is coming to the Star from McMaster University in Hamilton, where she has been a strategic communications advisor since 2019.
She previously served for nearly five years as the top editor at the National Post, overseeing a national newsroom of 75 employees and leading it through two major reorganizations.
“Irene … has been at the forefront of developing new initiatives relating to diversity and inclusiveness in our newsrooms,” Bitove said in a news release.
“I look forward to working with her in this important and transformative new position.”
Owens initially joined the National Post as a reporter in 1998 and held a series of senior editing positions before moving to Maclean’s magazine in 2011 as deputy editor. She returned to the National Post as editor-in-chief in 2014.
She started her journalism career at the St. Catharines Standard, where she spent 10 years as a reporter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2021.
Torstar holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with subsidiaries of the Globe and Mail and Montreal’s La Presse.
The Canadian Press
