Wayne Parrish, an award-winning reporter, editor and digital media leader, is Torstar’s new senior vice-president editorial.
“Wayne Parrish brings a wealth of experience, a history of digital innovation and a burning desire for our papers to flourish,” said Torstar chair John Honderich. “What’s more, he is an accomplished journalist, who knows who we are and what we stand for.”
Parrish, 64, who won two National Newspaper Awards as a sports reporter at the Star in the early 1980s, has held executive leadership positions at Postmedia Network, Quebecor and Sun Media.
He was CEO of Canada Basketball for eight years. And most recently, he worked on digital transformation and merger-acquisition media projects in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Australia with FTI Consulting Inc.
Parrish’s digital experience includes launching CANOE, which became Canada’s premiere internet network-portal and top news and information site for more than a decade.
He launched Postmedia’s digital subscription program, consulted on a sports-only digital subscription business in the U.S., and developed the new media unit of Quebecor.
“He’s definitely a seasoned executive and he’s one of those rare people who has a lot of digital experience, a lot of news experience and a lot of transformation experience,” said Torstar president John Boynton. “So he’s going to be able to hit the ground running really early and help Torstar with the overall transformation.”
Parrish will focus on editorial transformation, including content science and data analytics, for Torstar’s newspapers, which include the Star, six additional Ontario dailies and more than 70 community newspapers.
Parrish, who has served on many news industry boards, including Canadian Press, Canadian Journalism Foundation and National Newspaper Awards, said he sees his return to Torstar as a homecoming.
“When I look at the early years of my career in Vancouver and Montreal … to be able to make the roster as a journalist at the Star in those years, was the ultimate within the Canadian context,” he said in an interview.
