Reach completes ‘first phase’ of US expansion with themirror.com launch
The Mirror has officially launched themirror.com, its dedicated site for the left-of-centre newsbrand’s nascent US operation.
The site is run out of Reach’s New York office, led by interim managing director George Grist and Mirror US editor Alex Wellman.
The operation is staffed by a mix of people in the UK and the US. Reach said the team was “approximately 40” but did not give more details. Reach has pledged to hire more people as it is “focused on growing a permanent US workforce.”
In March, Reach CEO Jim Mullen highlighted this year’s US launch as a key part of the company’s action plan to mitigate tough macroeconomic conditions. The company’s revenue has declined 6% year-on-year for the first half of 2023 and online page views are down 16%.
The gap Reach is seeking to fill in the US market is “different for each of our titles”, Reach’s chief digital publisher David Higgerson told The Media Leader in an interview earlier this year. The Mirror wants to expand its global coverage on celebrity and showbusiness, while the Express would appeal to a gap for a “soft right-of-centre positioning”.
