The team at Australian Brews News is excited to announce that writer James Atkinson is joining us as Editor.

New Brews News editor, James Atkinson

Vacating the editor’s seat for James, Brews News founder Matt Kirkegaard said his addition would see the site continue its growth and solidify its position leading Australia’s conversation about beer.

“I started Australian Brews News as a side project to fill what I saw as a gap in the Australian beer media,” he said. “There were trade sites that published media releases and news without critical analysis, and there were blogs that tended to critically discuss beer without the ability to put the questions they were raising to the industry figures who could answer them.

“Australian Brews News was designed to promote robust, but – most importantly – informed, discussion about the changing beer landscape, not just craft beer but beer in general.”

“That approach seems to have struck a chord and our traffic has grown to the point that we’re one of the most highly trafficked beer sites in the country.

“This has always been a little surprising given the site doesn’t look very pretty, doesn’t publish to a regular schedule and doesn’t rely on gimmicks or soft content that guarantees easy clicks, instead we rely on well curated content dealing with what matters in the Australian beer industry.

“There seems to be an audience for robust discussion and independent reporting of beer news, and that’s what we have been providing. At the same time there has also been some frustration amongst our readers and sponsors that we weren’t regular or structured enough with our content, now the time has come to fix that, and James is the best person to do that.”

Until recently James Atkinson was editor of leading drinks industry website theshout.com.au.

“Editing Australia’s leading drinks website, theshout.com.au, James has always impressed with his writing and news gathering skills and the focus on beer he brought to that site. He is highly respected across the industry for his balanced approach to beer news,” Kirkegaard said.

“When I heard that James was moving on and looking for his next challenge, I approached him to join Brews News and was greatly surprised that he said yes.”

“James’ addition to the team will enable Brews News to broaden our coverage of beer news, while maintaining the same level of authoritative analysis and discussion that has seen Brews News regarded as one of the country’s most influential beer websites.”

James said it was an easy decision to make to join the team at Australian Brews News.

“I’ve always had great respect for the site and Matt Kirkegaard as a beer writer.

“I’m excited to play my part in growing the site’s traffic and building on the solid foundation Matt has worked hard to establish over the last six years.”

Founded in 2009, Australian Brews News has grown to become one of Australia’s leading beer websites.

James joins founder and 2014 Australian Beer Writer of the Year Matt Kirkegaard, columnist and renowned beer presenter Pete Mitcham and contributors including celebrated beer and food presenter Paul Mercurio, writer Sam Fletcher and beer historian Dr Brett Stubbs in leading the national conversation about beer.

Making way for James to come on board as editor, Matt movesto the role of publisher and will continue to write regular topical columns and co-host Radio Brews News with Pete Mitcham.

To contact James, email james@brewsnews.com.au

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