Guardian names U.S. editor to lead New York-based digital operation

Earlier this week, The Cutline reported that The Guardian was on the verge of naming an American editor to oversee a New York-based digital operation that the U.K. broadsheet will launch later this year.

That distinction will go to Janine Gibson, currently editor of The Guardian's website, guardian.co.uk, the publication announced Friday. Stuart Millar, The Guardian's online news editor, will join Gibson in New York as her deputy.

"The Guardian ... has attracted a very considerable audience in America in recent years," said Alan Rusbridger, the paper's editor-in-chief, in a statement. "We believe there is real demand for the sort of open, internationalist, digital journalism which we have been pioneering. Janine Gibson has been at the heart of our web operations and is the ideal person to lead our new team in the U.S."

There are no details yet about the new digital operation. But Rusbridger recently told The Cutline it "will be significantly larger than anything we've done in the states before." The Guardian has made several past unsuccessful forays into the U.S. media market, most recently the short-lived GuardianAmerica.com, which was active for two years before the company folded it back into The Guardian's main URL in 2009.

The Guardian also has appointed a chief revenue officer to lead the business side of its forthcoming U.S. effort.