A senior Johnston Press executive who has helped lead the company’s digital development for the past four years is joining the Disney corporation.
Alex Gubbay, left, initially joined the regional publisher from the BBC in March 2011 as head of digital content.
A year later he was promoted to the role of director, digital product and operations where his responsibilities included overseeing the company’s 200-plus local newspaper websites.
Alex announced on his Twitter page yesterday that he was joining Disney in March as director of interactive media.
In a series of tweets, he wrote: “I’m thrilled to say I’m going to be joining @Disney_UK in March as Director of Interactive Media for EMEA.
“I’m very proud of the digital developments we’ve made in my 4 and a half years at @Johnston_Press and will miss many great colleagues…but I’m super excited by my new challenge ahead. It will be the first job I’ve had that my kids are actually excited about too!”
Before joining JP, Alex spent more than a decade at the BBC where his roles included sports editor for the BBC Sport website and interactive sports news editor, BBC sport.
In 2010 he became social media editor, BBC News, leading user-generated content output across the BBC’s TV, radio and web platforms, including for 2010 General Election and 2011 Royal Wedding. He was also responsible for launching BBC News on both Facebook and Twitter.
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From one fantasy world to another.
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Dare I say some might argue he’s moving from one ‘Mickey Mouse’ set up to join the people who created such iconic cartoon creations. Good luck to him, No wonder his kids are excited
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Cue all those lame Disney jokes from people who really should know better. The onus is on us to react with dignity, sobriety and intelligence to what looks like a superb career move. You certainly won’t catch me making a Dumbo of myself with any atrociously conceived and flippantly delivered “humour”. Shame on you all.
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So he announced it on Twitter but not to the staff. (Not that any of us in this JP office had ever heard of him.) Never thought I’d feel sorry for Mickey Mouse.
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Didn’t even know JP employed a digital director. You’d never guess from their websites
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What’s the difference between Johnston Press and Disney?
One is Mickey Mouse set up that projects fantasy illusions of reality. The other is the Disney Corporation.
Seriously, a good move by a fella who can see a fan and a big pile of . . .
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Do you think Disney have employed him because of his years of experience working for a ‘Mickey Mouse’ company,maybe Ashley will follow with his knowledge of working in a fantasy world!
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Will he be given an Ashley Highfield watch to take with him as a leaving present?
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So, AG is “super excited” to be leaving the “exciting” world of JP.
The whole thing is just too exciting for words!
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It is particularly depressing that for a company that has put so much effort into digital strategy, the websites of the weekly JP papers particularly are so poor and unloved. Clunky, dull, full of half-disguised ads and non-local content, hard to navigate, very poor video, stories with two or three errors per par, no direction, slow and difficult links, terrible headlines, pictures that have strange, production-related coded captions….I could go on. Not blaming the journos, they are having to work with what they are given and with no time to think or create. But these websites, and I’ve checked quite a few today before writing this post, are dying on their feet. There is nothing interesting about them and no reason to stay.
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Morecambe Visitor website…first two articles were Preston and then Wigan. I think they’ve got bigger things to worry about than their technology, they might benefit from a quick geography refresher!
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The Dewsbury website is absolutely terrible. Two days ago in the “Latest news” section was a story dated November 20th. I use the Trinity’s Huddersfield title to find out the latest Dewsbury news. I worked for the newspaper group for 33 years under many owners but these are the worst. Glad I got out in time.
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Agree with so many of the comments – but your (understated) headline says it all!
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God knows how many years after websites were brought in JPs are still awful. However Disney does not employ mugs and I suspect this guy has too much talent for JP and just hasn’t had the scope (or the budget) to show it. Now I can think of a few reporters who might be thinking the same as they bash out their next press release and upload the website before dropping a story into a shape.
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Isnt it depressing that another of our leaders has left? JP seems a company fit only for those who simply can’t get out, though there is young talent and some old pros who actually know what they are doing in the ranks.
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Grateful, in these dismal, flood stricken days, for something to raise a smile.
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Finally there might be a chance for the more digitally savvy people at JP to get control of the mess that is their digital products. AG might talk a good game but that’s as far as it ever went.
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this is yet another nail in the coffin of the once great JP… the share price will be collapsing in the morning, mark my words .. you CANNOT fool the city. Ashley’s days are numbers. Bring back subs.
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Fact is that JP has the lowest digital engagement figures of any of the regional news groups. Typical time spent per month at JP sites is a third of that of Newsquest.
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JP’s head of video, Andrew Glover, also left a week ago after just a couple of years in the job. I give Ashers until the end of February.
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The JP websites are poor because of the chronic under-staffing, the lack of training and the fact that the suits neither know nor care what goes into them. The only element of JP that hasn’t been cut over the years is the cover price of its flimsier, poorly produced print editions.
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