Anne Marie Owens.Postmedia handout
Anne Marie Owens, who has been the top editor at the National Post for nearly five years, is leaving Postmedia Network Inc. to take a new position at McMaster University in Hamilton.
Postmedia spokeswoman Phyllise Gelfand said in an e-mail Monday that Ms. Owens will leave the National Post as of April 12. Her interim replacement is deputy editor Julie Traves.
Ms. Owens originally joined the National Post as a reporter before its launch in 1998 and held a number of roles there, including news features editor and assistant managing editor of news, before going to work at Maclean’s magazine.
She returned to the top editorial position at Postmedia’s Toronto-based national newspaper in June 2014, after three years as deputy editor of Maclean’s – a national news and current affairs magazine published by Rogers Media.
Ms. Owens didn’t comment Monday. Her departure became public after a Postmedia memo was distributed through a Twitter account.
The announcement of her departure comes just days after Stephen Meurice announced to staff at the Canadian Press, where he has been editor-in-chief, that he would leave for personal reasons, effective April 26.
Mr. Meurice had been editor-in-chief at the National Post from 2010 until announcing in March, 2014, that he was departing. He said in an e-mail Monday that he’s not sure of his next career move, but he’s not returning to the Post.