Joanna Coles – the former Hearst Magazines editor and first-ever chief content officer for the legendary publishing company – is joining CBS This Morning as a creative adviser. The role will be part-time.
Coles left her position as Hearst’s chief creative on Aug. 3, days after Troy Young was named Hearst Magazines’ new president. According to Adweek digital media reporter Sara Jerde, Coles was quickly replaced in the role by Kate Lewis, former svp at Hearst Magazines Digital Media.
Prior to taking on the role of chief creative for Hearst – where she oversaw the company’s domestic and international titles – Coles was editor in chief of Cosmopolitan.
She was named editor of Cosmo in 2012, which is Hearst’s biggest title, and perhaps the best-known women’s media brand on the planet. Coles later added oversight of Seventeen magazine as the magazine’s editorial director.
Coles joined Hearst in 2006 as the editor in chief of Marie Claire, and is a two-time Adweek Hot List editor of the year.
A potential move to TV would make sense based on recent media news. According to Politico Morning Media newsletter, Coles was spotted having breakfast with former ABC News chief/soon-to-be-former Disney|ABC Television Group chief Ben Sherwood at Nate ‘n Al deli in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.
Variety was first to report.
Here’s the message CBS News president David Rhodes sent to staff this afternoon:
David [2:44 PM]
Joanna Coles// Until this summer Joanna Coles was editor and chief content officer of Hearst Magazines, overseeing more than 300 publications worldwide. Over the coming months she will be working with us on a part-time basis as a Creative Advisor.
Initially, Joanna will be engaged with the CBS This Morning team and will weigh in on other strategic opportunities. We love the journalism that CTM is doing, we believe in the people doing it—and we want Joanna’s perspective and experience to help us engage new audiences everywhere around that work.
Before her career at Hearst, and authoring books and contributing to television, Joanna spent 15 years as a reporter, editor, and columnist for a range of publications including the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the New York Times, New York Magazine, and the BBC. Currently, she serves on the board of directors for Snap, giving her unique insight into the social and digital experiences that animate viewers.
She also brings a sharp sense of humor and a habitual viewer’s perspective to our daily experience of news coverage in this extraordinary climate. Welcome, Joanna, to CBS News.
Here’s some of what Coles has been getting into since leaving Hearst: