Crikey publisher looks for new CEO. Crikey publisher Private Media will search for a new chief executive following the departure of Amanda Gome after three years in the role. In an announcement to staff yesterday afternoon, chairman Eric Beecher said the Private Media board had decided a new CEO would help the fast-growing company prosper in the future.

“Private Media has expanded rapidly and, like many fast-growth companies, requires a different set of leadership skills from those needed in its formative years,” Beecher said. He said Gome’s energy and work ethic had played a crucial role in the company’s success and wished her well for the future.

Private Media publishes seven websites: Crikey, SmartCompany, StartUp Smart, The Power Index, Property Observer, Leading Company and Women’s Agenda. Gome, a former business journalist at the Herald Sun and BRW, created SmartCompany in 2006 and became Private Media CEO in late 2009. She remains a significant shareholder in the company.

Gome says she’s proud of her achievements and “this happens in entrepreneurial businesses when there are different ideas to take the company forward”: “SmartCo is the leading voice for entrepreneurs and small business owners and we have built a channel to the entrepreneurial market for advertisers for the first time. Private Media has a fantastic future and I am incredibly grateful for the support of some of the best media and commercial and operations staff in Australia. I wish it all the best.” — Matthew Knott

Gillard ill, recovers in the papers. The problem with newspaper journos receiving advance drops is that occasionally some nasty occurrence will intervene to turn the story from scoop to clanger. Indeed, what you file pre-emptively at 6 o’clock the night before could always be disrupted by nasty a terrorist attack. Unlikely, but possible. One classic example are Olympics opening and closing ceremonies in the northern hemisphere that usually occur during the wee hours in Oz or, more typically, a major speech or policy announcement.

Overnight — but well after the papers were put to bed — Julia Gillard came down with a nasty stomach bug and had to back out of a planned address to the Asia Society and the Economic Club in New York on Australia’s robust non-mining economy. Far from a lectern, Gillard was laid up in bed. But if you read today’s papers, the gutsy PM battled through the haze to deliver the speech after all. Here’s The Sydney Morning Herald‘s take:

“PRIME Minister Julia Gillard describes the prosperity generated from the mining boom as ”low hanging fruit” when she warns today that Australia must become Asia-literate and Asia-capable if it is to sustain the economy well into the future. In a speech in New York to the Asia Society and the Economic Club, Ms Gillard will also tell investors that the Australian economy is less reliant on mining than widely thought. At the same time, she will stress the importance of continuing Chinese demand for minerals and declare ”Australia’s mining boom has long to run”. [emphasis added]

That’s present tense, with a bit of future thrown in for good measure. And here’s Sid Maher in The Australian (ripped offline but preserved for posterity below):

“Julia Gillard will today tell a group of New York economists that Australia’s economy is less reliant on the mining boom than is widely thought.”

Future tense, but unequivocal. The Australian Financial Review looked like it might save itself with this second par: “The Prime Minister is due to tell a New York Audience early today…” But then botched it two pars down: “She will urge Americans …”

Still, it could’ve been worse — often these stories are written in the past tense, especially if the event occurs at 1am or 2am local time. What about that other famous pre-emptive scoop of recent years, Cameron Stewart’s August 2009 yarn describing anti-terror raids in Melbourne on the morning they occurred? The federal and state police were “poised to swoop”, Stewart wrote, leaving plenty of wriggle room if the targets managed to grab an early copy of the Oz and get the hell out of there. — Andrew Crook

Front page of the day. Football and fashion meet at the annual Brownlow Medal night — a tabloid newspaper’s perfect storm. The Herald Sun deserves credit for its pun-headline …

Big Brother rigged? Nine says no

“The Nine Network has denied the voting process behind Big Brother is manipulated after the network aired a promo about an evicted housemate hours before public voting in last night’s Live Eviction program had finished.” — mUmBRELLA

CNN defends story on ambassador journal

“Mark Whitaker, the managing editor of CNN Worldwide, appeared on the network Monday morning to defend its use of a journal kept by the United States ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, in its reporting on the attack of the consulate at Benghazi in which Mr Stevens and three others were killed.” — The New York Times

Mormon blogger faces excommunication 

“A Florida-based Mormon blogger has said he is facing discipline and possible excommunication by church officials over posts they perceive to be anti-Mormon.” — Reuters

Local media looks at events for cash

“Local and regional media houses are using their events strategies to earn extra revenue and build their brands. Is this alternative profit generator worth closer consideration from struggling news outlets?” — The Huffington Post