Digital Spy hires ex-Heat editor in battle with BuzzFeed and Mashable
Digital Spy has appointed Julian Linley, a former editor of Heat magazine, to the newly created role of editor-in-chief as the entertainment site challenges rivals such as BuzzFeed and Mashable.
Linley, who launched Heatworld.com before moving onto editing the title in 2008, takes over from editor David Moynihan who has left parent company Hearst UK.
Moynihan, a former NME.com editor, joined in March 2011 taking over from Digital Spy co-founder and longstanding editor Neil Wilkes.
Linley’s appointment comes as Digital Spy looks to improve the way it uses and engages with readers on social media.
“People consume content socially so much now that it is important we have a destination site, good SEO and we embrace how content is being discovered on social feeds and is being shared socially,” said Linley. “We need to approach from a more social viewpoint. More shareable content, imagery and videos; writing headlines that will make people stop and look at Digital Spy on social feeds and recognise it is us and not someone else. Digital Spy is its own brand and has its own voice.”
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