Former editor-in-chief of The Australian Christopher Dore may be in the right place for a new role as Anthony De Ceglie (pictured) steps into the shoes of Seven West’s Craig McPherson.

The changes come with McPherson’s departure from SWM, where he was director of news and public affairs, but more particularly responsible for Seven’s News, Sunrise, Morning Show, Spotlight and the 7NEWS.com.au website.

De Ceglie only recently added the new The Nightly digital news product to his responsibilities as editor-in-chief of flagship the West Australian newspaper, the Sunday Times – acquired from News Corp Australia – its PerthNow news site and 19 regional papers. A successor for the WAN role is to be announced “in due course”.

In the meantime, Dore has been named as acting editor of the West Australian and the WAN mastheads.

Dore – who will also continue to write for The Nightly – left The Australian in November 2022 after four years in the top job, and shortly after his attendance at a Wall Street Journal event in Laguna Beach, California. His career with News had included the editorships of the (Sydney) Daily Telegraph and (Brisbane) Courier-Mail, as well as the Sunday Times in Perth when it was still owned by News. Born in Brisbane, he had worked for The Australian in Melbourne, Canberra and as its New Zealand-based Pacific correspondent.

McPherson says he will be taking a “long break” to spend time with his family, a decision he had “been considering for a while”.

In statements issued this morning, recently-appointed managing director and chief executive of SWM Jeff Howard spoke of De Ceglie’s “compelling vision” and focus on news gathering and storytelling. “His knowledge of digital and his innovative mindset will be just what SWM needs as we continue to build a better media business.”