Former PANPA chief executive Mark Hollands is back at Australia’s The Newspaper Works following the resignation of Tony Hale.

Hollands – the most consistent occupant of the role following a succession of changes – engineered himself out of a job last year when he helped oversee the merger of the two organisations.

Originally an advertising-focussed organisation, The Newspaper Works is owned by Australia’s five biggest newspaper publishing companies.

The transition is immediate, with Hollands starting today following Hale’s Friday departure.

An announcement followed closely on Friday, just after the organisation’s weekly e-newsletter News Now had been issued. TNW chairman Kim Williams, who is chief executive of News Limited, thanked Hale for his contribution to the industry. He had led the Newspaper Works through a period of great transformation for its publisher members, and members acknowledged his “energetic work and dedication,” Williams said.

Tony Hale had been a director of Clemenger BBDO prior to joining The Newspaper Works. He was previously director of client service at The Campaign palace, and ran his own Sydney advertising agency, Hale & Collins Advertising before selling it in March 1994.

Mark Hollands will take the organisation forward at a time when media companies are investing in new relevant ways for the provision of journalism and a rich diversity of products from it, Williams says. He will also oversee the introduction of the new The Readership Works readership measurement system.

Hollands has more than three decades of experience in the media including stints as The Australian’s foreign editor, technology editor and circulation manager. He has also been general manager of content at Ozemail, managing director of dotcom start-up Beenz.com and Gartner Inc Asia Pacific vice-president.

In 2006 he was appointed Dow Jones Asia Pacific director of sales and was appointed chief executive of PANPA in 2008.

In a statement on Friday, Mark Hollands says he is looking forward to the challenge. “It is essential the sector has strong representation ensuring society values our products and understands the transformation that is blending valuable print assets with exciting new digital ventures and innovations in delivering refreshed offerings to a vast community of users.”

He adds that he is “excited to join the team currently bringing The Readership Works to market”.

Mark Hollands was not available when GXpress called, so we haven’t been able to ask him whether he has written the crime thriller which was on the agenda when he left last year.

Peter Coleman